“I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.”
Anyone who is conscience of the present condition of man’s heart will read the opening assertion of this verse and immediately discern the difficulty of this bold decree. The reason that this confident declaration of the psalmist may even be interpreted by the reader as arrogant, is due to the diagnosing statement found in the book of Jeremiah which seems to contradict this claim. Under the inspiration of the Spirit the prophet of God penned, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”
The question that begs to be answered is, “How is it possible for someone with an unclean heart able to stand before God with a clear conscience and pronounce, “I will praise You with an uprightness of heart?”
Well, the hesitant heart can rest assured because the answer to this perplexing inquiry is found at the conclusion of our meditation. The psalmist graciously completes his thought by disclosing that the pre-requisite for a purity of praise flows from a heart that has been instructed in the righteous judgments of God.
How insightful this statement becomes when it’s understood in its entirety. First, we can rightfully conclude that an uprightness of heart is the result of it being tutored in the righteous judgments of God. This wonderful imagery portrays that the contamination found in the human heart is purged when it is subjected to the sanitizing treatment of the Word of truth. In addition, when we choose to hide the Word of God in our hearts it not only ensures the purification of our hearts, but it also guarantees its protection from pollution reentering once it’s been removed.
Second, we can conclude that the result of this purification process will always be expressed in a sincere praise of God. Comparable to an expression of gratitude that is offered by an ill patient after experiencing the healing care a physician, so also the child of God can’t help but offer praise to the One who has provided the sure remedy to the terminal illness of a sin-stricken heart.
With this in mind, may we purposefully seek the instruction of the righteous judgments of God, to the end that we may be able to echo the bold proclamation of the psalmist, “I will praise You with uprightness of heart!”
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