Psalm 10 tells of the proud and wicked man, who has rejected God and delights in his own iniquity and deceit. “For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire; He blesses the greedy and renounces the LORD,” says verse three. Likely, this lamentable man is a fellow Israelite, and the psalmist cries out, “O God, lift up Your hand . . . You have heard the desire of the humble” (12, 17). Two Israelite hearts: one boastful, one humble; one desiring wickedness, one desiring justice. In Romans 9 and 10, another Israelite – Paul – bemoans Israel’s rejection of Christ, even while the Gentiles have already attained righteousness through faith (9:30). Paul, without the psalmist’s imprecations, writes, “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved” (10:1).
I suspect that you are like me, in that we recoil at the heart’s desire of those who do not share our belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. We all know that man from the Psalms, whose smug hedonism seems to reject both law and righteousness. It is hard to believe that someone would not want the joy of serving our humble Savior, and yet they appear to be everywhere, satisfied with themselves. I must confess that I don’t always feel pity for the lost; often, I allow my aversion to proud wickedness or to haughty secularism carry me away in disdain. In contrast, Jesus, like the prophets before Him, and aware that He was being rejected by so many, wept over Jerusalem, whose desire for the law blinded them from seeing their need for His righteousness.
The apostle Paul, having been transformed by the renewing of his mind and having exchanged his zeal for the law with a new and greater zeal for righteousness, carried a passion in his heart and a prayer on his lips for the lost, for Jew and Gentile alike. Even after being rejected by his fellow Jews, in his defense before King Agrippa, Paul expressed his desire for his accusers and judges to become Christians: “I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains” (Acts 26:29).
Paul’s salvation-soaked heart is on display throughout the New Testament. What he says in Romans 10:1 – that he seeks and prays for the salvation of Israel – he demonstrates in the previous chapter. Similar to Moses after the Israelites worshipped the golden calf instead of God (Exodus 32:30-32), Paul declares, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers . . .” That is more heart than I can imagine.
The heart burden that Paul reveals in the first four verses of Romans 10 is for his fellow kinsmen who are still lost. I read these verses and pray for the lost of this world. I pray, too, that my heart would be stronger for them – more like Paul’s heart. But I also can’t help but think of the already saved when I read these verses, because I recognize in some of Paul’s words my own desire for the church – Christ’s body of believers. “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:1-4 ESV).
In verse one: the words brothers and saved. Just as there is a strong bond between people who have suffered trauma together, there is a bond between those who have been rescued together. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we share the bond of salvation, the kinship of the redeemed. We once were lost, but now we are found! I pray that we in Christ’s church can see each other truly as family, not only saying, “Brother” or “Sister,” but feeling it, believing it, and living it, as well. Were you a wretched sinner? Me, too, brother! Were you saved by grace? Me, too, sister!
In verse two: the words zeal and knowledge. Throughout the world, all people have a zeal for something, driven by a desire or love for something or someone. In the church, our zeal should be for God and His kingdom, but alas, too often we are driven less by the truth of the scriptures than we are by being, or seeming to be, right. But that is not true knowledge. I pray that we become or stay passionate for proper doctrine – sound knowledge from God’s Word, not “sounds like knowledge” from our opinions.
In verses three and four: the word righteousness. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). Not self-righteousness, not collective righteousness (nor collective right-ness), but His righteousness – that is what we seek. That is what we are to hunger and thirst for, and to which we are to submit. Let’s do that together, brothers and sisters. The world will notice. Perhaps they will believe.
