Your Heart Is In His Heart

Why are pictures of baby animals so moving?

Because they connect us to our emotions.

Prisoners and Cats
At the maximum security prison known as Pendleton Correctional Facility just outside of Indianapolis they found a way that helps inmates learn new life skills and helps cats.

For six hours a day, seven days a week, a handful of men receive unqualified love from the more than 20 cats that live in the prison as part of the program. In exchange for care and a place to stay before being adopted, the cats at Pendleton offer inmates untampered, non-judgemental affection.

The program houses them with incarcerated caregivers who gain skills such as empathy, responsibility and self-esteem. The men love their cats and the cats are dependent on their caregivers. What some critics thought was a joke has turned into an incredibly successful program for the cats and the inmates.

In a spiritual sense, the Psalms are like the cats are to the inmates, they open our heart to the heart of God. The Psalms have a wonderful capacity to capture the reality of our human experience. They express the emotions, personal feelings, attitudes, gratitude, and interests of each of us. In the Psalms we get to know God on a deep and personal level. The Psalms bring God closer to us.

As you read the Psalms, you feel closer to Christ because in many of them you see and sense the very heart of God.

The Psalms can melt the hardest of hearts and encourage everyone to chase after the very heart of God.

Types of Psalms

Praise 33, 103, 139
Historical 68, 78, 105, 106
Relational 8, 16, 20, 23, 55
Penitential 6, 32, 51, 102, 130, 143
Messianic 2, 8, 16, 22, 40, 45, 69, 72, 89, 102, 109-110
Imprecatory 35, 69, 109, 137
- To imprecate means “to invoke evil upon or curse” one’s enemies. These were prayers to God to bring harm to those who opposed the righteous

PSALM 1

Psalm 1 presents two ways of life: the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. The key subject of this Psalm is the centrality of God’s Word to the life and fruitfulness of the righteous who love His Word.

Psalm 1 should draw you deeper and closer to the heart of God. This is an emotional Psalm and you should read it with feeling.

“Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”
Psalm 1

There are two powerful themes in this Psalm:

The importance and absolute necessity of the Scripture.
The changed character, stability, and fruitfulness it promises to those who make Scripture the core of their lives.

“Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,”
Psalm 1:1

The Hebrew word “esher” is translated blessed, which has the idea of happiness or contentment. Not just happy and content with one thing, but with many, with ones state of being.

“Esher” is a form of the Hebrew word “ashar,” which in its root means “to be straight” or “to be right.”

Blessed is the man speaks of the happiness, the blessedness, the contentment in the life of the person who is right or “straight” with God. The righteous man will be a blessed person, a happy, content person.

This blessedness is as attainable by the poor, forgotten, illiterate, wise, wealthy, young and old.

The blessed think, behave, and belong differently than those without faith or any fear of God. They should think with a biblical worldview, behave according to God’s standards, and they belong to the family of God because they are a child of God. This is different than belonging to the world.

The problem is that some people are walking with the wicked instead of walking out the Word.

Walking with the wicked is similar to walking with the world. You watch the same shows, spend your money the same way, and do the same things they do essentially living a faithless life.

If you are thinking, living, and acting like non-believers then are you really reflecting Christ?

Believers should stay away from the counsel of the ungodly.
Everyone has something to say about everything but just because someone says something doesn’t mean it is good advice or wise advice. Christians should get advice from wise Christians and pray for wisdom as needed.

What distinguishes you from your non-believing neighbors, coworkers or family members?

Do they know you are a believer?
Can you point to anything in your life that distinguishes you as a Christ-follower?
Do you invest your time differently?
Are you raising your kids differently?
Are you treating your spouse in a God-honoring way?
Are you being single in a God-honoring way?

Believers should love being in God’s Word and delight in staying connected to Christ.

“but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.”
Psalm 1:2

Charles Spurgeon wrote: “Man must have some delight, some supreme pleasure. His heart was never meant to be a vacuum. If not filled with the best things, it will be filled with the unworthy and disappointing.”

When you delight in something, nobody has to remind you to do it.

God isn’t some distant unknowable force, He is close and when you have the Holy Spirit in you and pay attention to what God is doing. He is always at work in you and around you.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”
James 1:22-25

Knowing the bible is one thing, applying it is another.

A God-honoring faith-filled life is centered around the Word of God and the application of it to one’s life.

The God-honoring faith-filled person is and will be blessed. This is a promise of God and it applies to you if you walk with God. You don’t get blessed by God if you are not living a godly life.

“That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.”
Psalm 1:3-4

A godly person takes less traveled roads because they know they lead to blessing, happiness, and eternal life.

They don’t follow the world, they follow the Word.

Living in obedience to God’s Word is difficult and easy.

It’s easy because when you are in step with God’s Word your decisions are easy to make because you know right from wrong. You know what God wants you to do so you do it.
It’s difficult because we all have a natural tendency to do what’s easy because we want to fit in with the crowd. Peer pressure is powerful and if you are walking with the wicked that pull to do what the wicked do is strong.

Godly people produce spiritual fruit in their life.
They produce goodness, joy, gentleness, self-control, peace, patience, and kindness.

The wicked don’t produce fruit. It is impossible without the Holy Spirit.
They can do good things and help people, but they can’t produce spiritual fruit because they are not spiritual people.

“Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”
Psalm 1:5-6

God watches over the ways of the righteous, He watches over you.
Do you sense when God is moving in your life? Can you tell when He is leading you in one direction or another? Can you sense when God is softening your heart or solidifying some deep truth within you?

What path are you on?
Are you walking with God, delighting in His Word and following His ways or are you walking in the world and with the world?

When you study God’s Word, look for the heart of God and you will find it.

PSALM READING PLAN
Text the word “psalm” to 94000 to get daily prompts with a link to read the Psalm of the day