“Whole-hearted Devotion” - Tim Phillips

I recently began preaching through Psalm 138 for the month of November. It’s a psalm of thanksgiving, and it seems appropriate to be reminded of that topic during this time of year. It’s a psalm of David (the first psalm of the last collection of Psalms of David found in the Psalter), but it’s also probably an overlooked psalm, partly because it is located between two better-known psalms. Psalm 137 looks forward to deliverance from cruel enemies, while Psalm 139 celebrates the life-giving, every-present Lord (by whom we are fearfully and wonderfully made). Psalm 138 is located in-between, but in many ways it celebrates the deliverance from enemies that Psalm 137 anticipates.

David begins Psalm 138 by proclaiming, “I will give thanks to you with my whole heart, O Lord.” Indeed, whole-hearted worship is what we should always strive toward. Deuteronomy 6:5 (the first and great commandment, according to Jesus) is obviously in the background here: “Love the Lord your God with all of heart and all of your soul and all of your might.” We will always fall short of this goal, of this ideal. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever (Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 1), but because of the Fall and our own personal sin, we fall short of this mark apart from His grace. This is why we need a Savior, Jesus Christ. And what a great reason to give thanks to God with all of our heart!

But this whole-hearted worship of God is more than a pouring forth of emotions. The state of our heart-condition is often shown when we are outside our weekly gatherings for worship. Psalm 26 (also a psalm of David) begins with the following words: “Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.” This is another way in which whole-hearted devotion is shown. Dale Ralph Davis, in his excellent little booklet on the Psalms entitled In the Presence of My Enemies, notes that David’s hope of vindication (i.e., being shown to be in the right and cleared of accusations of wrong-doing by his enemies) is because of “both his lifestyle (‘I have walked in my whole-heartedness’) and his faith (‘in Yahweh [emphatic] I have trusted’).” Lest we think the psalm is teaching some kind of works-righteousness, Davis explains:

“When David claims such whole-heartedness, he is not touting some concocted perfection but an overall consistency, not a sinless record but a godly disposition.”

This godly consistency and disposition should be evident in our lives. If the opening verses of Psalm 26 make us uncomfortable, vv. 4-5 will like turn up the heat even more:

“I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of the evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.”

These can be difficult words to hear, for we often hear that we are to hate the sin but love the sinner. Yet, the company we keep (or shun) is often an indication of whether we have a whole-hearted devotion to the Lord. We are specifically told that we are to have nothing to do with the ways of the world (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15). Davis notes that “part of ‘walking in whole-heartedness (v.1) means you ‘hate the assembly of evil-doers’ (v. 5a). Holiness demands hatred.” He also observes:

“We are so smothered in our culture and in the church with sugary pronouncements about needing to ‘accept’ everyone that we may lose the hostility we’re meant to keep! There’s an expression some southerners in the U.S. use when someone wants to get in the good graces of someone else – they speak of ‘kissin’ up’ to them. David says he has not done that; he has not cozied up or ‘kissed up’ to crafty (cf. v. 4b) folks who hate God, His laws, and His people.”

If we want to have this heart-hearted devotion toward God, then we need to be careful that we aren’t kissing up to the world. We can’t limp between two opinions, a divided house cannot stand, and we cannot serve multiple masters. Let us serve God, let us be devoted to Him, and let us give thanks to Him with all of our hearts.