Enlarge My Heart
By Anthony Casperson
12-6-25

I’m pretty sure that, between the original Dr. Seuss storybook, the 1966 cartoon, the live-action movie, and the 2018 remake cartoon, I don’t have to introduce the Grinch to anybody reading these words. We all kinda have a handle on the big green meanie who had a redemption moment on top of Mt. Crumpit.

He thought that he’d stolen Christmas by taking all of the stuff. The presents. The ribbons. The wrappings. The tags. The tinsel. The trimmings. And the trappings. The Grinch believed that Christmas was contained within the festivities and possessions gained.

But when he heard the Whos down in Whoville begin to sing, he realized that Christmas still came anyway. “It came with out ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!” There was something more to Christmas than all of the paraphernalia.

And while the story itself doesn’t go into what that more is, I’m not afraid to say that it has to do with the love shown in the arrival of the Word of God who was enfleshed in humanity.

But I’m not quite done with the illustration at the moment, so let’s not move away from the story just yet.

Atop that old Mt. Crumpit, the truth of Christmas’s message caused the Grinch’s heart to grow three sizes that day. One size more than how small it had been before. Understanding the truth of Christmas caused his heart to grow and enlarge. Room had to be made for the newfound love to fill it.

Only because of that love was the Grinch able to overcome his misunderstanding of the season. Because of that “enlargening” of his heart, he could witness the truth, and experience the love that can never be stolen.

I thought about the story of the Grinch while looking at the passage for this week’s blog in our current series. But I also knew that I’d have to be careful in using it.

We’ve been looking at certain psalms while discussing depression, anxiety, and similar negative emotions. And more than one person has called someone a grinch while they’ve been struggling with depression during the season. (I know it’s more than one, because I’ve been on the receiving end of that a few times myself.)

Therefore, care must be taken here.

Honestly, we all could use an enlargening of our hearts by the true message of Christmas. By the love that God shows us through his Word.

This celebration of the word of God in every situation of life is the point of Psalm 119, the longest Psalm. Its alphabetic acrostic—its A-to-Z-ness, going through the entire Hebrew alphabet with 8 verses for each letter—shows us this extent of meaning. The focus is on how the word of God impacts his people in every aspect of life.

In verses 25-32, the section devoted to the Hebrew language’s equivalent of “D,” fittingly looks at how the word of God fits in with our struggle with “D”epression. Sorrow. And similar emotions.

Also, since the Word of God came and dwelt among us, as the Apostle John speaks of Jesus in that gospel, I’m more than willing to say that everything the psalmist says is true of God’s word is also true of his Word, Jesus.

Verse 25 starts the section off strongly with a statement of the psalmist’s soul clinging to the dust. I don’t think there’s a more vivid expression of depression than feeling like your life itself is caked in the dust and dirt. The dryness of difficulty and trial refuses to let go.

But the psalmist understands that there’s something more than the dried husk inside of him. His shrunken soul needs to be filled with something. To be filled with the truth of God’s word.

He calls for God to teach him his word, his ways, his statutes, his precepts, his wondrous works. When life has left the psalmist feeling empty and dried out, he calls for the word of God to fill him. For the truth of God’s life-giving Word to reveal his steadfast love.

However, you and I both know it’s not usually that easy. One decision isn’t all that everybody needs. One choice doesn’t immediately fix every moment of depression and sorrow.

And the psalmist proves this when he again speaks of his soul’s sorrow in verse 28. Here, his soul melts. Life leaks out of him, along with his tears. Sorrow, grief, and the heaviness of these emotions have squeezed every last drop of life out of his soul.

But, many may ask, “How can he be in this place again? He’s had the answer. Known it. Called for it. Received it. But once again, here he is with his heart too many sizes too small because of the same sorrow and pain and grief. What’s wrong with him?”

The answer is that he once again needs to be filled with the love of God. His need isn’t any different, just because he needs it again. Nor is that answer found lacking just because new afflictions dredged up old wounds.

We know this because the psalmist once again turns to the word of God in answer. Just like we can turn to the Word of God who suffered for us.

The psalmist asks God to remove all lies from him. All of those false narratives that blame and condemn him for his own suffering.

Instead, he seeks strength in the truth of the word of God. He clings to it, just like the dust once clung to his soul. Instead of letting the death of sorrow cling onto him anymore, the psalmist clings to the life-giving truth of God. His steadfast love found in the person of Jesus.

And in verse 32, we see the psalmist rejoice in the fact that his heart has been enlarged. It’s grown more than three sizes in order to fit the love of God in it. That love which is the something more of this Christmas season.

We all could use the reminder of our need for our hearts’ enlargening this Christmas. The love of God, found in his Word, needs to stretch out our hearts. He needs to make room for his boundless, steadfast, unending love.

So, whether we’re in Whoville or on the top of Mt. Crumpit, or anywhere in between, let’s remember that Christmas means just a little bit more.

And let’s turn to the Word of God to enlarge our hearts.