Psalms 119:32 I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.
Charles Spurgeon observed: “What a change from verse 25 to the present, from cleaving to the dust to running in the way.” When we talk about running, we are talking about moving at a faster pace than walking, a pace that requires greater exertion, a greater expenditure of effort. Now there is a reason why someone would exert themselves to run when a slower pace is so much easier. That reason might be to win a race, to escape danger, to make an appointment on time, or to improve one’s endurance and fitness. In the verse we consider today the psalmist uses the word run in a figurative sense. Just as person exerts himself in running to achieve his objective, the psalmist resolved to exert himself, to increase his output of effort in conforming his life to the way of God’s commandments. This conformity to God’s commandments was his reason for running. There is no better reason to exert oneself than that!
The Christian life can be summed us as patterning one’s life after the commandments of God. That being the case, it is interesting to note how the Christian life is described as running a race, which agrees with the thought expressed in today’s verse.
1 Corinthians 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
In this passage Paul teaches the importance of temperance, of self-control in running this race. If we would win the prize in this race, we must be temperate in all things. We must keep our bodily appetites and passions under control or we will lose the race. That is, we will fail at being the Christians we should be and end up being rejected.
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us….
Here Paul exhorts believers to run this race with patience. Patience calls for endurance, not giving up. We must develop the ability to stay the course in the face of opposition, discouragement, and weariness.
Now the psalmist resolves to run the way of God’s commandments. But he hinges his ability to carry out his resolve on this condition: when thou shalt enlarge my heart. How the psalmist will go about keeping God’s commandments will be determined by the condition of his heart. Commenting on this verse Charles Spurgeon wrote:
“Yes, the heart is the master; the feet soon run when the heart is free and energetic. Let the affections be aroused and eagerly set on divine things, and our actions will be full of force, swiftness, and delight.”
It is a fact of life that the more the heart is involved in what we are doing, the more energetically and enthusiastically we will go about it. Have you ever quit doing something just because your heart wasn’t in it anymore? If so, then you can better understand the lesson of today’s verse. If we would exert more effort in keeping God’s commandments, we need more heart to do it. That is, we need to have our heart enlarged. Now let’s define what it means to enlarge the heart.
To enlarge the heart: to ‘expand,’ ‘swell’ the heart with gratitude or affection; now usually, to increase the capacity of the heart for affection, widen the range the affections.
Keeping God’s commandments flows out of love and affection for Him as the following verses declare:
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words….
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
When God enlarges our heart, we love Him more and we are more thankful to Him. As a result, we exert more effort to keep His commandments. When God enlarges our heart, we have an increased capacity to know Him, His will, and His ways. When God gave Solomon “wisdom and understanding exceeding much,” it was said that God gave him “largeness of heart” (1Kings 4:29). A person who knows God, loves Him, and is filled with gratitude to Him for His goodness is a person who will make a greater effort to keep His commandments.
When you step back from this verse and look at the larger picture it comes down to this: we are entirely dependent upon the power of God to enable us to obey Him to the best of our ability. Only by His strength can we practice self-control and endure the rigours of this race to keep His commandments. Increased strength from God equals increased capacity. Left to our own strength our hearts will become straitened and constricted so that we will give up and give in to the pressures and temptations to depart from the way of God’s commandments. We just won’t have the heart to stay the course. Therefore, we need to be ever praying for God to enlarge our hearts, to increase our capacity so that we may run the way of His commandments. You can hear echoes of this prayer in these prayers:
Luke 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
Colossians 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness….
1 Thessalonians 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you….
So if today you are feeling slow, dull, sluggish, or apathetic in serving the Lord, call upon Him to enlarge your heart. But when you ask Him to do this, be sure to tell Him that you will - no maybes about it - run the way of His commandments. Tell Him that you will do your best to serve Him. God will not increase your capacity to serve Him more if He knows you are not serious about doing it.
No comments:
Post a Comment