God Must be on the Throne of My Heart
How do you rate yourself in: unshakable faith? a joyful heart? a positive mouth? the ability to rest?
Verse of the Day
“Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.”
Today’s Devotional
Psalm 16 is quite beautiful in its entirety, but also very significant. David is singing out his joy about having God as his refuge and guide. This part of the psalm is quoted by Peter in his first sermon at Pentecost in Acts 2. It is also quoted by Paul in Acts 13.
If we go back a couple of verses, we see that David is making a decision, a proclamation, that God will be his number one priority. He says, after observing people worship other gods, “Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.” (Psalms 16:5) And again, he says in verse 8, “I keep my eyes always on the Lord”. Then, as David does so beautifully, he describes the benefits of this decision. In his close connection with God, he cannot be shaken. His heart is glad, his tongue rejoices, his body will rest secure.
(Now just a side note before we continue: Davis speaks about not being abandoned in death. Here we see David’s confident hope in spending eternity with God. It is also what Peter and Paul quoted as a reference to Jesus, who is the only Faithful One, whose body did not decay.)
There are benefits to having a rightly-prioritized, God-focused life. The first one is that the struggles of this world do not shake our faith and trust in God. Bad things are going to happen. Hopefully those things drive me to my knees and remind me Who to trust.
The second benefit is a happy heart. It is obvious when someone has a happy heart. Things don’t have to be perfect for them to be happy, they just are. And often this glad-heartedness is confusing to others. “How can they be so happy?” Here’s the thing: a joyful heart that trusts in God does not need to make sense to those who cannot fathom trusting God with everything.
The third benefit is a positive mouth. If I have God on the throne of my heart, how can my words be negative, complaining, criticizing, gossiping or worrisome? Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for pouring out our woes. But as a general rule, are my words positive and uplifting? If they are not, then maybe I have taken the throne in my own heart instead of God. I have heard it said: “You cannot have a negative mouth and a positive life.”
The last benefit that David cites is the ability to rest. And rest securely. When I lay my head down at night to sleep, is my mind full of worry and anxiety, or is my mind full of prayers of thanksgiving and requests for God’s guidance? And other than sleeping at night, are my days full of striving at a frenetic pace, and a feeling of guilt if I ever take a moment to breathe, rest or pray? Or is there a peace about my day’s activities, knowing that God is guiding me and that all that needs to be accomplished will happen in due time?
I would like to take a moment to consider: is my faith unshakable? Is my heart joyful? Are my words positive and uplifting? Am I able to rest securely? I think David has given us a fabulous litmus test of our trust in God. As we have discussed over the last few days, trusting God is the source of all of our joy. If I am told over and over in the Bible not to fear, the only way not to fear is to trust in God. Even when it’s hard. Even when things are going well. God must be on the throne of my heart in order for me to have joy.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How do you rate yourself in:
unshakable faith?
a joyful heart?
a positive mouth?
the ability to rest?
Which one of those is the biggest struggle? One of the great things about God is that his mercies are new every morning. Whichever one of those (or some or all) that you struggle with, ask God today to help you with your trust in him. Then follow his lead. So that your joy may be ever-increasing as your trust in God grows.