Post by James Blankenship on Apr 23, 2012 13:31:56 GMT -5
More Thoughts from Psalm 119.
Today, we are looking at verses 33-40:
(Notice here that this entire section is asking God for His help!)
"Teach me, 0 Lord, to follow Your decrees; that I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, & I will keep Your law, & obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of Your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart towards Your statutes & not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes from worthless things; preserve my life according to Your Word. Fulfill Your promise to Your servant, so that You may be feared. Take away the disgrace that I dread, for Your laws are good. How I long for Your precepts! Preserve my life in Your righteousness. "
TEACH ME. 0 LORD, TO FOLLOW YOUR DECREES; THAT I MAY KEEP THEM TO THE END.
As I said above, this whole section is turning to the very, (& ONLY), One that we can turn to for EVERY decision in our lives-God! Note too, that the tone of this section, almost turns into a pleading, a
longing, a passionate desire. Teach me, 0 Lord! We recognize Christ Jesus as the ultimate teacher for being able to understand what God's will is for each of our lives. How many times in the NT, was Jesus referred to as teacher? People recognized that Jesus spoke the Word of God-that is why so many people flocked to Him, to hear what He had to say! I am reminded of a verse in Matthew 18:3-4, where it says-'Truly I say to you, unless you are converted, & become as little children, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven. Whoever then, humbles himself as this child, he is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven." There is also Matthew 23:12:-"Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, & whoever humbles himself, shall be exalted." Humbling
ourselves, before God-becoming as little children before God-THIS is how we should ALWAYS come before God, realizing our inadequacies, recognizing that we are totally helpless without His direction, realizing that Jesus is the only path to the understanding of God! That I will keep them to the end.
I remember a story that I heard on the radio, about the death of the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ-Bill Bright. Right up to the very moment of death, he was still doing the will of God, giving last minute instructions, to his staff! This was a man of true dedication to God! He is an example of how WE should serve God-right up to the minute of our death-THIS is the dedication that our God wants from each one of us!
GIVE ME UNDERSTANDING, AND I WILL KEEP YOUR LAW, & OBEY IT WITH ALL MY HEART.
Understanding-when we consider how completely & totally awesome God really is-BOY OH BOY, DO WE NEED UNDERSTANDING! PSALM 8:3-4 God WILL give us understanding, but we have to ASK Him for it-What does Luke 11: 9-10 say? "Ask, & it will be given to you; Seek, & you will find; Knock, & it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; & he who seeks, finds; & to him who knocks, it will be opened." Why is it that so many of us feel that we don't understand the will of God or His word? James 4:3-"you ask, & you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your own pleasures."
If we truly want God's understanding, we must seek it ONLY for what God wants us to use it for, NOT what WE want to use it for! But when we DO have God's understanding, we find it so much easier TO keep God's law! And how do we keep God's law with all our heart-Psalm 37:4-"Delight yourself in the Lord, & he will desires of your heart. "
DIRECT ME IN THE PATH OF YOUR COMMANDS, FOR THERE I FIND DELIGHT.
God's direction. If we try to understand God's word, WITHOUT the direction of the Holy Spirit, we WILL get lost, because God is beyond our comprehension! What do we read in Matthew 7: 14? "for the gate is small, & the way is narrow that leads to life; there are few who find it." Where do we find true delight? Psalm 37:4 TURN MY HEART TOWARD YOUR STATUTES, & NOT TOWARD SELFISH GAIN. We must always be sure that when we seek God's direction & leading in our lives, that HE must be first in our minds & thoughts-not our OWN desires.
TURN AWAY MY EYES FROM WORTHLESS THINGS. PRESERVE MY LIFE ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD.
Everything is this world is only temporal-it will not last! Isaiah 40:8-'The grass withers, the flower fades; bout the word of our God, stands forever!" EVERYTHING THAT HAS EVERY BEEN CREATED HAS, OR WILL BE CREATED, EVENTUALLY WILL TURN TO DUST! YET FOR ALL THESE CENTURIES, THE WORD OF GOD HAS REMAINED! THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANYTHING PUBLISHED THAT HAS ENDURED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, EXCECPT THE WORD OF GOD! Glory to God!!!!!
Then look at the second half of this verse. The writer fully realizes that it is only by God's will that he even exists at all! HE realizes the truth of Genesis 4: 19-""",for you are dust, & to dust you shall return."
ESTABLISH YOUR WORD TO YOUR SERVANT, AS THAT WHICH PRODUCES REVERENCE FOR YOU.
I have decided to use the NASB for this verse, because it so clearly states how much & how important God's word really should be to each of us! Psalm 1:2 states: "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, & in His law, he meditates day & night." Note the words DAY & NIGHT. If the Psalmist meditated on God's word, day & night, would it be so
hard for each one of us to just take an hour or two of our day, to study God's Word? I keep referring back to that one verse in Psalm 8:4-"What is man, that You take thought of him " By meditating on God's word, we DO develop all the reverence for Him that he so richly deserve, because HE IS GOD!
TAKE AWAY THE DISGRACE THAT I DREAD, FOR YOUR LAWS ARE GOOD.
Here we find the most essential truth in the entire Bible-that we ARE
SINFUL! We are very aware that we are not worthy to stand before such a righteous & mighty God! Psalm 8:3-4 We realize the truth of God's Word, & how it show us that we don't deserve God's salvation that we have chosen. Hebrews 2:3 states: ".... how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?" But we also see here, that the truth of God's word here as "How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103)
HOW I LONG FOR YOUR PRECEPTS! PRESERVE MY LIFE IN YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Again, I ask this question of ALL OF US, (& YOU HAD BETTER BELIEVE THAT I INCLUDE MYSELF IN THIS!): do we really have this kind of passion for Our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ, & His word? Do we REALLY take into account the truth of Psalm 8:3-4? Do we REALLY realize just how great & powerful the Lord we serve REALLY IS?
Let us pray.
"Heavenly Father, we come before You & You alone today, worshipping how great & marvelous You & You alone truly are! We come singing Your praises for the truth that Your written Word has for us! We give You & You alone all the glory & honor for the living Word, Your Son Jesus Christ, that he died for each one of our sins, that we may have fellowship & eternal life with You! Yet, we also come before You & You alone, confessing that we have been all too lax in the study of Your Word, Heavenly Father! As much as Your Word is honey to our tongues, it is also convicting to our hearts, as well! Lord, we too often forget the importance of the truth of what Your Word DOES have to say to each one of us! Of how it convicts us of our sin! Of how it convicts us that we still NEED to know so much more about You, Lord! Of how much You DO love us! Lord Jesus: we confess our lack of
spending time with You in Your Word. We confess the lack of time that we spend just listening to You, Lord Jesus! We ask forgiveness for our ignoring You, Lord Jesus, because we know that You NEVER ignore us! Lord Jesus-forgive us! Bring us to a new conviction this year, to read Your Word everyday! To set aside a special time that we can come before You, in prayer & Praise! For You ARE so worthy of praise, Lord Jesus! We do praise You, for our salvation, Lord Jesus! We DO praise You, for Your written word! We DO praise You, that You loved us so much, that You would die for each one
of us, that we may live in You, Lord Jesus! We come before You & You alone now, in complete humbleness, acknowledging that You & You alone ARE our God! That You & You alone ARE our Savior! That You & You alone are the Lord of our lives! We do all this in Your Name, Lord Jesus, for it is in Your Name & Your Name alone that we pray. Amen!"
James
Today, we are looking at verses 33-40:
(Notice here that this entire section is asking God for His help!)
"Teach me, 0 Lord, to follow Your decrees; that I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, & I will keep Your law, & obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of Your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart towards Your statutes & not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes from worthless things; preserve my life according to Your Word. Fulfill Your promise to Your servant, so that You may be feared. Take away the disgrace that I dread, for Your laws are good. How I long for Your precepts! Preserve my life in Your righteousness. "
TEACH ME. 0 LORD, TO FOLLOW YOUR DECREES; THAT I MAY KEEP THEM TO THE END.
As I said above, this whole section is turning to the very, (& ONLY), One that we can turn to for EVERY decision in our lives-God! Note too, that the tone of this section, almost turns into a pleading, a
longing, a passionate desire. Teach me, 0 Lord! We recognize Christ Jesus as the ultimate teacher for being able to understand what God's will is for each of our lives. How many times in the NT, was Jesus referred to as teacher? People recognized that Jesus spoke the Word of God-that is why so many people flocked to Him, to hear what He had to say! I am reminded of a verse in Matthew 18:3-4, where it says-'Truly I say to you, unless you are converted, & become as little children, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven. Whoever then, humbles himself as this child, he is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven." There is also Matthew 23:12:-"Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, & whoever humbles himself, shall be exalted." Humbling
ourselves, before God-becoming as little children before God-THIS is how we should ALWAYS come before God, realizing our inadequacies, recognizing that we are totally helpless without His direction, realizing that Jesus is the only path to the understanding of God! That I will keep them to the end.
I remember a story that I heard on the radio, about the death of the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ-Bill Bright. Right up to the very moment of death, he was still doing the will of God, giving last minute instructions, to his staff! This was a man of true dedication to God! He is an example of how WE should serve God-right up to the minute of our death-THIS is the dedication that our God wants from each one of us!
GIVE ME UNDERSTANDING, AND I WILL KEEP YOUR LAW, & OBEY IT WITH ALL MY HEART.
Understanding-when we consider how completely & totally awesome God really is-BOY OH BOY, DO WE NEED UNDERSTANDING! PSALM 8:3-4 God WILL give us understanding, but we have to ASK Him for it-What does Luke 11: 9-10 say? "Ask, & it will be given to you; Seek, & you will find; Knock, & it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; & he who seeks, finds; & to him who knocks, it will be opened." Why is it that so many of us feel that we don't understand the will of God or His word? James 4:3-"you ask, & you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your own pleasures."
If we truly want God's understanding, we must seek it ONLY for what God wants us to use it for, NOT what WE want to use it for! But when we DO have God's understanding, we find it so much easier TO keep God's law! And how do we keep God's law with all our heart-Psalm 37:4-"Delight yourself in the Lord, & he will desires of your heart. "
DIRECT ME IN THE PATH OF YOUR COMMANDS, FOR THERE I FIND DELIGHT.
God's direction. If we try to understand God's word, WITHOUT the direction of the Holy Spirit, we WILL get lost, because God is beyond our comprehension! What do we read in Matthew 7: 14? "for the gate is small, & the way is narrow that leads to life; there are few who find it." Where do we find true delight? Psalm 37:4 TURN MY HEART TOWARD YOUR STATUTES, & NOT TOWARD SELFISH GAIN. We must always be sure that when we seek God's direction & leading in our lives, that HE must be first in our minds & thoughts-not our OWN desires.
TURN AWAY MY EYES FROM WORTHLESS THINGS. PRESERVE MY LIFE ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD.
Everything is this world is only temporal-it will not last! Isaiah 40:8-'The grass withers, the flower fades; bout the word of our God, stands forever!" EVERYTHING THAT HAS EVERY BEEN CREATED HAS, OR WILL BE CREATED, EVENTUALLY WILL TURN TO DUST! YET FOR ALL THESE CENTURIES, THE WORD OF GOD HAS REMAINED! THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANYTHING PUBLISHED THAT HAS ENDURED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, EXCECPT THE WORD OF GOD! Glory to God!!!!!
Then look at the second half of this verse. The writer fully realizes that it is only by God's will that he even exists at all! HE realizes the truth of Genesis 4: 19-""",for you are dust, & to dust you shall return."
ESTABLISH YOUR WORD TO YOUR SERVANT, AS THAT WHICH PRODUCES REVERENCE FOR YOU.
I have decided to use the NASB for this verse, because it so clearly states how much & how important God's word really should be to each of us! Psalm 1:2 states: "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, & in His law, he meditates day & night." Note the words DAY & NIGHT. If the Psalmist meditated on God's word, day & night, would it be so
hard for each one of us to just take an hour or two of our day, to study God's Word? I keep referring back to that one verse in Psalm 8:4-"What is man, that You take thought of him " By meditating on God's word, we DO develop all the reverence for Him that he so richly deserve, because HE IS GOD!
TAKE AWAY THE DISGRACE THAT I DREAD, FOR YOUR LAWS ARE GOOD.
Here we find the most essential truth in the entire Bible-that we ARE
SINFUL! We are very aware that we are not worthy to stand before such a righteous & mighty God! Psalm 8:3-4 We realize the truth of God's Word, & how it show us that we don't deserve God's salvation that we have chosen. Hebrews 2:3 states: ".... how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?" But we also see here, that the truth of God's word here as "How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103)
HOW I LONG FOR YOUR PRECEPTS! PRESERVE MY LIFE IN YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Again, I ask this question of ALL OF US, (& YOU HAD BETTER BELIEVE THAT I INCLUDE MYSELF IN THIS!): do we really have this kind of passion for Our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ, & His word? Do we REALLY take into account the truth of Psalm 8:3-4? Do we REALLY realize just how great & powerful the Lord we serve REALLY IS?
Let us pray.
"Heavenly Father, we come before You & You alone today, worshipping how great & marvelous You & You alone truly are! We come singing Your praises for the truth that Your written Word has for us! We give You & You alone all the glory & honor for the living Word, Your Son Jesus Christ, that he died for each one of our sins, that we may have fellowship & eternal life with You! Yet, we also come before You & You alone, confessing that we have been all too lax in the study of Your Word, Heavenly Father! As much as Your Word is honey to our tongues, it is also convicting to our hearts, as well! Lord, we too often forget the importance of the truth of what Your Word DOES have to say to each one of us! Of how it convicts us of our sin! Of how it convicts us that we still NEED to know so much more about You, Lord! Of how much You DO love us! Lord Jesus: we confess our lack of
spending time with You in Your Word. We confess the lack of time that we spend just listening to You, Lord Jesus! We ask forgiveness for our ignoring You, Lord Jesus, because we know that You NEVER ignore us! Lord Jesus-forgive us! Bring us to a new conviction this year, to read Your Word everyday! To set aside a special time that we can come before You, in prayer & Praise! For You ARE so worthy of praise, Lord Jesus! We do praise You, for our salvation, Lord Jesus! We DO praise You, for Your written word! We DO praise You, that You loved us so much, that You would die for each one
of us, that we may live in You, Lord Jesus! We come before You & You alone now, in complete humbleness, acknowledging that You & You alone ARE our God! That You & You alone ARE our Savior! That You & You alone are the Lord of our lives! We do all this in Your Name, Lord Jesus, for it is in Your Name & Your Name alone that we pray. Amen!"
James
