Summary
Anthem
The anthem sung on Anthem 1-16-22 is a prayer drawn directly from the language of Psalm 119:30-32: "I have chosen the way of faithfulness… I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free." It is a confession that the Christian life begins not with our search for God but with God's claim on us, and that walking in his commandments is not bondage but liberty.
The opening line — "I have chosen the way of truth" — is the believer's response to grace. To choose truth is to renounce every rival path, every self-made righteousness, and to fix the heart upon the Lord's word. The petitioner sets his heart on God's voice and his hope on the Lord, asking not to be put to shame. This is the posture of faith: leaning the whole weight of one's life upon the promises of God.
What follows is a plea for the Spirit's work within. "Teach me… turn my heart to your decrees." The singer recognizes that obedience is itself a gift. Apart from God's teaching and turning, the heart drifts. So the prayer asks God to do what only God can do — to incline the will, to free the affections, and to keep the soul from "the heartless way," that is, from a life ruled by gain rather than love.
The repeated cry — "revive my life, revive my heart" — echoes the refrain of Psalm 119:25, "Revive me according to your word." Christian renewal is not self-improvement but resurrection, the same power that raised Christ now breathing fresh life into the believer through the means of grace. We do not cling to life by our own strength; we beg the Author of life to sustain it.
Sung as an anthem, these words become the congregation's shared confession: a small psalm of dedication, dependence, and joy. They train the worshiper to pray with the Psalmist and to run — not trudge — in the way of God's commands, because in Christ the heart has been set free.
Video citations
- Anthem 1-16-22 — I have chosen another way of truth. I have said my heart on your voice, I have first said to the Lord, that we not be too shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you said my heart free. Teach…