“With all my heart,” the psalmist says in 119:10, “I have turned to You; do not let me stray from Your commandments. In my heart I treasure your promise.” Commitment to God, a life absorbed in Torah, begins in the heart.
And when the commitment begins in the heart (13x in Ps 119), Torah produces wisdom rather than just knowledge. Such commitment, because it opens one entirely to the presence of God, purifies in and with love.
Here are some observations:
1. Heart commitment implies inside-out, total revolution.
2. Heart commitment implies “faith seeking understanding.”
3. Heart commitment implies trust in God rather than self.
4. Heart commitment implies vulnerability to God — an admission of what the self is really like.
5. Heart commitment implies treasure in God and turning from sin.
6. Heart commitment implies finding instead of wandering.
Others suggestions? (Try to stick to Ps 119:9-16.)