Psalm 119:70
…their hearts are unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law. Psalm 119:70
This verse has the sound of something we might hear today on social media. Somehow, when I read it in Scripture, it sounds like a fair representation; “their hearts are unfeeling like fat” (bam, mic drop)! But thinking about someone saying this in a social media video, I interpret this phrase with more emotion behind it. Perhaps including a red-faced close-up.
“…their hearts…” The psalmist brings us into a heart level conversation. He is not talking about external behavior. He is commenting on the inward thoughts of man.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. – Matthew 15:19 ESV
“…are unfeeling like fat,” This is such a vivid picture of my heart at times. I think about the uses of the word “fat” as a description of being unfeeling in two ways.
Fat just sits there on our bodies, there is no life blood running through it. It can be cut away and removed without any cost to itself.
Fat can be a picture of affluence and/or comfort, of individuals who are numb to hardship.
“…but I delight in your law.” Then the psalmist writes of his remedy to an “unfeeling heart.” He declares that he delights -- his heart lights up -- under God’s truth. His true delight is in the way of God.
I find myself coming through a season of reading about the suffering, waiting, loneliness, and persecution that other saints have experienced. I did not choose to go down this path, I just found myself on it this year. It started with being willing to read more about trauma and I quickly found myself deep into reading about other’s experiences with “a dark night of the soul.” I say this to acknowledge that my heart can easily become numb to the realities of others.
I tend to think that my friends who claim to be believers are asleep; unaware of what is happening with their fellow sinners, sufferers, and saints. I must confess that my heart too, at times, is as “unfeeling like fat.”
Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. – Hebrews 2:1 ESV
If Hebrews tells me “…we drift,” and Psalm 119:70 says, “…their hearts are unfeeling like fat,” the question that comes to my mind is about what I am going to do. What means of grace am I planning to undertake to keep me from drifting into numbness?
Some things that come to mind are biblical intake (memorizing, meditating, reading, studying, journaling, and listening to Scripture). Another key element is praying and speaking back to God what He is revealing to me through Scripture. And finally, I must actively serve others in my local church and community. These simple means of grace will keep my heart from drifting into numbness.
While these simple means of grace (bible intake, prayer, and serving others) are the basics of the Christian faith, why are we not doing these things? Often, in our pursuit of comfort, peace, and isolation, we distance ourselves from others. Our norm becomes a self-focus that results in a lack of “delight” in our lives. We are quick to recognize our discontent, but we tend to blame it on someone or something else.
What would it look like to confront the numbness in your life? How can you begin to take hold of the drift and wrestle your will back into God’s will? God wants your heart. Burke Care is here to dialogue and walk through this process with you.
God, I ask that you subdue me. Sober me up from my addiction to myself. Call me back to being a slave to righteousness. I am no longer a slave to sin because I have been bought at a price. God, save me from me. Amen.
Application Questions:
How do I experience numbness in my life today?
In what ways am I actively contributing to my “unfeeling heart” through open rebellion to God?
Who can I talk with to stem the drift and walk in the way God has called me to walk?
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