Sermons

What to Do When Your Heart Strays from God

Psalm 119:169-176

 

Thursday night my heart was straying from God. Most of you know that God provided one of our worship leaders with a job in Orange County, which means we need another worship leader. And Thursday night I could tell my heart was straying, because I was full of fear about our need, which showed that I was not trusting or relying on God.

 

And I’m not alone. Everyone of us who trusts Jesus Christ will have times when our hearts stray from God. For example –

When you hold a grudge against someone – you are straying from God.

When you grumble – you are straying from God.

When you are jealous – you are straying from God.

When you gossip – you are straying from God.

When you lack compassion for those who are lost – you are straying from God.

 

All of us will have times when our hearts are straying from God. So what should we do at those times?

 

The good news is that God tells us in his word. And one passage where he does this is in Psalm 119. So let’s turn to Psalm 119:169-176. If you need a Bible, please raise your hand so we can bring one to you. This passage in Psalm 119 is on page 516 in the Bibles we are passing out.

 

Today we come to the end of our series on Psalm 119 -- 22 sermons on how to nurture passion for God, how to pray, how to walk with God. And the author ends this Psalm on a surprising note.

 

Look at what he says, starting in verse 169 –

169 Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word!

170 Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word.

171 My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes.

172 My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.

173 Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.

174 I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.

175 Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.

176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

 

That last verse is shocking. Because in the previous versus the author said that he longs for God. He loves God’s word more than gold. He meditates on God’s Word all the day. But here he says he has gone astray from God like a lost sheep.

 

So let’s ask – what does the author mean when he says he has strayed from God? It’s not that he is now knowingly and willingly pursuing sin. We know that because of what else he says about himself in verse 176. Read that verse again –

176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

 

So he has gone astray from God. But he also says he is God’s servant who has not forgotten God’s commandments. So how can he be a servant of God who does not forget God’s commandments, and at the same time be going astray from God?

 

Think about my situation Thursday night. I was full of fear about our need for a worship leader -- which shows that I was not trusting God and was straying from God. But at the same time I saw that I was straying from God, I knew that I should trust God, and I wanted to trust God -- which shows that I was also a servant of God who remembered God’s commandments.

 

This is the sort of thing every believer will experience. Being a believer does not mean your heart never strays. It means that when your heart does stray, it grieves you, you recognize that it’s wrong, and you want to change.

 

So the focus of this last section of Psalm 119 is what we can do when our hearts stray. So let’s focus on this as our next question – what does he do when his heart strays from God?

 

I found eight helpful steps in these verses.

 

First, he turns to God and prays. Notice that in each of these verses he is talking directly to God. He is talking to God and asking for God’s help. But I would guess that when we find our hearts straying, many of us don’t turn to God and pray.

 

Many of us, when we find our hearts straying from God, just get discouraged. We think of what weak Christians we are. We think of how unspiritual we are. And we make resolutions like “I need to get stronger spiritually. I need to get more committed to Christ.” So we get discouraged, we compare ourselves to others, we make resolutions -- but we don’t turn to God and pray.

 

Why not? One reason is because we think our sin disqualifies us. But because of Jesus Christ, our sin does not disqualify us. Jesus Christ paid for all of our sin. And Jesus never strayed from God. And because you are looking to Jesus with faith, all your sins are forgiven, and even when your heart is straying, when God sees you he sees you covered with Jesus’ perfect righteousness.

 

That’s why Thursday night, even though my heart was straying, I could still turn to God and ask him for help. Not because I was good enough. After all, my heart was straying. But because Jesus has paid for my straying and covered me with his righteousness.

 

So when you find your heart straying from God, the most important step you can take is to rely on the finished work of the cross, and on that basis turn to God and pray.

 

Second, he asks God to hear him. You can see that in verses 169-170. Notice the first half of each of these verses –

169 Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word!

170 Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word.

 

Why should we ask God to hear us? It’s not because God might not hear our prayers. Throughout God’s word he promises that because by faith we are connected to Jesus’ death and perfect righteousness, he will always hear our every prayer.

 

So why ask God to hear us? It’s because it will remind us that having God hear us is mercy we don’t deserve, and that he can hear us only through Jesus.

 

So sprinkle your prayer with humble requests for God to hear you. And be assured that because of Jesus Christ, he will. Every time.

 

Third, he asks God to give him understanding of the word. You can see this in verse 169 –

169 Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word!

 

When our hearts stray from God, the problem is that we are not understanding God’s word. Not that we can’t understand what God’s word means. But the we are not understanding that God’s word is true -- we are not believing that God’s word is true

 

That’s what was going on with me Thursday night. Thursday night I was full of fear thinking that God was not going to take care of us regarding a worship leader. But Philippians 4:19 says that God will supply all our needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. I could understand what those words meant. But my fear showed that I did not understand that those words were true. And that’s what’s happening every time our hearts stray from God.

 

So when the psalmist asks God to give him understanding, he’s asking “help me understand that your word is true, help me trust your word.”

 

Here is another example. Let’s say your heart is straying toward feeling jealous about someone whose husband just got a huge raise. At that moment you do not believe that Deuteronomy 32:4 is true, which says that all of God’s work is perfect -- that his work in creating you the way you are, and putting you in the position you are in, is perfect – the result of his perfect wisdom and love for you, and that it’s perfectly tailored to bring you the greatest joy in knowing him.

 

So when you are jealous you’re not understanding that Deuteronomy 32:4 is true. So you should pray and ask God – “Give me understanding that this is true.” And then you should open up to Deuteronomy 32:4, and pray over that until you feel the Holy Spirit strengthen your faith and change your heart and so satisfy you in Christ that you no longer are jealous.

 

Fourth, he asks God to deliver him from sin’s power. You can see that in verse 170 –

170 Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word.

What kind of deliverance is he asking for? Since he is straying from God, I think the deliverance he’s asking for is deliverance from sin’s power.

 

Please hear this. If you do not regularly pray and ask God to deliver you from sin’s power, it’s probably because you think you can deliver yourself from sin’s power. Now it’s true that your willpower can change a lot of your outer actions – so you are honest, work hard, don’t cheat on your wife. But your willpower can’t change your heart so you love Christ more than anything, and are content in Christ no matter what happens.

 

Our willpower can’t free us from sin’s power. But God’s power can. And when we pray, and ask God to deliver us, he will work through his word, and change our hearts.

 

Fifth, he affirms to God that God will fulfill his promises. You can see that in verses 171-172 –

171 My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes.

172 My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.

 

When we come to God in Jesus’ name, and ask God for understanding of his word, and pray that he will deliver us from sin’s power -- God will always answer. But this might take some effort. It might take some time of praying over the Scriptures until we feel the Holy Spirit changing our hearts.

 

That’s why the psalmist affirms to God that God will fulfill his promises. It’s because while you are battling, and praying, and not yet experiencing heart-change, it helps to stop and say “I will praise you at the end of this, because you will teach me that your word is true -- my tongue will sing of your word at the end of this, because all your commandments are right.”

 

So as you pray, regularly pause and affirm to God that you know he will fulfill his promise to you. That will glorify him, and strengthen you.

 

Sixth, he urges God to help him, based on the fact that his genuine faith (as demonstrated in his life) shows that he’s connected to God’s mercy. You can see this in verses 173-174 –

173 [He starts with a request.] Let your hand be ready to help [Then he gives three reasons for why God should help him] for I have chosen your precepts.

174 I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.

 

So the author gives God three reasons for why God should help him. But it’s crucial that we not misunderstand how these reasons work.

 

It’s not that these reasons earn him God’s answer. That’s impossible, because everything we receive from God is from God’s mercy purchased by Christ and is ours by faith alone. But what these reasons show is that he has the kind of genuine faith that connects him to God’s mercy.

 

So when you pray, list evidence in your life which shows that your faith is genuine. This will strengthen your faith, and will stir God’s heart.

 

Seventh, he persists in asking God to revive him through the word. You can see this in verse 175 –

175 Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.

 

Here he uses different words to repeat what he’s already prayed. So why does he repeat it? It’s because God has not answered yet. Which shows that battling against sin can take time, and that we should keep praying until God answers.

 

Eight, he is honest with God about his straying, and asks for God to seek him, because of his genuine faith as shown in his remembrance of God’s word. You can see that in verse 176 –

176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

 

Notice that request “seek your servant.” Christianity is not about super spiritual people having the discipline to seek God. Christianity is about the God who in astonishing love and mercy seeks and finds sinful men and women. So when you find your heart straying, ask God to seek you, to find you, to help you. He will.

 

So this Psalm ends with the author fighting the fight of faith against the wanderings of his heart. That ending puzzles some commentators. “Why end on such a low note?” they say.

 

I don’t think it’s a low note. Because this is the reality of spiritual life this side of heaven. This side of heaven we will have to battle against sin. But the good news, is that when we battle, by prayer and meditation on God’s word, he will meet us again and again, and bring our straying hearts back.

 

That’s what happened Thursday night. I battled, praying over Philippians 4:19, which says that God will supply all our needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. It took some battle, but I felt the Holy Spirit changing my heart, strengthening my faith, so I knew that he was in sovereign control of our need of a worship leader, and that he would completely take care of us.

 

He brought my heart back from straying. And when you battle, he will bring your heart back from straying, too. So, battle, like the psalmist does in this passage.