The Focus of the Heart
Psalm 119:35-36 Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain.
If I were to ask you today, what is the one thing that you’re focussing on at the moment, what would that be? What’s the biggest thing going on in your heart at the moment?
The truth is, that from time to time the things of this earth grab our attention. Some of those things are good things. Some of those things are bad things. In a few months time my daughter will be getting married. Well, you can imagine, that’s pretty much the focus of things in our household at the moment. There’s nothing wrong with any of that, unless and until the things of this world bubble to the top of our priority list, above God Himself.
When that happens, our lives have a way of going pear-shaped. All of a sudden, when we get our priorities the wrong way around, we start to live out the consequences of that. So let me come back to that question: what is your heart focussed on at the moment? What’s at the top of your list, hmm?
Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain. (Psalm 119:35-36)
This Psalm is written by a man who is speaking to God. So, when he says: lead me in the path of your commandments and turn my heart to your decrees, He’s asking God to do those two things for Him. Psalm 119 blows me away. It’s the longest chapter in the Bible – 176 verses all in all. And the majority of it is a prayer, asking God essentially to help the man who is writing it to get his life straight by getting God’s Word into his heart. That’s the bottom line of the whole Psalm. God I can’t do it on my own, I need your help. That’s a great admission, because it happens to be true. And here in verses 35 and 36, the Psalmist is asking God to turn his heart to God’s decrees rather than his own selfish gain.
That’s the pivot point in our hearts isn’t it? Our whole lives swing on this hinge between honouring God and selfish gain. Between right and wrong. And that’s why I keep asking you what the focus of your heart is right at the moment? Where is your heart? Focussed on honouring God or on selfish gain? The answer matters. It matters a lot.
There is such power in the Word of God to set us free from our selfishness. Why is it that people leave their Bibles on a shelf somewhere gathering dust? God has the power to set you free. Free from the consequences of your sin. All you need to do is to ask Him for His help and He will step in.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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