Psalm 64: Hearts and Minds

Psalm 64 starts off predictably enough. David is in trouble – again. His enemy is out to get him. They’re hatching secret plots (1-2). Like a sniper’s arrows, their words ambush him without warning (3-4). David imagines their private thoughts: “Who will see us?” (5-6). They’ve covered their tracks. No one will know.

And then the line that catches us by surprise: “For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep” (6). Pause a moment to think about those words. Long before the emergence of modern psychology, David wrestles with the inner mysteries of the human heart. “The inward mind and heart of a man are deep.”

These ancient words speak the truth about the depths of our own human hearts. Like David’s enemies, our hearts lay “secret snares”, thinking no one will find out. Often our secrets are so deep that we don’t even recognize them ourselves. Our capacity for self-deception seems limitless. How often, for example, have we found ourselves criticizing others for actions and attitudes which we find mirrored in our own hearts? (Or have you never realized that fact about yourself?)

But if we fool ourselves, we do so to our own harm. And God, of course, is not hoodwinked. Notice the irony in the second portion of the psalm, evidenced by the repeated words, “arrow” (2 vs. 7), “tongues” (3 vs. 8), and “suddenly” (4 vs. 7). We may fool ourselves. We do not fool God.

Yes, “the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.” Or, in the words of Jeremiah, “The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (17:9, KJV).

Knowing this, the promise of Ezekiel 36:36 is exceedingly precious: “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

That promise was fulfilled, of course, by Jesus himself, who, by virtue of his death and resurrection, cleanses our hearts with his love (Romans 5:5-8; 6:17). Only then can we confidently pray the psalmist’s closing prayer:

Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord 
and take refuge in him!
Let all the upright in heart exult!