I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes
Alway, even unto the end (Psa 119.112).
In some respects Christian theology is much simpler than people realize, and our failure to grasp it is due more to our prejudice against truth than our limited intelligence. This universal prejudice is the result of our original apostasy from God in Adam, and far too much of his corrupt nature remains even in the best of us. To our shame we confess that even the most mature Christian’s sight of clear truth has only been partly restored, along with his affections for God; how much worse off then are we as spiritual newborns or adolescents!
Therefore it should not be surprising that there is much doctrinal confusion in the visible church. To say nothing of the heretical enemies within, we have more than enough shoddy teaching and unsound reasoning even by well-meaning brethren. It is not without reason that James warns against many being teachers in the church on account of the stricter judgment they face.
One of the more conspicuous areas of prevalent misunderstanding is found in the topic of sanctification. Specifically, I have in mind the question of how it is that one is separated from his sins unto God. J. C. Ryle addressed seven common nineteenth-century errors which persist to this day in the introduction of his classic book entitled, Holiness; we recommend it warmly. A modern book presents five different views of sanctification, all supposedly evangelical and Protestant, and even these are only some of the major perspectives, with many variations within each. Of course the biblical truth on this matter is one internally-consistent doctrine, and the current diversity of judgment is due to human mistakes of interpretation.
Thankfully, our text here brings to our attention some of the most important aspects of our sanctification. May the Lord use it to clarify our thinking and elevate our spiritual experience.
ITS NEED
We all desperately need sanctification because we are sinners by fallen nature and we have practiced sin in our experience. An irresponsible modern paraphrase renders our text verse, “I concentrate on doing exactly what you say—I always have and always will.” No, that is not what David was saying at all. That rendering is not justified by the original Hebrew. The very fact that I have not always concentrated on doing exactly what God says accentuates how desperately I need to be sanctified. Those who deny this are either conscious liars or self-deluded. When Jesus urged the rich young ruler to keep the biblical commandments, he had the audacity to say, “All these have I kept from my youth up” (Luke 18.21). Including himself in the description, Paul wrote to a church full of real Christians that “were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation [conduct] in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Eph 2.1-3). The apostle John agrees. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. . . . If we say that we have not sinned, we make him [Jesus Christ, v. 7] a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1.8, 10). Only the most depraved people deny their great need of sanctification.
ITS POSSIBILITY
Under the infallible influence of the Holy Spirit, the psalmist here offers his heartfelt, sincere, and accurate testimony to God in prayer. What he says is true. He had, actually, in fact, inclined his heart to perform God’s statutes, and this spiritual experience was certainly not confined to him but has been common to all saints through the ages, and continues to be the case with real Christians today.
Perhaps from a praiseworthy desire to preserve the biblical doctrine of man’s depravity along with the exalted spirituality of God’s law, some well-meaning people have practically denied the actual possibility of existential sanctification. “We’re all sinners” is almost their slogan. “Nobody can keep God’s commandments” is the corollary.
As with all plausible errors, there is an element of truth in these. Yes, we are all sinners by fallen nature, and as the reliable old catechism says, “No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed” (WSC #82). But God’s grace is real and really makes a difference when he is pleased to work effectually in the hearts and lives of his elect. That work of grace which regenerates our souls fundamentally orients us toward God and his Word, and that Spirit who abides in us is the Holy Spirit after all. He keeps imparting spiritual life and working against the death associated with our remaining carnality. We cannot keep God’s commandments perfectly, but we who are real Christians can and do keep them really, as God’s grace is genuinely operative in us. We are saints after all—sinful saints, yes, but saints all the same.
ITS RESPONSIBILITY
Again, perhaps to accentuate the indispensability of God’s grace in our sanctification, and that he must initiate it and carry it on constantly, some have gone to the extreme of practically denying our responsibility for it and vigorous activity in it. This is the “let go and let God” mindset. Their counsel is, in effect, “Wait for the Spirit to move you or you will be trying to promote your sanctification by the energy of the flesh.”
But this prophet of the Lord says, “I have inclined my heart.” This is not his denial but an affirmation of God’s grace at work. The biblical perspective is not a choice between sanctification as God’s work and as our work, but recognizing that when he works in us, he sets us a-working too.
The verb translated “inclined” means to bend or to turn. David is saying that he turned or leaned his heart in a particular direction—in this case, the direction of devotion to God.
This is the holy synergism of Philippians 2.12-13, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” God’s work causes our work, and God is most graciously active in the man who is most energetically pursuing God and his will. A great physical illustration of this principle is Eric Liddell, the Christian athlete made famous to us by the movie “Chariots of Fire.” He is reported to have said, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. When I run I feel his pleasure.” As Liddel strained every nerve and won the 400-meters at the 1924 Summer Olympics, he knew God was ultimately to be praised for it. A more orthodox exhortation to sanctification is, “Move right now in obedience to God’s commandments and then praise the Spirit who so inclined and empowered you to do so!”
ITS SPIRITUALITY
Externalism is proof of great wickedness and apostasy from God. True righteousness is first and foremost a matter of the heart; without this all else is “filthy rags” (Isa 64.6). The psalmist testified, “I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes.” A change of heart is the first thing we need, and the constant experience of inner spiritual vitality remains indispensable in the Christian life and in a biblical view of sanctification.
ITS CONFORMITY
David’s conception of devotion to God is expressed here as compliance with his statutes. That divinely-inspired written code of righteous virtue and conduct, now comprehended in the words of the Bible, was never far from his thoughts, and was always his aim. We must stress this because many if not most professing Christians today hardly have this in mind when they think of spirituality, and some object that grace makes any concern for law-keeping dispensable, if not outright legalism. The truth is that gospel grace works against our lawlessness; it secures and promotes our conformity to God’s revealed will.
ITS PRACTICALITY
The Hebrew verb well-rendered “perform” lays a stress on the action associated with obedience to God’s Word. It literally means “to do.” Authentic Christian sanctification is a doing thing; it goes far beyond any state of mind or ecstasy of soul. A truly holy person is devoted to spiritual disciplines, routine duties, and sacrificial service to help others. Since the moral law requires selfless love of neighbor, he is the kind of person who acts like the Good Samaritan of the famous parable.
ITS PERSEVERANCE
The second line conveys the psalmist’s determined resolve to persevere in this way of holiness. “Always, even unto the end.” Psalm 119. 44 has a similar sentiment: “So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.” The righteous are kept by the power of God through faith (1 Pet 1.5).
ITS REALIZATION
Jesus Christ alone is the inherent epitome of the sanctification described in this verse, being the only one without sin and embodying God’s own righteousness (Psa 40.8). Christ in us is our only hope of glory (Col 1.27), and his sway alone progressively purifies us (2 Cor 3.18). We grow in grace by growing in our knowledge, that is, our intimate fellowship with, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet 3.18). Amen.