Psalm 5 – Engage My Heart, Lord

Oh, Abba Father, my heart cries out to You!

First and foremost, engage my heart, Lord! I am so moved by the psalmist who declared, “With my whole heart, I will…” nine times throughout the Psalms (Psalm 9:1; 86:12; 111:1; 119:2,10,34,58,69,145; 138:1). Repetition in Your Word, Lord, reveals what You deem important.

I see this passionate wholeheartedness so clearly in Psalm 5. It takes the psalmist three full verses just to articulate his longing to speak with You! What determination to possess a heart completely yielded!

Psalm 5:1-3
Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my meditation.
Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and God,
For to You I will pray.
My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.

And then, I read Your astounding words of promise:

Jeremiah 30:21 (KJV)
...I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto Me: for who is this that *ENGAGED HIS HEART to approach unto Me? saith the Lord.

*”Engage” in Hebrew, “âraḇ,” means “to braid, intermix, to devote, to pledge, to be security in an exchange.” Wow! It’s not just a casual turning, but a deep, interwoven commitment!

I understand, Father God, that revving a car engine does nothing but make noise if it’s not in gear. How often, Lord, do my lips make noise in prayer, but my heart remains disengaged! My mouth can declare much, but unless my heart is fully in gear, fully engaged with You, what will truly be accomplished?

Jesus, You so righteously rebuked the Pharisees for their superficial religion, for going through the motions with an unengaged heart:

Mark 7:6-7
Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
“This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me…”

Oh, Lord, I don’t ever want to be counted among those whose lips are not engaged with their hearts!

Thank You, Father, for Your incredible promise to “cause me to draw near.” My part, Lord, is to engage myself wholeheartedly with You. Teach me, I pray, to weave my entire being, my thoughts, my desires, my very life, into devotion to You. I long to be found by You as an engaged worshipper “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24), with a fully engaged heart.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen!