My Heart Says (Psalm 19:14)

Introduction

I did not stay in a Holiday N Express last night. But this morning I am a doctor. And I’m here to inform you. I’m not sure if you have cancer, but I hope you don’t. But you do have a heart condition. Now, that I’ve informed you of that can either be good or bad. And by the teaching that I want to do this morning, I want to try to ensure to the best of my ability a good working heart condition for you. And I want to start this morning in the Psalms. In Psalm 19, the very last verse. Now, let me offer this little piece of advice to our young people. I don’t want to reduce any of you to tears this morning. I have done that before.

When there is so much on the slides, and they’re trying to copy it down, and I’m going so quickly that they can’t keep up. They have actually cried. So I’m warning you now. You might want to, instead of every word that appears on the screen, just jot down the verses. And toward the end, I’ll tell you when you can start writing what’s on the screen. Okay? And you can get it all down. But we’re going to start in Psalm 19. This is a wonderful thing to say to God. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. All of God’s word is a treasure. But I think particularly among the Psalms, Psalm 19 is a treasure.

As it concludes with these wonderful words about what our heart is thinking. What’s your heart thinking? Not just this morning, that’s important. But what is your heart thinking on a regular basis? And the reason why I think this particular statement is so important in Psalm 19 is because of what precedes it. What were the nature, what was the nature of the psalmist meditation? Was it not the work and words of God? That is very helpful to me. What my mind needs to be contemplating on a very frequent basis. And the reason why we need assembling, the reason why we need Bible classes for one reason is we need to concentrate a lot on the works and word of God. He begins in the first six verses by talking about what God has done in creation and what it tells and what it declares.

It declares his handiwork. And then in verse 7, he begins talking about the word of God. And how wonderful it is. We’ve seen Psalm 19 in a psalm as it relates to the words of God. As sweet as honeycomb to the taste, the honey of God’s word. And so what is our heart thinking about? And that leads me to other passages. Proverbs chapter 4 and verse 23, you might be able to fold it without me doing so. Because it says in that book of wisdom, to keep your heart. What are the meditations of your heart? What is your heart condition? Keep your heart. And to do so with some effort and industry, with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life. The condition of your heart will determine your eternal destiny.

Thus we need to give some significant and serious attention to the heart, because as a man thinks, in his heart. So he is. Love the context of that statement. In this case, in Proverbs chapter 23, this person’s heart that’s being described isn’t very good. It’s hypocritical. It seems to suggest some care and concern for someone, but in reality, he is only concerned about himself. And the point is, regardless of the perception people have of you, who you are on the inside is what’s going to determine everything, regardless of how many people might respect you. Or look up to you, or regard you in a certain way. Oh, he’s so kind and hospitable. Really, you’re costing him money. And that’s who he really is, that person on the inside.

That’s who he is. Not what he may appear to be or convince other people that he is. Well, I could go on all day about that, but I won’t. The heart. The heart is so tricky. I want to warn you about a tricky heart this morning. Jeremiah 17. Jeremiah 17 and verse 9. This warning in the days of Jeremiah, the words of the Proverbs have been unheeded. The attitude of David in Psalm 19 has not been mimicked. The heart is deceitfully sick above all else. Who can understand it? Now, Jeremiah is speaking at a time when people think God approves of them, but he is about to utterly obliterate and destroy them. Their hearts are really out of tilter. Understand. Regardless of what kind of past we may give our hearts, I, the Lord, search the heart.

I test the mind. Even to give to each man according to his ways. And so that’s telling us, as all of these passages are, that we need to monitor the heart. That’s where me the doctor comes in. I want to issue you a heart monitor today by this lesson. We must carefully, frequently, diligently assess my heart condition.

Because we will find ourselves post-Geremiah, as those who are in captivity, trying to figure out why in the world that we’re here. Well, it’s because our fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge. God says, I don’t want to hear that coming out of your lips ever again. We shall not say that proverb in Israel anymore. And in this context, where he says, the soul that sins, it shall die. What are the reflections of the people’s hearts? They would even go so far as to say, and Ezekiel repeats it in these two verses, the Lord’s ways are not right. Wait a minute. Are you talking about your creator? The perfect one in heaven, the one who fashioned the universe, whose wisdom is ultimate, whose understanding is infinite, you’re going to tell him, actually, Lord, your ways are not right.

And Ezekiel says, No, it is your ways that are not right. I am not the standard. My behavior and thinking must find itself in accord with God’s ways to be approved by him. And so, as we go from the introduction of this, I inadvertently have already said it. I noticed that. Oh, I didn’t mean to say that yet. The biblical heart in these passages is not talking about this physical pump, though the two are closely related. And sometimes when the mind is contemplating something, you’re hey, why is it doing that? See, there’s a connection. This is the seat of a person’s emotions. The mind and the heart are connected. And so when the Bible is talking about the condition of your heart, he’s talking about the essence of a person.

1. All the Appeals in Deuteronomy to the Heart

All that is inside a person that works together. And so often the idea is of the mind of a person. The thoughts and affections. Even the beliefs and values that a person has. Introduction done. Now I want to take you to the book of Deuteronomy, because something impressed me in our study of Deuteronomy. I’ve been working on this sermon for a long time. And it’s been sitting there, and finally, today was the day. All of the appeals in the book of Deuteronomy to the heart. This is why I mean just pointing down the verse here. Deuteronomy 439, because we’re going to go through these very quickly. Know therefore today and take it to your heart that the Lord, he is not in heaven above and on the earth below, and there is no other.

You know, it’s, they should have known this. They did know this. They’ve heard about this their whole lives. But he says, now I need you to be impressed with this truth. I need you to take it to your heart and mull it over in a special way. And this really builds on a statement earlier in chapter 4 and verse 9. Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul also related to the heart and the mind. Keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen. Now here’s the thing because we walk by faith, our eyes haven’t seen like theirs did. But don’t think because their eyes have seen that they would therefore not have a problem with faith, because they would forget.

And so Moses is telling this young nation, don’t forget what your eyes have seen. And he’s talking to people who were, many of them were kids at the time. Some of them had not been born, but some of them were kids at the time when they saw the deliverance out of Egypt. Remember those 20 years old? And younger were allowed not to die in the wilderness. Okay, so imagine those kids that were anywhere from six to twenty, who saw the miraculous deliverance from Egypt, the events at Sinai, the manna that came from heaven, drinking water from rocks. They had seen all of those things. And he says, don’t forget about what you saw. Because what those things say is there’s only one person like God.

There is no other. Don’t forget about what your eyes have seen, unless they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And I’ve got to tell you, that’s our struggle. Those things are on our hearts right now. But they need to be on our hearts all the days of our lives. Tell your kids about them. Tell your grandkids. But this is a common refrain. Oh, that they had such a heart in them. I wonder if those are the sentiments of heaven today as God looks down upon all of humanity. And perhaps even some who meet in buildings like this. Oh, that they had such a heart in them. That they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that I might punish them.

No, that’s not what the pastor says, is it? That’s how some people look at it. Oh, it’s it’s torture. Obeying the Lord is torture. No, it’s not. God didn’t command these things to torture them. That it might be well with them. And if we only knew how well, that it might be well with them and with their sons forever. God has only our best at heart. And you shall love the Lord your God. Perhaps this is the text that we’re more familiar with in Deuteronomy. And you shall love the Lord your God with all you heart. Should say. You know, when you type these things in, you think it’s right, then you look at it. Oh, that’s all right. With all you heart, people. And with all your soul.

2. What They Say in Their Hearts Is Faulty

And with all your mind. And these words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. How many times does he have to say it? That’s several already. And we’re not done. Because he quickly points out some things that they have said or will say in their hearts that are faulty. Like Jeremiah chapter 17. Sometimes some things go on in our hearts that are less than what they should be. If you should say in your heart, these nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them? This is how they got into trouble in the first place. And why they’ve been wandering around in the wilderness for 40 years. You shall not be afraid of them, and you shall well remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to Egypt.

Don’t be dismayed. That’s what Caleb said in Numbers 14. So sometimes what we say in our hearts is faulty. Example number two, and this is really what started the lesson. I notice how many times the things that they were saying in their hearts in Deuteronomy were faulty. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, my power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth. And to love, the whole context of Deuteronomy chapter 8. They’ve come into the land flowing with milk and honey, and they’ve been bite deeply, and they said, Wow. Look at what we have. Like Nebuchadnezzar as he looked out over his empire. Look at what I built. We know how that went for him. But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who is giving you power to make wealth.

That he may confirm his covenant which he swore to your fathers as it is this day. Do not become self-reliant in your prosperity and affluence. Lesson for us. Let us say, give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6 and verse 11. We’re not done. Do not say in your heart, chapter 9 and verse 4, when the Lord your God has driven them out before you.

This is my favorite, by the way. Because of my righteousness, the Lord has brought me into possess this land. We’re so good God had to give it to us. That’s not the reason. But it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. Don’t say it is because of your inherent goodness. That’s not the reason. You have been rebellious and stiff-necked all along the way. That’s why your parents and grandparents died in the wilderness. This is God’s grace. God’s promise to your faithful forefather Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the patriarchs. This is his fulfillment of those things. And finally, in Deuteronomy 15 and verse 9, beware that there is no base thought in your heart. Again, look at all the things they’re saying in their hearts.

The things that people think that are faulty that are not consistent with truth and reality. The seventh year, the year of remission is near, and your eye is hostile towards your poor brother, and you give him nothing. Then he may cry to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you. Now, this involves a lengthy explanation that I don’t have time to give. But here it is. Rationalization of one’s conduct to skirt personal responsibility. Let’s try to find a loophole or a justification for being selfish and not assisting another. Let’s try to find some way.

There’s all kinds of ways people can justify the doing of what they want to do. Looking for justification and loopholes to put a stamp on my behavior that says it’s good. That’s so much easier than saying it’s not good and changing. Repenting. Because Aaron read in Acts chapter 3 another whole sermon coming about that. Working on that one for a while, too. Okay, so that’s it in Deuteronomy. We got through that fairly quickly. About the appeals God makes to their hearts, to their minds, and then some of the kinds of faulty reasoning that we’re still prone to the same kinds of reasoning in our hearts. And we all make it magical and good because we want it this way. The heart is deceitfully sick. Jeremiah says, don’t let it play tricks on you.

3. Common Fallacies of the Heart

Quickly. What about some what are some common fallacies of the hearts? Things that people today are tempted to say. And perhaps we might be tempted to say some of them as well. For example, some say in their heart, there is no God. We read about that in the Psalms. Tommy Peeler, my friend, teacher at Florida College, my peer, been friends for many years, posted this on Tuesday. He said, There are vastly different responses to suffering. And Philip Yancey describes how some went into concentration camps during the Holocaust as believers and became atheists when they saw the carnage and the death that the Germans wrought.

And he went from being a non believer to a believer because he said to himself, How could I have survived otherwise unless there was a God? Now I just want to say, I’m glad that fellow didn’t perish. I’m glad he now thinks there is a God. But there were nearly 60 people who did not survive. And that does not mean that there is no God. Or that you survive only because there is a God. There is suffering in the world. But many become believers when that moment of clarity comes. And that’s good. When they suddenly realize that if I live life without God, I am undone and hopeless. I just wish more people would come to that very true moment of clarity without a mass shooting.

Because it’s true. And while you may never be in an event like that where people just are being machine gunned to death, and you are awakened to this moment of clarity, wow, I am mortal. And I could indeed perish right here, right now. That truth is really always present. Because we will not live forever. I don’t know how and when we will die, but I know this, I’m closer to that moment than I’ve ever been.

Tragedy or no tragedy. Sometimes people say in their heart, sometimes related to this first topic of, is there a God in the midst of suffering? Life is just too hard. And its companion volume. I wish I was dead. Because life is just so hard. And if you ever feel this way, you are not alone.

There are others who feel that life is too hard. Now notice I didn’t say life is hard because it can be.

And the worst part of it may not be physical anguish. It is for some, but for most, it is some kind of an emotional anguish that we experience. Something in our condition where our heart hurt and say, I don’t like this. I am hurting. I’m hurting on a regular basis. Life is too hard. But I want to suggest to you that others have experienced the same or worse.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons for the inclusion of the story of Job. Perhaps your suffering is as bad as hisbably not. But who gets to say whose suffering is the worst? The Lord’s people have experienced suffering throughout history. They wandered about in caves and deserts and holes in the ground. I can’t tell you I don’t know what that’s like. I’ve had a house over here for eight plus years that I go to every night, and there’s a bed there that’s pretty comfortable. Wandered about in caves.

You can’t drag her into one. She’s done that once. You’re not going to be able to drag her into a cave. It’s dark in there. Caves, deserts, holes in the ground. I mean, suffering is something that has been common throughout time. To God’s people, they’re not exempt. But to say that it’s too hard. With God’s help, I can endure. And there’s this.

Take assessment of the things that are good when things seem to be not so good. Think about the things you do have that are good in your life. Focus on those. Thank God for those. That is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus when your marriage is not what it has been or could be, when your children are not acting as you wish they would. There are all kinds of scenarios where we suffer emotionally in everything. We are to give thanks. And this relates, no one cares about me. It’s very easy to start thinking that way.

David said it. I mean, no one cares for my soul. Psalm 142. But he says that in the context of affirming his hope in God. That God cares. And that he’s there for it. But he says, from an earthly perspective, it feels like I am absolutely all alone. Even though we’re not. We’re not talking to people who well understand, bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ, and are intent on attempting to do that. If they know about your suffering, they will try to come to your aid to some extent. These are people that care. We might wish they would care more or express it in a little bit clearer way that could not be missed. But there are people that care about it.

And even if you are seemingly all alone, God has not forsaken his people now. Now let’s get to some more perhaps relevant to everyone conversation.

4. Not Feeling It and the Lord's Ways Not Best

This worship thing. Let’s just be honest about it.

Why do I bring this up? Because I really think people think this. They don’t say it. Rarely does anyone ever say it. But they’re thinking it. Their actions betray them. Their speeches of a Galilean. Their actions betray them. I’m just not feeling it. It doesn’t do anything good for me. You know who’s telling you that, right? That’s the devil whispering in your ear, telling you that there’s nothing good that comes from this. I’m going to tell you, there’s something good that always comes of this for me. This is my moment of clarity every week. This is why I’m here. This is why I work. This brings sense to the madness. And I get instruction that I need that keeps my heart where it’s supposed to be.

And that’s what this lesson’s all about. I’m getting heart attention today. Another thing the heart says is the Lord’s ways are not best. We saw that in Ezekiel. And again, I, you know, somebody raised their hand in the Bible like, oh, I just want to say, the Lord’s ways aren’t right. The Lord’s ways aren’t best. Let me just go on record here. Nobody’s ever done that. I’ve been teaching Bible classes a long time. But again, it’s a thought they have. You see, God says I shouldn’t do this, but I really want to. But I think my life would be better if I did this. And so we neatly set aside the instruction of God I don’t need this. It’s not good. It’s not best. And I’m going to do this little thing over here because it’s going to give me a zing and a thrill that I miss it.

People reason like this all the time. This is why we succumb to temptation. We say to ourselves, the Lord’s ways are not best. And this, well, okay, I shouldn’t be doing it. God’s word says I shouldn’t, but it’s not that bad on the whole scale of things. It’s not going to wreck a home. It’s not going to do any damage to anyone. This is just about a moment of pleasure for me. This dabbling in sin won’t hurt me. Boy, if we could peel back and see things from a spiritual and heavenly perspective as to the injury, sin always does. And it could potentially be catastrophic. I mean, you could begin a course that is life-altering and destructive in this, but this little dabbling. Won’t hurt me.

Sin is always potentially catastrophic.

And that leads to this. Boy, I could say more, but I’m out of time, and I want to preach a whole sermon on this, so hold this for next week. God’s wrath is not real. What New Testament are you reading?

To be continued next week. And then this final thought. Oh, by the way, you could be writing this down if you haven’t been. This is the part. Too late, kids.

So you can start crying out. I can rectify my condition later. And you can. You don’t have to fix it today. Maybe. There may be some future time that you will have to make your heart and your life right with God. But while you’re saying time enough yet, which I don’t know why that invitation song hasn’t made the cut in the newer books. Because it is riveting. Oh soul, why be alarmed? The heavenly way I’ll choose someday. But there’s time. Time enough yet. A seemingly endless supply. Until you find yourself lost. Oh, what a cry. From souls along the shore. In darkness to go in sorrow and woe. And be lost. Lost. Evermore. Much more could be said. Maybe there’s a part two in this somewhere.

5. Deuteronomy Gives Us Some Solutions

But I want to offer you this briefly. Deuteronomy gives us some solutions. Could you go to Deuteronomy chapter 2? We’re going to look at four verses really rapidly here. Deuteronomy 10, 16. Circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no more. How relevant. How simple. How short? How brief is that statement? Pimppy but true. Stop stiffening your neck. Stop saying, no, I resist. I’m doing it my way. Cut away the draw from your heart. Circumcise your heart. Let God reign and rule therein. Love God with your heart. Deuteronomy chapter 11 and verse 13. It shall come about if you listen obediently to my commandments, which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Beware of deception, lest your hearts be deceived, and you turn away and serve other gods and worship them. And then finally in verse 18, you shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart. I love that. We need one of those big stampers. Just stamps it in there. Anybody got a heart stamper? You know, that’s really what I’m trying to do. By way of persuasion this morning is stamp those things in our hearts. That’s the idea. Impress your heart. May they be impressed on your heart and on your soul. And you bind them as a sign on your hand. And of course, the Pharisees, they went all crazy with that and became a showy thing and ostentatious. Look at me, I’ve got it bound on my wrist.

Conclusion

You bunch of hypocrites. But he says, you’ve got to take it with you. And they shall be as frontals on your forehead. They’re your walking papers. So we went through a lot. Wow. I was wondering about the time on all of this. And we’ve come to the end. Now, my question is this What is your heart? What is your heart say? Right now. What is it going to say going forward?

And my hope is that your heart says, I will make life’s greatest choice and decision. I’m going to serve the Lord. And I will not be dissuaded in the pursuit. There are so many things, so many people, so many influences that are trying to discourage this course.

And they’re beating at our door all the time. Just hammering away. But I’m not going to be dissuaded. I will not. Too much is at stake. Too much is being offered. I will not be hindered. I will serve him all my days. Come what may. Now that come what may is the hard part. Because I don’t know what that involves for you or for me. And it could be very problematic. But you need to make the determination. My heart is his. And there’s no better place to direct it to holy than toward your God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let’s stand and say.