Psalm 119:34 – I Will Guard It with My Whole Mind

Give me understanding, and I will keep your Instruction (Torah).
I will guard it with my entire mind.

The heart, in ancient Israel, represented the mind or intellect. I have translated this as “mind.” This goes with the beginning of the verse, “Give me understanding.”

There’s a basic principle here that I find repeatedly in scripture: God gives the power for all we do. God grants the intellectual ability, and with that understanding, the Psalmist promises to keep the entire law.

But I allowed my own mind to wander again through scripture. The time I just spend on my treadmill, listening to Robert Alter’s translation of the Hebrew Bible, led me through the introduction to 1 Kings and then to the first couple of chapters. There are some interesting things that stand out from the story.

Solomon was a wise man. Until he wasn’t.

Solomon was a great king. Until he wasn’t.

He was king of a united Israel, until he wasn’t and it wasn’t.

There’s a lesson here. Intellectual ability is a useful thing. Until it isn’t.

I can’t count the number of times I have figured out that something was utterly impossible, only the find the possibility opening up. More than 10 years ago I returned from a mission trip which had eaten up my resources. I knew I had to stick with my work and guard such money as was coming in to make it through the next few weeks.

While I was thinking these thoughts, I was approached to join another mission trip. I didn’t want to go. I wearily explained that I had just returned from a month overseas and had used up my energy and my resources. But then I continued with the fateful words. “If the resources will be provided somehow, I’ll go. But I don’t expect it.”

It was less than a week before someone had provided the entire cost of the mission trip. I had expected this not to happen, as the group going had a policy of not allowing full scholarships. They believed each person going on the mission should support themselves with at least half of the resources needed. Yet somehow nobody had the slightest objection.

But God wasn’t yet done with me. After setting aside money for my family while I was gone, my pocket was literally empty. I knew food was covered, and I’d be OK, but it wasn’t the best feeling ever. The day before I left, a friend of mine who knew i was going asked me if I had anything for myself for the trip. I said I was tapped out with covering expenses at home. He took out his wallet and handed me $200.

I hadn’t asked. I hadn’t even prayed for it. I had been convinced in my mind that it was impossible.

Let me go back in history a bit to my parents. (I like the four generations idea expressed in the opening verses of Psalm 78. If you aren’t acquainted with that chapter, you could do worse than to stop right now and read it.)

Back in 1971 my parents and I headed to Guyana, South America, not to be confused with Ghana, which is in west Africa, and regularly received our mail! Since I really love that little country, and many people don’t know where it is, here is a map and some information for you!

Within a couple of days of our arrival, my father, a physician, required major emergency surgery. The surgeon who performed this surgery stated that my father would never work again, and wouldn’t live more than 10 years.

For two weeks this seemed to be the verdict. He was just not getting better. The mission board wanted to bring him home. In fact, they were starting to make the arrangements. My parents said that they had gone to Guyana to do a mission and they hadn’t done it yet. I was 14 years old at the time and was dismayed by the lack of progress.

My parents chose to call for the elders of the church and have my father anointed with oil as they prayed for his healing. I was seriously disappointed with the results. There was no miraculous activity, such as him getting up off the bed and heading out to work.

But that was the limits of human understanding again. Two weeks later my dad took over as the medical director of a 54 bed hospital and was on call 24/7 for the next year. He lived another 37 years. Later in his life, he and I had a little joke when I’d call and ask him how he was, and he’d say, “I think I’m xx years overdue to be dead!”

Solomon exemplified this limitation. With many wonderful things taking place and with many demonstrations of wisdom, he still failed as a leader in the end, with the kingdom divided. Perhaps this line from Proverbs gives the right feeling: “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (3:6, KJV). In fact, my mother wrote a book about her life experiences with the title Directed Paths.

Where do you need God to give you understanding?

(Featured image generated by Jetpack AI.)