Divided Heart – Part II

Psalm 43 has been our blueprint for dealing with the divided heart. The previous post left us waiting to see the steps necessary to conquer a divided heart. The prayer of the Psalmist is quite insightful. So let’s learn from him how to deal with a problem we all deal with. We begin with verse 3. And it serves as a request and a confession!

Divided Heart Needs Light & Truth

The Psalmist asked God to Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Why? Because he recognized he was in the dark. He knew he was finite while God is infinite. He had confessed God as his refuge, yet he still felt forsaken and rejected. But he knew that God does not reject those who take refuge in Him. Psalm 18:30 says,

He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.

Even so, he felt abandoned and alone. He knew that spiritual darkness caused him to be blinded to certain things. So he asked for divine light and truth. This is the way Paul prayed for us, in Ephesians 1:18,

May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you.

The eyes of the heart — these eyes need spiritual light. Spiritual lights comes from God the Father. And light is part and parcel of His person and nature. Psalm 104 says He clothes Himself with light as a garment.

The psalmist was praying for spiritual light, not physical light. Physical light helps physical eyes see physical reality. Spiritual light lets spiritual eyes — the eyes of the heart — see spiritual reality. And when we see spiritual reality we are amazed by its beauty. So he is praying that God would rescue him from something far more dangerous than his physical enemies. He sought rescue from the spiritual darkness that causes our fallen world to look attractive. At this point we should remember Isaiah’s vision. Chapter 6 tells us that when Isaiah saw God high and lifted up (spiritual light!!!) he immediately recognized the darkness in him and the people around him. Check it out!

Truth Heals A Divided Heart

O God, he prays, send me light. He adds “truth” because this is what you see when light comes. Truth is what’s real and spiritual light reveals it. It’s as if he said, Send light to my soul. Let me see the true substance and reality of things. Take all illusions away from me. What kind of illusions need to be gone?
It’s sometimes easier to deal with objective truth. We can see the pros and the cons. It’s possible for us weigh things in the balance, so to speak. But that typically addresses misconceptions or misinformation. And truth frees us from those things. But illusions can exist in our emotions, and they can be a little more difficult to deal with.
The divided heart is typically divided along the lines of what we know and what we feel. That is the Psalmist’s predicament. His prayer was way ahead of the knowledge of modern psychology. Psychologists have long told us that our feelings (emotions) follow our beliefs and actions. They could have learned that from this prayer. When we traffic in truth our feelings may lag behind but they will come around. So we should be very intent to ask for divine insight and truth. Because the Author of Truth is the One Who sets us free by His truth!
More help for the divided heart in the next post!

Soli Deo Gloria!