An Affair of the Heart
“I have of late taken some pains to learn by heart Psalm 119 and have made some progress therein.” -Sarah Savage, English Diarist, 1664-1752.
“It’s an affair of the heart.” This thought came to me while I was regretting my self-imposed challenge of memorizing the longest Psalm in the bible. After weeks of repeating the words out loud and writing them down from memory again and again, I had managed to lock down the first eight verses. But the realization that I would have to repeat this process for another 168 verses was daunting. Yet I could already feel the impact of Psalm 119’s words inside of me. I’ve made it a goal to fall more deeply in love with God this year, to become more dependent upon God for my sense of purpose and direction, for every aspect of my life. Memorizing this Psalm was making this goal more than a goal. It was becoming a deep desire.
That effect surprised me. I’d skimmed through the Psalm before. Its 176 verses are a veritable thesaurus of the word “law,” using synonyms like “statute,” “precept,” “command” and ‘decree” as the meditation unfolds. But now that I’m memorizing it I find that there is something underneath the thesaurus, something more radical, more central to the entire poem. It first became apparent to me in the second phrase of the second “blessed.” The Psalm begins:
Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.
Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart-
According to this Psalm, the law of the Lord is to be sought out as well as followed. His statutes are to be desired with everything inside of us as well as obeyed. At its core this, Psalm 119, is an affair of the heart.
I had read these two verses again and again as I memorized them over the last couple of weeks. But this morning “…and seek him with all their heart…” had become a personal invitation to adventure. In the light of this particular morning, that one phrase was imbued with the power to transport me across space and time.
As I continued my morning devotional, I happily boarded the train of thought to see where it would lead.
Our first stop was ancient Israel. As I turned to Deuteronomy 6 in my Bible, I read the Shema, the prayer at the heart of the Jewish faith, and how clearly it expressed the desire behind Psalm 119:
Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.1
Our next stop was the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 22. He was responding to a question and in his response he reaffirmed his commitment to this heartbeat of faith:
“‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”2 -
After following my train of thought a third time, we stopped in the 19th century to reflect upon the title page of a philosophical classic by Soren Kierkegaard. It read, “Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing.” When I turned the page I found a prayer by the author:
Father in heaven, what is man without you! What is all that he knows, vast accumulation though it be, but a chipped fragment if he does not know you! What is all his striving, could it even encompass a world, but a half-finished work if he does not know you: you the One, who is one thing and who is all!
After contemplating this prayer, my mental journey took me on to the final destination of the journey. It was a personal interaction between Jesus and some dear friends named Mary and Martha. Martha was focused on all of the things that a good hostess should do when they have a visitor like Jesus. Mary, on the other hand, sat and listened to what Jesus was saying. Martha was frustrated by her inaction.
‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’ Luke 10:41-42
Back in my home, I wondered what the results of such an affair of the heart would be. Then I ran across the story of William Wilberforce (1759-1833), a key leader in the successful campaign to end the North Atlantic Slave trade. Apparently he was known to recite Psalm 119 as he walked to his home through Hyde Park in London, after a day of working in the British Parliament. It seemed I had my answer.
As I closed my morning devotional, I could think of only one response proper to this morning’s adventure. I needed to pray from the heart.
O Lord, may I seek you in all that I do. Be my motivation. Be my greatest desire. May my journey today draw me deeper and deeper into our affair of the heart.
Amen.
Deuteronomy 6:4-6
Matthew 22:36-40.