July 24, 2018 - - Psalm 119:32 - - When an enlarged heart is good

I will run in the way of your commandments

when you enlarge my heart.

Psalm 119:32 ESV

The second part of the text has a variant reading: "for you set my heart free". What a great truth in these few words.

There are many reasons why we might balk at the idea of following God's commandments:

~our hearts are devoted to a different love

~our understanding of God's intentions are inadequate

~our love for ourselves exceeds our love for God

~our desire for esteem before people is greater than our desire

for God

The Psalmist will RUN in the commandments of God for these reasons:

~God has increased the psalmist\s capacity to love Him and the

psalmist sets aside all idols vying for God's place

God set his heart free from misunderstanding the

commandments so that he now sees them as the path of life

~God has enlarged the psalmist's love for God so that God is

first in his life and therefore the psalmist will serve God above

every one and every thing else

~God has enlarged his heart so that the psalmist does not look

to people who are wavering and fickle in their approval, rather

with this increased capacity to receive God's love and live in

real relationship with Him the psalmist finds affirmation in God

alone.

In Your love, Father Source of all good, we can live as men and women who are secure enough to love You first and best and from the overflow of that relationship love the people You have placed in our lives. As You have enlarged our hearts and set us free, we will with increasing fervor and love run to You in the pathway of Your commandments. Spirit of God, anchor us in Jesus so that the words of this Psalm may be fulfilled in us. Amen.