The Undivided Heart
“Teach me Thy way, O Lord; I will walk in Thy truth: unite my heart to fear Thy Name” (Ps. lxxxvi. 11), is a beautiful prayer in a psalm, which has been compared to a tesselated pavement, because composed of fragments of other psalms reverently pieced together. But though most of its sentences may be discovered in other places of the Psalter, this petition stands unique in its beauty and strength. This is the Psalmist’s Spirit-given invention; here he is original. This is the gush of some geyser spring in
his heart, that flashes in the light and pours
135 its perennial fountain of inspiration on the world.
There are obviously three divisions in this verse: (1) “Teach me Thy way.’ — The Hebrew word used might be rendered “stake out.” Sometimes in riding through the country, parts of which are submerged in the winter floods, we see high stakes jutting out at various points. Our driver tells us that the river often overflows, and if it were not for these indications it would be impossible to discern the way. That is the precise idea of the Hebrew: “Stake out my way, that even when the storm rises, and the dark water sweeps across my path, I may realise that Thou hast marked it out so as to be unmistakable.”
(2) “I will walk in Thy truth.’ — Throughout the Psalter the word ¢vuth would better be rendered froth, z.c. faithfulness — “1 plight thee my troth.” When the Psalmist says, “I will walk in Thy faithfulness,” he means to say that all his days shall be spent, leaning and reckoning upon the faithfulness of his Guide and Friend, in the very atmosphere of trust in the trustworthiness of God.
(3) “Unite my heart to fear Thy Name.’ — We have another rendering in the Prayer Book version: ‘“O knit my heart unto Thee, that I may fear Thy Name”; that is, not simply is the heart united in itself, a simple and single purpose; but it becomes such because it is united and knit to the nature of the Eternal God. “O knit my heart unto Thee, knit it, weave it into Thy life, and never let me extract myself again — knit
”
!
my heart unto Thee
These three thoughts may be entitled V7za, Veritas, and Vita, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And the answer to my text is in the announcement of our Lord, “i am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” “Teach me Thy way” — “I am the Way;” “I will walk in Thy truth” — “I am the Truth;” “Knit my heart unto Thee” — “I am the Life.” The answer to the soul’s cry is in Him in whom all fulness dwells for the sons of men. Notice also the foundation argument, on which the prayer rests: (v. 5) For Thou, Lord, art’ good;” {v. 10) “For * Thou: art great;” (v. 15) “Thou art a God full.” “Thou art good, Thou art great, Thou art
full; therefore knit my heart unto Thee.”
THE DIVIDED HEART. — The world is full
of instances of the divided heart. The double-minded man who is unstable, the man who is double-sighted, the man whose ways are perplexed because he has no definite purpose before him. The Greek word for care means “that which divides”: and Jesus Christ said we must live a life free from care, because care divides, weakens, and makes us blind.
Some are divided é4y anxiety. When our companions are expecting us to take a bold and straightforward course, they are surprised to see a wavering line, as when the eagle that was expected to soar straight to the sun pursues an uncertain course, because an arrow is lodged in his breast. The man who is anxious cannot take a strong, straight course, any more than a man can sleep when he is wondering whether he has locked
the door or wound his watch.
Some are divided by contrariness, which is a most difficult and complicated disposition of the soul. We want to be pleasant, helpful, agreeable, and amiable, but are conscious of the pressure of some cross-current. Whence it comes we know not; but we find ourselves between two strong influences, the one to be sweet and Christlike, the other to be awkward and restrained.
Some of us are divided Jdecause of the incoherence and fitfulness of our impulses. Happy are those whose desires are well under hand; but with many they have the dominant place. Their passions are strong, their desires ungenerous. In many cases, doubtless, this results from some strain of heredity, which our ancestors have bequeathed to us, so that we are suffering from the lawlessness of men and women who have preceded us, and which belongs to long generations behind.
Others are critical. Two souls strive within them, Whilst admiring what is good in other people, they are conscious of a second self that sits in judgment. It seems as if there is in most, a purer, holier, lovelier self; and behind that the dark, critical, cynical self, which is always judging and passing unkind comments.
Others who are divided dy the accusations of conscience. They are always in dread lest they have done wrong, always thinking that God is angry, always failing to be at peace
with Him or themselves. On Sunday they
seem at full stretch for the Kingdom, caught up and borne heavenward; but as soon as
they touch this mundane world there is an inevitable reaction. The very yearning after God to-day will be met to-morrow by an equal intensity in their business, in making money, or in seeking pleasure. Paul tells us that he was conscious of these two wills — the better self which longed to do the will of God, and the lower, selfish, animal self which brought him into subjection. Augustine tells us that though the prayers of his mother so greatly affected him, he was constantly swept from his ideal by passion. He compares himself to a man oversleeping in the broad daylight, whose limbs are glued to the bed by drowsiness, and there is conflict between the intention to arise and heavy slumber. You will remember, too, how Bunyan tells us that he realised the two selves at war within him. First, the Devil
came and tempted him saying, “Sell Him!
Sell Him! Sell Him!” but he resisted even to blood, saying, “I won’t.” But as the Tempter’s voice continued, urging ‘“Sed, Him!” finally Bunyan answered, “Let Him go if He will.’ Whereupon, for a whole year, Bunyan suffered a perfect agony of remorse and torture, on the one hand accepting Christ, on the other prepared to barter Him away.
A divided heart lacks the first element of strength, it is unstable. The men who leave their mark in the world are the men of one purpose who, with Paul, can say, “One thing I do.” The small man who has one intense purpose becomes a great man. If a man is taken up by one great thought, by the greatness of his thought he will presently approximate to the level of
his conception; but the man who is divided by diverse interests dwindles into a little man and a groper in the dark. Oh, happy are those that always live a balanced life of perfect equilibrium, who have their impulses well under control, who can keep the wild horses in hand, who can do what they ought to do and avoid the thing which their highest nature condemns. We must, for peace and strength, follow one purpose, saying, “Unite my heart! Knit my heart
unto Thee!”
THE CONCENTRATED HEART. — There are other aims besides religion which give peace, strength, and vision. John Foster tells of a young man who one day climbed the hill that overlooked the broad acres of the inheritance which he had squandered and lost;
as he sat and mused, looking over what had once been his ancestral home, the purpose flashed into his mind to recover it. He at once rose to put it into execution. Passing through the village and seeing some coals lying outside a house, he obtained a pittance for removing them, and from that moment gladly performed the most servile duties, which opened into more remunerative ones, until he gained sufficient money to repurchase the inheritance, finally dying worth tens of thousands of pounds. It was his one purpose to undo the past which made this young man strong.
In another case it was the purpose to be rid of a certain crabbedness of temper, and to cultivate a spirit of perpetual urbanity, that gave a purpose and direction to life which had never before been realised,
In the “Life of John Bright,” we are told K that it was the thought suggested by Mr. Cobden, that he might be able to lighten the heavy anxiety that beclouded many homes, which delivered him from the melancholy which the death of his beloved wife had inflicted on his spirit. He was inert and paralysed until the inception of this new purpose inspired him to take up life anew. The purpose of philanthropy has again and again unified, quickened, and ennobled the soul that seemed spent and hopeless. It has girt its loins to fresh endeavour, and in its unity has become strong. Get hold of a purpose, and live for it. A stream that spreads itself too widely, and is dissipated into too many channels has no driving power; a very narrow stream becomes swift enough to turn the mills all along
its course. A concentrated heart, even though not yet consecrated, is stronger
than a divided heart.
THE CONSECRATED HEART. — Concentration makes a strong man, but consecration makes a saint; and we get this strong saintly life when our heart is united — not simply united in ourselves, but united in ourselves because we are united to God. “Knit my heart to Thee, O God. In Thy goings forth throughout this world and all worlds, knit my heart to Thee.”
It is the man who knits himself to Nature as Edison has done, as Newton and Faraday did, as great discoverers must all do, who finds that Nature serves them best. If you fight Nature, if you antagonise her, if you resist the laws of fire or water, you will
burn or drown; but if you study the way in which Nature is working through the world, if you unite your life with her, then she will drive your motor-cars, light your lamps, and supply all the necessaries of daily existence.
The same is true of the great laws of our national life. The law which is pleasant to the man who obeys it is ruin to those who resist it. The law which will promote virtue to its highest position will hang the murderer. You must unite or knit yourself to law to be blessed.
Is it not so with human character? You may be acquainted with an individual with whom at one time you had no sympathy — indeed, you disliked him. But after a while he opened his heart to you. Some great sorrow came, and you and he were thrown together. You found that you had misjudged and misread him, but when your heart opened out to him, and he became your close friend — when you were knit to him, and began to understand him, he became one of the greatest helps in your life.
What is true of nature, true of law, true of human sympathy, is true also of God. If there are men who are living in opposition to God, they cannot realise what God is. He is an enigma to them. A great barrier of ice seems to separate between them and Him. But directly a man is knit to God, and he becomes at-one with God, his life acquires simplicity and power.
Let us, then, open our hearts to the great God who is brooding over each of us, saying: “O Divine Will, knit my will with Thine! O Divine Love, knit my love with Thine! O Divine Sympathy, unite my sympathies with Thine! O Divine Rectitude, unite and knit my moral sense with Thine! O Divine Activity, knit the activities of my life with Thine!” God is always going forth on His great ministries. He is passing by your bedsides every morning, saying, “Awake and come.” Let us ask then, that He may take our little lives into union with His great heart and mighty movement, that in keen sympathy and loyal co-operation we may move forward with Him!
“Knit me, for I cannot knit myself; but come out of Thine eternity, step out, rend the veil with Thy strong hands, and come to me in my tiny commonplace existence! My God, knit me and weave me into Thy nature, and weave Thy nature into me, that Thou and I may keep step, keep in tune and time, until time shall be no more. Knit
me, unite me with Thyself!”
Do you want to be knit to God, to be
made one? There is only one way, by Jesus. We must “receive the at-one-ment” from Christ’s pierced hands. Put away known sin, put away doubtful things, put away self-will. Let Jesus make you at one with Himself. Go, and speak to that man and woman whom you have slighted; ask for forgiveness from those you have wronged; get right with brother and sister from whom you are estranged. At least be willing to be at one with them. Yield yourself to God that He may disunite you from the world, and unite you in yourself. He will not fail you, and you shall become one with Him, as the Father is in the Son and Son in the Father. Knit me, and keep me knit. Let this be our daily prayer!
This growing attachment will necessarily bring about a detachment from the things of Time and Sense. As we are knit to God, the hold of the world will be loosened, Ruth’s new love for Naomi will naturally draw her away from her people and her gods, and even from the grave of her boyhusband. The moon’s attraction will lead to a tidal wave round the globe. It feels her pull upward, which is stronger than the old downward pull of mother-earth. So be it with each of us! “Draw us, and we will run after thee.”