For You shall enlarge my heart

by: carole l. haines

Strengthen me according to Your word. ²⁹ Remove the false way from me, and graciously grant me Your law. ³⁰ I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me. ³¹ I cling to Your testimonies; O Lord, do not put me to shame! ³² I shall run the way of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart. (Psalm 119 NASB)

For I, The Lord, will enlarge your heart.  How wonderful to know that God not only initiates our faith in Him, He grows it up to full maturity.  God will not force Himself upon a person, but He will continually provide opportunities to grow up, and grow more and more like Christ.  Let’s break it down and see what God does, and what we do, in cooperation with His loving work in our lives. When we know what we are to do, it prevents us from trying to do what only God can do, and we find truly, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

God will enlarge my heart.  He will broaden it, make it grow wide.  He will increase our capacity to love as He loves, to care as He cares, to see others, and ourselves, as He sees.

God will remove the false way from me, if I ask Him to.  He will remove the lies, what deceives us.  All that is fraudulent, a sham, or a “put-on.”  He will show us how to be ourselves, more than we ever could, because He knows exactly who He made us to be and why.
God will strengthen me according to His Word.  He will cause me to arise, to stand upright, to become powerful in Him. He will establish, confirm, and maintain my faith in Him.  He will prove and validate His purpose in me.  I don’t need to fight for a place in the world, because God will make the way plain.  He will go ahead of me and open the way of His will. The word, strengthen, even means to come on the scene.  We are told to “humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you at the proper time. (1 Peter 5:6 NASB) God knows when we are ready to move up and out.  Jump too soon, and down you’ll go.  Step out from under His kind guidance, and down you’ll go.  I know, I’ve done it, and it hurts.  But He is there to pick us up, brush us off, kiss our wounds and set things right again.

And what are we called to do? We are to daily choose the faithful way. We are to cling to His testimonies and run the way of His commandments.  We try to do too much of our own sanctification work.  Our work is to yield, to trust, to obey, to believe, to rest in Him and daily do what He places before us.  O, God is so good, so faithful, and so true.  Truly, “He who began a good work in you, shall be faithful to complete it in you.” (Phil. 1:6 NASB)