Psalm 119: Nurturing Passion For God
Tell God The Truth About Your Heart
Psalm 119:25-32
Let’s turn to Psalm 119. If you need a Bible, please raise your hand and we will bring one to you. Psalm 119 is on page 512 in the Bibles we are passing out.
And while you are turning there, let me remind you of what we have in this book of Psalms. The book of Psalms is a collection of prayers which were regularly sung by the nation of Israel. So one of the best ways to learn how to pray, one of the best ways to see what prayer is supposed to include, is to study the book of psalms.
And one reason why Psalm 119 is so important is because it’s the prayer of a man who is nurturing a heart for God. He’s nurturing passion for God, love for God, devotion to God, faith in God. And so this psalm can teach us how we should pray if we want to deepen our love for God.
And in today’s passage, verses 25-32, the author mentions an aspect of prayer that I am afraid many people neglect. Most all of us understand that prayer involves worship of God, confession of sins to God, giving thanks to God, and asking things from God.
Those are all crucial parts of prayer. But in verses 25-32 of this psalm we see the author doing something else – something which I think many Christians neglect. So let’s look at what he says in vv.25-32 –
25 My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!
26 When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes!
27 Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
28 My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!
29 Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law!
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.
31 I cling to your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame!
32 I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!
To understand these eight verses, it will help us to see what’s happening in the psalmist’s life. So let’s ask – what was going on with the author?
Notice that in v.25 he says “my soul clings to the dust.” You know that feeling when you get bad news, and your heart sinks? That’s what the author was experiencing. Something was going on in his life that was making his heart sink. His heart had sunk so low that he says his soul is clinging to the dust. Imagine how low he must have felt to say that! So it’s clear that he was feeling very, very low.
And look at how he puts it in v.28. He says “my soul melts away for sorrow.” So something was going on in his life that was causing him sorrow. And the sorrow was so intense that it felt like his soul, his passion, his energy, his life, was melting away.
So if we put verses 25 and 28 together, we can see that the psalmist was going through a time of overwhelming sorrow and discouragement. One reason it’s crucial to see this is because we can think that Christians won’t ever be overwhelmed with sorrow and discouragement. But here is the psalmist – whose psalm is a model of devotion to God – and as he writes these words he is overwhelmed with sorrow and discouragement.
So what shows that someone is a Christian is not that he never is overwhelmed with sorrow and discouragement – it’s what he does with his sorrow and discouragement.
So let’s ask the question -- what does he do when he is overwhelmed with sorrow and discouragement? This passage gives us the actual prayer that he prays when he is overwhelmed with sorrow and discouragement. So it’s clear that what he does is pray. He turns his heart to God, and he talks to God.
But how does he pray? What does he say to God? So let’s walk through this passage and look at exactly what he prays to God.
First. he tells God what’s going on in his heart. That’s right at the beginning of v.25 – “My soul clings to the dust.” Now this is huge. Notice that he does not pretend. He does not act like everything is fine. He does not put on some false piety. No. He tells God exactly what’s going on in his heart -- “Father, my soul is clinging to the dust; I’m feeling very low, very discouraged.” So that’s where he starts.
Then second, he prays and asks God to give him life. That’s at the end of v.25 – “give me life according to your word!” Because he’s just talked about his soul clinging to the dust, that shows he’s asking God to change the way he’s feeling. And he says “give me life according to your word,” because he knows that in God’s Word, God promises that he can and will change our hearts. God can so powerfully show us who he is that our faith is strengthened and our feelings are changed. So the psalmist prays and asks God to give him life.
Third, he reminds God of how God has been faithful in the past. That’s in v.26 – “When I told of my ways, you answered me.” That means: “In the past I have come to you and told you what was going on in my heart -- and when I have done that you have always answered me.” That reminder would have strengthened his own faith – that God will do it again. And that reminder would have touched God’s heart so he is moved to do it again.
Fourth, he asks God to teach him his word. It’s through the word of God that faith is strengthened and the Spirit changes our feelings. But like we saw last week, we need God to open our eyes and teach us his Word. So at the end of v.26 and the beginning of v.27 the psalmist prays --
… teach me your statutes! Make me understand the way of your precepts…
Fifth, he commits to meditating on God’s wondrous works. One of the most powerful ways to receive God’s life is by remembering how God has worked in the past. When we see how God has worked in the past, our faith is strengthened, and our hearts are changed. So the psalmist commits to meditating on God’s Word. That’s in v.28 – “and I will meditate on your wondrous works.”
Sixth, he tells God more of what’s going on in his heart. That’s in v.28 – “my soul melts away for sorrow.” Don’t miss this. It’s huge. He’s not pretending. He’s not acting like he feels fine. No. He is completely honest with God about what’s in his heart. He explains exactly how he is feeling.
Then seventh, he asks God to strengthen him. He knows that God can so reveal himself to us that our hearts are supernaturally and powerfully changed, so that’s what he prays at the end of v.28 – “strengthen me according to your word.”
Eighth, he asks God to keep the false way, the lies of sin, far from him. When we feel sorrow and discouraged we are vulnerable; we can more easily be deceived by Satan’s lies. So he asks God to keep false ways, the lies of sin, and deceptions of Satan far from him. That’s at the beginning of v.29 – “Put false ways far from me.”
Ninth, he again asks God to teach him the Word, at the end of v.29 – “graciously teach me your law.” There’s nothing wrong with repeating requests, as long as we repeat them meaningfully, earnestly, and from the heart. So the psalmist is seeing how, in his sorrow and discouragement, he is not seeing the truths of God’s Word clearly. So he prays and asks God to teach him his word.
Tenth, he appeals to God not to let him fall into sin. That’s in vv.30-31 --
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.
31 I cling to your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame!
Let me not be put to shame means – don’t let me fall into sin, don’t let me turn from you. It’s when we face sorrow and discouragement that we more easily fall into sin. So he appeals to God – by your grace I have sought to be faithful to you; by your grace I have set your rules before me; by your grace I cling to your testimonies. I am fighting the fight of faith, Father, don’t let me fall into sin!
And then eleventh, he tells God he knows that God will change his heart, in v.32 --
32 I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!
In his Word God promises that when we fervently pray, and earnestly meditate on God’s Word, and wait on God – he will come by his power and change our hearts. He promises that.
So here the psalmist tells God he’s trusting those promises. He says – Father, I know you will be faithful to enlare my heart – so I will end up running in the way of your commandments. I’ll not be hobbling, or crawling, or limping – no, I’ll be running – because you will enlarge my heart.
So that’s what he does when he is overwhelmed with sorrow and discouragement. And what I want to do for the rest of our time this morning is focus on one of those steps – one that he mentions twice. It’s the step of telling God what’s going on in his heart.
The reason I want to focus on this step is because I think many Christians neglect it, and because it brings great benefit.
So why should we tell God what’s going on in our hearts? This might feel awkward to you. You might not be comfortable with the idea of telling God –
- God, I’m feeling discouraged;
- Father, my love for you is weak;
- Lord Jesus, I’m jealous of this person;
- God, I am bound up with love of money.
So I thought it would be helpful to go over some reasons for why we should do this.
One reason is because we see this throughout the Bible. We see it here in Psalm 119. But it’s throughout the Bible. Many, many prayers in the Bible involve men and women telling God what’s going on in their hearts.
Think of Hannah, who had not been able to get pregnant. In 1 Samuel 1:15 we read that when she prayed she “poured out [her] soul before the Lord.” Think of what that means. Here’s your soul. Your soul is full of thoughts and feelings and fears and joys – and when she prays she pours out her soul – she tells God exactly what’s going on in her heart.
We see this in many psalms, and remember that the book of Psalms is written to teach us how to pray. Take Psalm 102 --
4 My heart is struck down like grass and has withered; I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my flesh.
6 I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places;
7 I lie awake; I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
8 All the day my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse.
He is telling God exactly how he is feeling.
Now some of us might hesitate to come to God and admit our unbelief, admit our temptations, admit our sin. So it’s crucial to understand a second reason why we can and should do this – it’s because no matter our sin, through faith in Christ we can be assured of complete acceptance by God. Like Paul says in Ephesians 2:8 – “by grace we are saved through faith.” See, we are not accepted before God based on our goodness. We are always only accepted by God based on Jesus’ death on the Cross for our sins, and his perfect goodness.
So don’t need to be afraid to come to God and admit your sins, unbelief, or jealousies – because through faith in Christ, when we come to God he is always running toward us with joy just like the father was running to the prodigal son in Luke 15.
A third reason is because when we do this God will answer us. That’s what the psalmist says in Psalm 119:26 --
26 When I told of my ways, you answered me …
When did God answer? When he told God of his ways. When he told God the truth of what he was struggling with, the truth of what he was feeling, the truth of what was going on. When we tell God what’s in our hearts, God will answer us. Why is that? It’s because we are being honest with him. It’s because we are letting him into what’s most important. It’s because we are trusting him.
Friday night Jan and I were talking with David and Kate. And Kate told us about God had recently met her in a powerful way. It had been a while since she had really felt God’s presence. And that night David had already gone to bed because he was sick. So she pulled out her Bible, and started to pray.
And as she started to pray she knew there was a part of her heart that she had held back from the Lord, something she had been struggling with that she had not brought to him. And she said that when she did finally bring this struggle to the Lord, tell him about it, ask him to work in it – he powerfully met her. He answered her. He poured his Spirit upon her. She felt his love, and she was deeply strengthened.
So Mercy Hill Church, make this a regular part of your prayer life. Pour out your soul before the Lord. Tell him what’s really going on in your heart. Tell him your struggles, your fears, your difficulties.
When you do, he will answer. He will meet you. He promises.