Tune My Heart To You
And He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22: 37
Hubby awakened me with an invitation to join him on the deck. “It’s kind of chilly, you might want to wrap up.” When I arrived the “Choose Joy” mug of coffee was waiting along with my favorite fuzzy blanket. The choir of birds was singing in perfect pitch and even the croaking frog joined in the chorus. Snuggled up with hubby and dog, I didn’t want the moment to end. What a glorious way to welcome Monday morning. We chatted for a bit and then Ed moved on with his day.
The invitation was extended from the presence of another. My Lord wooed me to stay. I desired to stay all day, but my mind was all over the place drawing me to all the “To Do’s”. My mind felt like the squirrel up above leaping from limb to limb. Distractions demanded me to hurry up and get on with the day, but the invitation of the Spirit to “be still” was especially strong today and His invitation won my heart on this beautiful morning. I grabbed my Bible and devotion books and dove in. Every word was full of understanding and revelation. I sensed that something more than coffee was brewing.
It was something to be captured so I sought to scribble my heart on paper. It felt like a prayer that had to have words.
This is the day the Lord has made.
I will rejoice and be glad in it.
My eyes are fixed on you Lord.
My ears are tuned to hear you.
My heart is tuned to obey you.
But is it Lord?
Oh, Lord, tune my heart to You. Take my unbelief and give me faith to believe what you say is true. I want to agree with what you say. My heart is so quick to turn and so prone to wander. Oh, Lord, bind my wandering heart to You.
I recognized these words stirring within were from an old hymn. A quick Google search brought me to “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”. It is a Christian hymn written by 18th-century pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson. He penned the words at age 22 in the year 1757. And here some 262 years later, this young man’s words speak to my heart. It draws my heart to the full gospel and pleads that God would keep my “everything” fixed on Him.
His kindness, His grace, His cross, His blood, His rescue, His power, His pursuit,
His song, His forgiveness, His return.
The old hymns hold a richness and depth that seems to have been lost. But this Monday morning, the Father sang His song into my ear.
“I will tune your heart to My grace. Keep your eyes fixed on Me. My kindness pursues you and my blood keeps you. Like a fetter, a shackle, I will bind your heart to Mine. I have put My seal on your heart. You are mine and I will forever pursue you. Pursue Me with all of your heart."
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it, Mount of Thy redeeming love. Sorrowing I shall be in spirit, Till released from flesh and sin, Yet from what I do inherit, Here Thy praises I'll begin; Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I’ve come; And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God; He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed His precious blood; How His kindness yet pursues me Mortal tongue can never tell, Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me I cannot proclaim it well. O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be! Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above. O that day when freed from sinning, I shall see Thy lovely face; Clothèd then in blood washed linen How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace; Come, my Lord, no longer tarry, Take my ransomed soul away; Send thine angels now to carry Me to realms of endless day.
As I pause, worship, pray and meditate on Him and His word, He brings my heart into agreement with Him. Just as each instrument in an orchestra must be tuned, so must we. There has to be a pause before the song is played. The Spirit is always playing the perfect note to match our hearts to His. Before I enter the world to play my song today, tune me Lord. Without time with Him, I will play my own note, sing my own song and cause discord everywhere I go.
I pray that God will give you a pause to ponder the words to this old hymn and let Him tune your heart to His. Linger a little longer as He pens His song on your heart.