"The heart is active," says Paul David Tripp. His colleague, David Powlison agrees: "The heart is an active verb."
The heart is not merely an empty container that gets filled. It is not merely a "love tank" or "love bank" into which others make deposits and withdrawals. Nor is the heart passive - something which is only acted upon, but never acts. Affections and emotions are not like diseases that we catch. Mumps. Measels. Chicken Pox. Flu. No, the heart does. The heart is an active verb.
So what does the heart do?
It adores, admires, applauds and appreciates. The heart approves, abjures, abhors, aims, applies and aspires; it asks and answers, admonishes and accepts; it adopts, anticipates, assumes, arouses and allures; amuses, attracts, averts and avoids; abstains or allows; animates, agitates and attacks.
The heart both begs and begets. It blazes, boils, breathes, begrudges and bequeathes. It calls, cares, cherishes and chooses; challenges, changes, covets and craves. The heart contemplates, considers, cheers, condones, condemns, curses and cajoles; it cries, commands and complains; commits, charms and cheers; contents, contrives and creates. It cautions, chafes, chills, coddles, comforts and condoles; the heart commiserates, clasps, clings and cleaves; it cultivates and it counsels.
Further, the heart delights, desires and depends; dwells upon, dotes on and dreams; despises, detests and demands; dictates, directs and determines; discerns, discriminates and dislikes; despairs and desists; dampens and delays; discourages and dissuades. It esteems and estimates; exalts and exults; enjoys and enjoins; envies and enlivens; electrifies and elects; espouses and embraces; endorses and entertains; expects and excites. It also evades, escapes, empathizes, encourages and exhorts.
It fancies, fantasizes and fascinates; favors, fears, freaks and fumes; forgives or festers; ferments and foments; faints and forbids; foils, frustrates and forgets. The heart groans, glorifies, goes after and gladdens; goads, gives, generates, governs and grants. It hungers and hankers; honors, hopes and holds; hurries, hates and hardens. It instructs, insists, inclines and inquires; importunes, invites, implores and invokes; indulges, intercepts and interferes; inhibits, inflames, and idolizes.
The heart judges, jars, and jolts; it kindles and keeps; loves, likes, longs and lusts; languishes, lulls, laments and loathes. It meditates, memorizes and muses; mopes, mocks, mulls and moves; maddens, magnifies and murmurs; notices, nags and neglects.
The heart observes, obsecrates, obtests and obstructs; objects and obviates; offends, offers, overflows. It profers, pants and pines; prays and plays; pleads and placates; pretends and petitions; praises and prizes. It pictures, prompts, presses, plans and plots; pursues, peruses, ponders, pores and picks; persists, perseveres, propositions and permits. It pouts, precludes, prevents and prohibits; promotes, protects, pacifies and pardons.
The heart quenches and quells; quickens, quiets and quits. It replies and responds; reveres and respects; researches and remembers; repents and rejoices; rewards, relents, reprieves and requests; requires, resents, returns and rejoins. It relishes, restrains and removes; rules, rejects and refuses; it rallies. It revives.
The heart seeks, savors and sees; solicits, sanctions, stirs and strives. It starts and stimulates; spurs and spues and sues; it supplicates, summons and sins; it seethes, simmers and smolders; stifles, subdues and submits. It studies, seperates and settles; scopes, scans, scorns; it surveys and scrutinizes; sifts, surmises and suspects. The heart sorrows, sighs and suffers; suppresses, soothes and sympathizes; shrinks, sidesteps and squelches; stays and storms; shuts and shuns; speaks and stops; satisfies, sings and soars.
It thirsts and treasures; thinks; talks. It thrills, titillates, teases and taunts; it tries and tests; tells and takes; turns, transforms and triumphs. It urges, understands, underplays and underrates; values and venerates; vexes, vetos and vets. The heart wills, wants and wishes; weighs, winnows and worships; warms, woos and worries; wakens, watches and warns. The heart wonders and withdraws.
The heart yearns.
Did you know that this much was going inside of you? What is your heart doing today?
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Active Hearts
Monday, October 30, 2006
Monday Devotions - Unite My Heart
There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.
All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.
For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.
Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name. (Ps. 86:8-11)
I'm on a retreat right now with my care group. Five couples have pulled away for three days to examine our lives and hearts, care for each other's souls, pray together, and experience the joy of fellowship. This morning I read a portion of Psalm 86 to begin our time. This psalm is a precious example of unwavering trust in God's character when I'm surrounded by enemies. The first seven verses contain no less than eight requests of God:
Incline your ear. Answer me. Preserve my life. Save your servant. Be gracious. Gladden my soul. Give ear to my prayer. Listen to my plea.
Maybe you've been there, or find yourself there right now. Reduced to one word, your prayer is, "Help!" If this Psalm were set to modern music, it might seem like one more example of man-centered lyrics that focus on what God can do for ME. A closer look reveals that the worshipper is intimately acquainted with God's character and deeds, and uses that knowledge as the basis for crying out to God.
The Lord is good and forgiving.
God abounds in steadfast love to all who call upon him.
God does great and wondrous things.
God has delivered my soul from the grave.
God has helped and comforted me.
The point is this: if God isn't all these things, then I shouldn't expect him to deliver me. But he is all these things and we can't forget. So, in the middle of his prayer, David remembers that God is supreme above all false gods. No idols responds to our prayers like God can. The nations owe their very existence to God, and will eventually come and worship before him. God is great and does wondrous things. In other words, there is only one God.
David realizes that the idols of his heart are a greater threat than the enemies he faces. So he asks the Lord, "Teach me your way that I may walk in your truth." So many times when I'm in a fix, I want to teach God MY way. "Lord, I think it would be a good idea if that person would stop talking about me...God, now would be a great time to send me a check in the mail...Father, it would be great if you took away my chronic pain." Instead, David says to God, "Teach me your way." It's better to suffer and walk in God's truth, than avoid pain and live a lie.
David's then asks, "Unite my heart to fear your name." He knows he's prone to fear everything but God. Failure. Looking bad in the eyes of others. The future. Being misunderstood. Being hurt.
Too often I fear many things at once.
When my heart fears God alone, life gets so much simpler. I trust God is good enough to desire the best for me. I trust he is powerful enough to bring that good about. I trust he is wise enough to know the best way to accomplish his purposes in my life. I trust that no other "god" can thwart his perfect plans for me.
Ultimately, the Gospel unites my heart to fear God's name. For at the foot of the cross I see most clearly that the Lord is good and forgiving, and abounding in steadfast love. I understand in a way that David never could, that God has delivered my soul from the grave by sending his only Son to be my Savior.
May the challenges you face today and in the future only unite your heart to say with greater joy, "For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.".