Daniel 1:1-2:23 / 1 Peter 3:8-4:6 / Psalm 119:65-80 / Proverbs 28:14
Some of the sayings in the Bible are confusing, some are hard to understand, and some are just plain funny. Psalm 119:70 is such a verse. I want to give you a few translations of this verse so you can get an idea of what the meaning is. Prepare to think this a funny verse.
New Living Translation – Their hearts are dull and stupid, but I delight in Your instruction.
King James Version – Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in Thy law.
The Passion Translation – Their hearts are dull and void of feelings, but I find my true treasure in your truth.
Before we move on to defining the meaning of this verse, I have a few observations. My first observation is that my grandgirl Heritage would not appreciate the word stupid because she has told me that is a mean word, and we are not supposed to say it. I remember when my sister’s children were smaller that one of them came home from my parents’ house telling her mother that Papa said the “S” word. Most of us would think of another forbidden word, but she was referring to the word stupid.
As you may have guessed, this word has a long history of being a word we are not allowed to say in our family. My second observation is that having a heart as fat as grease is kind of gross to consider. As unappealing as that sounds, what does it mean? I know that above this fat heart is dull, stupid, and void of feelings. How does one’s heart get into this condition?
The dull and stupid ones are referred to in verse 69 as arrogant people who smear <the writer> with lies. The psalmist sounds a little bitter and angry and perhaps we would all feel the same way if someone was spreading lies about us. The psalmist also asserts that he is careful to follow God’s ways, obeying His commandments. I can see why it would be offensive to have lies spread about you when you’re doing your best to honor God.
Let’s go back to how this dull, stupid, and greasy heart may have formed in the arrogant people. Here is a word picture I found in one commentary that describes a fat heart. “As if he should say, My heart is a lean heart, a hungry heart, my soul loveth and rejoiceth in thy word. I have nothing else to fill it but thy word, and the comforts I have from it; but their hearts are fat hearts; fat with the world, fat with lust; they hate the word. As a full stomach loatheth meat and cannot digest it; so wicked men hate the word, it will not go down with them, it will not gratify their lusts.” (William Fenner, cited in Spurgeon)
A fat heart is filled with the things of the world and reminds me of 1 John 2:16 NLT which says, “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father but are from this world.”
What about the lean heart? What about the heart that loves God’s law? Psalm 119:97-99 NLT tells us this, “Oh, how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are my constant guide. Yes, I have more insight than my teachers, for I am always thinking of your laws.”
The choice is ours. We may choose a fat, lazy, greasy heart or we may choose a lean, attentive, hungry heart. I choose the later and have made that choice for many years. I pray you are doing the same!
