Psalm 37:31 “The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.”
Psalm 40:8 “I delight to do your will O my God; Your law is within my heart.”
Today’s study continues our theme of magnifying the worth of Christ in our lives through a heart (substance or guts) that is devoted to Him and that therefore desires Him, seeking satisfaction in Him. That desire plays out in how, and how much we pursue Him.
In today’s western Christian climate there is often lots of mask-wearing going on at a typical Sunday service, where many people count personal holiness as making sure their outward appearance looks good. This doesn’t impress God much, in fact I think it makes Him want to puke. Imagine a manufacturing company assuming they can forever sell their good-looking goods at a distribution center while the factory is falling to pieces, working conditions are poor, worker morale is worse and pollution is rampant. If this condition were to persist, how long would it take before observers started thinking, “I wonder what’s going on at the factory, because the distribution center has nothing but smelly junk for sale these days?” This illustration is simply to point out that while it is good to walk uprightly and live in a manner that reflects God’s presence and influence in your life, if it’s all a politically correct veneer with nothing underneath it, no substance, what’s the point. Eventually, you’re going to get found out. Witness Tiger Woods, Ted Haggard, John Terry et al. So the issue is never outward appearances, it’s always a matter of the heart, the substance, the guts. Who cares if you look good on the outside but inside you are full of decay? Recall that Jesus became incensed at religious hypocrisy in His day;
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:25-28
Let not their hypocrisy be ours.
The heart is what the Psalmist is pointing us to yet again. Let’s look at both verses;
Psalm 37:31 “The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.” He could well have said, “The law of God in deep within him, and because it is pressed deeply into his system, into deeply crevassed areas, he is not living with his face pressed into the muck and mire of everyday life wondering why he feels so dirty and why God seems so unattractive.” This guy likes listening to God, exposes himself routinely to His Living Word, the Bible, and as a result is profoundly protected. By being close to God’s Word, it’s as though he gains salt and sand and studs on the underside of his boots, and so instead of slipping and tumbling down an icy patch of life, he negotiates the steps without slipping and breaking bones. What a great reminder that God is for us, not against us. He is for us moving through cancer and job loss and relational challenges etc . . . without dashing our heads on the hard cement of despair or depression. When God’s words are in the heart, our steps become more firm.
A sibling verse is 40:8. This declaration hits a little closer to home through the use of the more personal “I.” and “my.” “I delight to do your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.” What is noteworthy is the inclusion of the theme of delight. “I delight to do Your will,” and this delight is owing to exposure to God’s law, His words percolating at the deepest possible level, the heart, the factory. When the heart is well, good flows. When the heart is well, delight flows, and that is a foretaste of heaven.
In like manner, when a factory is operating cleanly and smoothly, good products are produced and presented at the distribution center. Let’s pray that God would make us people who desire to have lots of good to give at the distribution centers of our lives, but most importantly, that we would be asking Him to keep doing good work at the deepest level, the factory level, the heart level. For if the heart is not delighting in its God, pressing itself into what God says in His Word, what will be sold at the distribution centers will in large measure read, “Made in China; not made to last.”