Thursday, July
27, 2017
Your laws are wonderful. No wonder I obey them! The teaching of your word gives light, so
even the simple can understand. I
pant with expectation, longing for your commands. Come and show me your mercy, as you do
for all who love your name. Guide
my steps by your word, so I will not be overcome by evil. Ransom me from the oppression of evil
people; then I can obey your commandments.
Look upon me with love; teach me your decrees. Rivers of tears gush from my eyes because
people disobey your instructions.
Psalm 119:129-136(NLT)
David loved
God as a shepherd boy tending his father’s flocks. He loved God when he was a fugitive, running
for his life because King Saul had a paranoid-schizophrenic break with reality,
fearing that God was giving his throne to David. Saul’s fears were founded, as God was about
to have an obedient king in place of the disobedient Saul:
But God
removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have
found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I
want him to do.’ Acts 13:22(NLT)
David loved
God even though he was human and could sin as humans do. That love for God drove David to repentance when
he got publicly caught in his sins with Bathsheba; he repented and was
restored.
As a king David
was moved to rivers of tears
because he saw disobedience throughout the nation of Israel, and he knew the
people were making the same mistake as Saul.
When it
comes to having a relationship with God, the important thing for human beings
to remember is that obedience
trumps words, feelings and anything else!
When David
wrote this Psalm he was well on the other side of his most infamous moments of
sin and separation from God. He had
experienced both the joy of obeying God’s word, and the pain of his own
arrogance as his sin separated him from God’s fellowship. And you can certainly tell the difference!
Therein is
a model with which we can live! It is
the word of God that gives light to our understanding, instruction to our
hearts and forms a safe footing for our steps.
Disobedience brings darkness to the soul, confusion in the heart and one
trap after another in which we will fall as we are confronted with life’s
harshness.
David
declared God’s laws/ways were wonderful. I have heard it described otherwise by today’s
culture, as many refuse to have anyone tell them what to do, or how to
live. The difference between David, and
those who refuse God’s way, is the reality of just how lovely and fulfilling life
can be under God’s wing.
For You Today
Obedience
brings joy. Don’t be like the child who
shouts NO!!! to his
parents about eating his string beans; that child will never know the strength
healthy food can bring.
NOTES
No comments:
Post a Comment