In Psalm 119:32 the psalmist says, I shall run the way of Your commandments,
For You will enlarge my heart. (NAS).  The Amplified Bible translates it this way: I will run the way of Your commandments [with purpose], For You will give me a heart that is willing.

In case we think God has left us on our own to try to figure out how to have a joyful heart, God speaks through the psalmist to say that He will encourage your heart.  He’ll widen it and make it willing to cheerfully obey.  He will make your heart joyful and strong so that you can enthusiastically follow His Word and obey Him, and thereby receive His promises and deliverance.

The psalmist who wrote Psalm 119 is in a bad situation.  He is calling out to God to lift him up, to minister to him, and to aid him by His Word.  I lie in the dust; revive me by your word.(Psa. 119:25).  He’s in a difficult situation, possibly in prison, because of his faith and obedience to the Lord God.  He was being persecuted for being a God-follower in a culture that didn’t believe in the Lord God.  He was suffering, and he was calling out to God for help from His Word.  He had nothing left.  He was down for the count.  He had no inner strength left.  He needed God to speak to Him.

I’ve come to believe when we’re in situations in which we feel confined, limited, powerless, weak, and empty, with no recourse left of our own, we find that all we really have that will help us and lift our spirts and save us through whatever we’re going through is that of God speaking to us.  We need Him speaking to us.  We need His Words.  We need “His Word.”  I’ve found that His words make all the difference in my inner spirit, in the core of my being, and in my life.

The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. (Psa. 19:7 NLT).