Is Your Heart Fixed?
Charles Naylor, 1941
David once wrote, "My heart is fixed, O God. My heart is fixed!" Psalm 57:7The word, "fixed" is used in two different senses. Sometimes it is incorrectly given the meaning of "repaired." I once heard a man read the above text and then remark, "There are many people today whose hearts need fixing." It is true there are many hearts in a very bad condition, but it is not repairing that they need. The old heart needs to be replaced by a new one, for when sin has done its work in the heart it is past repairing. The Lord said, "A new heart will I give you." So the Psalmist did not mean that his heart was repaired, but he used the word "fixed" in a different signification.
To fix a thing in place, means to fasten it there. When our hearts are fixed in the sense of the text quoted, they are established, settled, rooted, and grounded in God. They are decided, set, unwavering. In that sense God desires all our hearts to be fixed. It is not his purpose that we be unsettled, or doubtful, that we be like people walking in a fog, or that we be harassed by uncertainties. He does not want us to be wavering and fearing. He desires us to plant our feet firmly upon the truth, to know it is the truth and to be definitely decided as to the course of our lives.
In the first place, he desires our minds to be fixed concerning himself. He wishes us to know just what he is, his purpose, his attitude toward us, the relation he is willing to sustain to us, and the help he is willing to give us. Of the righteous it is said, "His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord" (Psalm 112:7).
God wishes us to be certain of the fact that we can repose the utmost confidence in his upholding promises with an assurance of mind and a rest of soul that is not disturbed. He desires us to trust in him unquestioningly, to feel that he is absolutely true, that we may rely upon him to help us, and that he will never fail us. We should no more question his goodness, kindness, and his care for us and his absolute faithfulness to us—than we would question his greatness or his creative power.
There is no more reason to question God in any way or to doubt him or to fear that perhaps he may fail us, than there is to fear the solid earth beneath our feet will sink into a yawning abyss and let us perish.
O brother and sister, get your heart so fixed on God, your confidence in him so established, your trust in him so unwavering that his love, his faithfulness and kindness and fatherhood, will be so real to you that it will be just as much a fact to you as any fact. You need not be afraid to trust God. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but his word shall never pass away. His promises are a solid rock beneath your feet. Let your confidence run to God until you can exclaim, "My heart is fixed, I will trust in the living God!"
Then too, our hearts need to be fixed in the faith. There are gods many, and faiths many. There is a multitude of voices saying, "Lo here, lo there," and if our hearts are to be fixed in this age when there are so many fads in doctrine—then we must get settled firmly in the truth.
But can we really know the truth? Yes. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." We can get beyond the questioning of the doubting, and the scoffing of the scoffer; we can get beyond the criticism of the critic, and reach the place where we know for ourselves the truth of God.
There will be, of course, many problems which we cannot solve and many questions which we cannot answer, but it is our privilege to search the Bible and to commune with God until none of these false doctrines scattered abroad will cause us to waver, to question, or to fear. There is only one doctrine which is according to godliness; there is only one doctrine which satisfies the soul, because there is only one doctrine which is the truth and that one doctrine brings us to God and brings our souls into the haven of his will. When we have once anchored there, the stormy winds of doctrine may lash the sea until its waves roar, but our hearts may be calmly content and at rest.
Then our hearts need to be fixed in purpose. It is not enough to believe in God, and to believe in his truth. The devils believe that—and their faith only torments them. We may believe in many things, and yet be wavering, tossed to and fro, uncertain and unsatisfied. To get out of this condition, we must adopt a fixed purpose of adjusting ourselves to the truth, of obeying God, of living for him every day.
Some look forward to the future with uncertainty. They are never certain as to how they are going to do tomorrow. They mean to be true, but they are rather doubtful whether they always will remain true. This uncertainty is based upon a lack of fixed purpose to be true and a determination always to trust God for sufficient grace. We should press on beyond that realm of wavering purpose. Settle the matter once for all, that you are always going to be true; that you are always going to do the right thing; that you are always going to have sufficient grace, because you are always going to seek it. Then you can say, "My heart is fixed, my purpose is established." Then you will be on solid ground.
Our hearts need to be fixed in our love to God. Our affections should be definitely set upon things above—and not allowed to run after worldly things. It is this lack of fixity of love, that permits self to come to love the things of the world which are enmity against God and ruinous to the soul. If we get our love once fixed on God, our hearts riveted to his heart with warm affection, we can say as did Paul, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ!"
One thing to remember is that though our hearts are fixed, settled and established, there can be no fixity of our emotions. They will rise and fall like the tides of the sea. We shall feel good—and we shall feel bad. We shall feel joyful—and we shall feel sorrowful. We shall feel zealous—and sometimes we shall feel careless. But these emotions with all their changeableness should never be allowed to affect the fixity of our hearts. There should be no fluctuation of purpose. Our faces should be ever toward the goal, and whether our footsteps are light and joyous, or whether they are heavy with weariness—we should keep an unflagging purpose ever to press on.
There may be a variation of our consecration, and it may reach to the fullness of God's requirements—but if we are not careful, our consecration and devotion will fluctuate, and we will find ourselves growing less devoted. There is need, therefore, that our hearts shall be fixed in consecration and kept up to the full standard.
We may say to the Lord, "My heart is fixed," and our voice may be the voice of joy—or the voice of sorrow. We may be facing difficulty or danger—or we may be speaking with the confidence of prosperity. But whatever the note in our voice, let us constantly speak with that determination which embodies the strength of our soul, "My heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. He will be my sufficiency—and I will be his faithful child."