103. PSA 57:7. THE HEART FIXED

Psa_57:7. The Heart Fixed

"My heart is fixed, O God! my heart is fixed."’97Psa_57:7

In the Divine Word, we read of those whose hearts are deceived, and of those whose hearts are undecided. In the text the Psa. ist expresses the state of his own heart. Appealing to God, he exclaims, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed" Let us, then endeavor to ascertain on what the heart of the good man is fixed.

The heart of the good man is fixed,

I. Upon the Blessed God as the Object of supreme Affection and Worship.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," &c. God is the only portion of the Christian. He delights in God. Finds his all in God. "Whom have I in heaven but thee," &c. God occupies the throne of the affections, and receives the undivided homage of the mind. As such praise and prayer will ever be offered to him, and to him only. The heart must be fixed,

II. Upon Christ’s Person and Work for Acceptance and Salvation.

Christ will have the entire and unbroken confidence of the soul. On him the soul will rest as the only foundation. To him look as the only remedy. Into him run as the only refuge. His merits plead, and his only, at the throne of grace. "To whom shall we go," &c. "Salvation in none other." He is "all and in all," &c. The heart will be fixed,

III. Upon the Holy Spirit as the only Source of Life and Consolation.

All spiritual life is produced by the Spirit. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth." The life of God in the soul is carried on by the same blessed Agent. From him also all spiritual comfort flows. It is by believing and having the heart fixed upon him, that we enjoy all his holy and consoling influences. He must dwell within us, strengthen us, and in our duties assist, or life and happiness cannot be perpetuated. The heart must be fixed,

IV. Upon the divinely inspired Oracles as our only Rule of Faith and Practice.

The Scriptures are our only infallible guide. "To the law and to the testimony," &c. Other works may be excellent and useful’97the Bible is divine, and its truths essential and saving. We must consult the Holy Oracles on all matters relating to duty or privilege. All its declarations must be affectionately and freely received. It must be our closet book’97our family book’97our church book; and we must let the "word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom," &c. The heart must be fixed,

V. Upon the People of God as our Chief Companions and Friends.

"I am a companion of all them that fear God," &c. The primitive Christians first gave themselves to the Lord, then to his people. We are to do good unto all men, but especially to the household of faith. These we are to make our confidants; with them we are chiefly to associate, and we are to love them with fervency and affection, and to delight in them as those with whom we shall dwell forever. Our hearts must be fixed,

VI. On Heaven as our Future and Eternal Home.

Here we are strangers and pilgrims. This is not our rest. Here we have no continuing city. "Now they desired a better country," &c. Our expectations must refer to heaven. Our desires and prayers to heaven. Our struggles and conflicts to heaven. Believers are born for heaven, bound for heaven; and when they die, "an abundant entrance shall be ministered unto them," &c. How happy, how safe the Christian, who can adopt the text as the experience of his soul, and say, "My heart is fixed, O God! my heart is fixed’"

Autor: JABEZ BURNS