Faith vs Doubt PSALM 116

Pray a blessing over my brothers. God would you use this time?

“Direct Your Heart in the Way”

A sermon on Psalm 116 with Matthew 26:36–41

Introduction: The Temptation to Follow Our Hearts

A phrase we hear often in our culture is this: “Follow your heart.”

Movies, music, social media, and even well-meaning advice from others tell us:

“Find what makes you happy. Discover your truth. Live your best life.”

But what if your heart is confused? What if it’s conflicted or inconsistent? What if following your heart actually leads you away from God?

The message we receive is that following our heart will set us free. But Scripture gives a different picture. Not one that condemns the heart—but one that redeems it and directs it toward something greater.

1. The Heart Needs More Than Freedom — It Needs Direction

Let’s be honest: We all feel a tug-of-war within us. Some of us have lived long enough to know the cost of acting on impulse—of trusting every feeling and chasing every desire. I’ve been there. I’ve followed my heart right into regret, frustration, and spiritual fatigue.

That’s why my family and I have clung to a source of truth outside ourselves: God’s Word—tested, trustworthy, and timeless. It doesn’t silence feelings; it reorders them around truth.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 says:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind.”

So if the heart can deceive, why are we so quick to follow it?

Because it feels natural. It feels easier—especially in moments of sorrow, stress, or exhaustion.

But Scripture doesn’t say, “Follow your heart.” It says:

“Direct your heart in the way.” — Proverbs 23:19

That’s a very different command. To direct the heart means to guide it, teach it, lead it toward truth, not to be led by it.

2. Gethsemane: Jesus Shows Us the Way to Handle a Troubled Heart

Let’s go to Matthew 26—to the garden of Gethsemane.

Here we see Jesus—fully God and fully man—sorrowful and troubled. He tells His disciples, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” He falls on His face and prays:

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

He returns to His disciples and finds them sleeping—unable to watch and pray.

“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

In this moment, Jesus does not follow His feelings into avoidance or despair—though He could have. Instead, He directs His heart toward obedience and trust. He names His desire—“Let this cup pass”—but He surrenders His will to the Father’s.

Jesus wasn’t denying His pain. He was redirecting His heart toward a greater truth: God is gracious, God is righteous, God is merciful.

3. The Psalm Jesus Likely Sang Before Gethsemane

After the Last Supper, before Gethsemane, Matthew 26:30 tells us:

“When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

This hymn was likely from the Hallel Psalms (113–118)—a set of praise psalms sung during Passover. That means Jesus may have sung Psalm 116 just before His prayer in the garden.

Listen to the words of Psalm 116:3–13:

“The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!’... Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.”

Jesus, in His greatest distress, likely recalled these words. He didn’t follow His emotions into despair—He directed His heart to the promises of God.

“I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”

That’s not a coincidence. That’s intentional. That’s faith in action.

4. Faith is Directing Your Heart to Truth — Not Denying Emotion

Faith isn’t the absence of emotion. It’s not pretending you’re okay. It’s not blind positivity.

Faith is what Jesus modeled: facing sorrow, yet choosing submission. Feeling weakness, yet seeking strength in God. Asking for the cup to pass, but still lifting it.

As the Psalmist says:

“I believed, even when I spoke: ‘I am greatly afflicted.’”

That’s what faith sounds like: “I am afflicted—but I believe.” “I am grieving—but I trust.” “I am anxious—but I remember.”

Henri Nouwen said: “The heart is the place where God dwells and also where Satan directs his fiercest attacks.”

So, brothers and sisters, don’t let your heart drift aimlessly. Direct it. Teach it. Train it. Preach Psalm 116 to your heart in the night hours. Sing the truth when you don’t feel it.

5. Unbelief Is the Real Danger — Not Just Doubt

The world tells you to “be true to yourself.” But Ephesians 2:2 (The Message) says:

“You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief and then exhaled disobedience.”

Doubt isn’t the end—but it can be the beginning of unbelief if left unchecked. To follow your heart is to feed your unbelief. To direct your heart is to feed your faith.

Conclusion: Return, O My Soul

Psalm 116:7 says:

“Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.”

This is what Jesus did in Gethsemane. This is what we are called to do in our suffering, sorrow, or confusion.

Don’t follow your heart into temptation. Don’t sleep through the pain. Don’t numb the anguish. Direct your heart in the way.

Call to Action: Watch and Pray

Just as Jesus told the disciples:

“Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation.”

Let us, too, watch and pray.

Pray when you feel weak.

Pray when your heart aches.

Pray when you feel tempted to follow your emotions away from God.

And then say, with confidence in the One who saves:

“I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”

Let your heart be directed—not by the winds of culture or feelings—but by the unchanging grace, mercy, and righteousness of your God.

Amen.