Psalm 119:32

(This is an entry from a devotional commentary I am working on from Psalm 119 entitled God and His Word.  The introduction can be found here, successive entries have covered the 22 sections of the Psalm, and following entries verse by verse.)

 

"I shall run the way of Your commandments,

For You will enlarge my heart."

 

The Psalmist has moved from being paralyzed and cleaving to the dust (Psalm 119:25) to cleaving to Your word (Psalm 119:31) and running in it.  How did this happen?  A confession of sin (Psalm 119:26), a relinquishing of self (Psalm 119:29), and a seeking of You and Your ways (Psalm 119:30) revived him.  Free from the weight and obstacles of sin (Proverbs 4:12, Hebrews 12:1-2), he was free to run!  Because his life has the credibility of obedient action, his words have weight and are not useless (Proverbs 12:14, Proverbs 12:26, Proverbs 15:7, Proverbs 26:7).  ‘Enlarge’ is the Hebrew רָחַב, rāḥaḇ: A verb indicating to enlarge, to extend; to open wide. It means to gain living space, territory (Gen 26:22); especially as the work of the Lord (Exodus 34:24; Deuteronomy 12:20; Deuteronomy 19:8). The psalmists praise God for enlarging them, giving them strength (2Sa 22:37).  We know that distance runners have larger physical hearts and greater capacity.  Whether this is cause or effect is a matter of debate, but Lord, make it so!  Increase my capacity from You and for You.  May I receive and give much of You.  May I hasten and not delay in it (Psalm 119:59-60)!  Freed from sin, I flee to You in unspeakable joy and freedom.  Surely the path of life has more joy and adventure than any other (Psalm 16:11, Proverbs 4:18).

 

‘I will run the way of thy commandments,.... Not only walk but run in it; which is expressive of great affection to the commands of God, of great readiness and cheerfulness, of great haste and swiftness in the way of them, and of great delight and pleasure therein; when thou shall enlarge my heart; with the knowledge of God, his word, ways, worship, and ordinances; with his love more fully made known, and with an increase of love to him; with the fear of him, and a flow of spiritual joy and peace; and when delivered from straits and difficulties, from weights and pressures, and everything that may hinder walking or running;’[1]

 

‘With energy, promptitude, and zeal he would perform the will of God, but he needed more life and liberty from the hand of God… the feet soon run when the heart is free and energetic. Let the affections be aroused and eagerly set on divine things, and our actions will be full of force, swiftness, and delight… He must change the heart, unite the heart, encourage the heart, strengthen the heart, and enlarge the heart, and then the course of the life will be gracious, sincere, happy, and earnest; so that from our lowest up to our highest state in grace we must attribute all to the free favour of our God. We must run; for grace is not an overwhelming force which compels unwilling minds to move contrary to their will' our running is the spontaneous leaping forward of a mind which has been set free by the hand of God, and delights to show its freedom by its bounding speed.

What a change from Psa 119:25 to the present, from cleaving to the dust to running in the way. It is the excellence of holy sorrow that it works in us the quickening for which we seek, and then we show the sincerity of our grief and the reality of our revival by being zealous in the ways of the Lord… It is one of the great lacks of our age that heads count for more than hearts, and men are far more ready to learn than to love, though they are by no means eager in either direction.’[2]

[1] John Gill, Exposition on the Entire Bible, on Psalm 119:32, e-Sword edition

[2] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Treasury of David, on Psalm 119:32, e-Sword edition


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