Monday,
September 25, 2023
Thy word have
I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalm 119:11
The entire
119th Psalm refers to God’s Word (43 times
in its 176 verses). Reading this
Psalm out loud, every time you take a breath, you’re going to utter the phrase thy
word! It is the design of the
Author to point to His own word as the benchmark for the way we humans should
live what is called covenant life, living a life faithful and
fruitful in the promises and precepts of the Kingdom of God.
This touches
virtually every aspect of a human’s existence; it touches the good times and tough
times, the times bathed in faith, and the times of straying off the path, as
well as the times of fear. But the
weight of the Psalm (for me) is summed-up in this:
How sweet your words taste to me; they
are sweeter than honey. Psalm 119:103
This is a
teaching Psalm, introducing God’s people how to live in light of God’s
requirements, as people of light…the goodness of God, as opposed to the darkness
of God’s evil enemy. One writer
expressed it this way:
The Didactic [teaching]
Songs expound the totally separate paths known from wisdom literature as the
ways of “the wise” and “the foolish,” from covenant literature as those of “the
obedient” and “the disobedient.”[i]
To use a
common means of expressing it, there are two kinds of people in the universe –
those who trust in God (and live like it), and those who don’t! A third possibility is those who slip in-and-out
of both, just can’t make up their minds.
That third
possibility is actually quite-flawed, because “slipping-in-and-out” is only a superficial
residence in one or the other. It is
failing to choose (for an eternity) to live as God’s child, or as the child of
God’s enemy. Scripture tells us it is
impossible to please God except by faith.[ii]
There is a
difference between simply being afraid God will punish us for our sins, so we
behave for a while, and fearing God in the sense of reverence, respect, and therefore
choosing to obey His commands for life and eternity, by turning away from sin, so
you are able to live-into that respect and reverence with obedience.
Hiding God’s
Word in your heart is exactly how you do that.
You read it every day; you study and meditate on God’s Word. You pray like the writer of the 119th
Psalm wrote, talking to God about your fears and faith, your successes and the
times you messed-up. You ask Him for
faith to live as He wants you, and strength to oppose your own stubborn
will.
That’s what
spiritual warfare is all about…not movements to challenge others’ faith or
practices, or shouting matches over evil stuff…it’s dealing with your own
rebellious heart. We’re all born with
that, and it separates us from God and each other if we don’t root out that sin…or
more accurately invite God to come root it out for you…His Holy Spirit is an
expert at dealing with your heart.
For You Today
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky
Road; have a blessed day!
There are about 2,600 devotional
posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.
Title Image(s) courtesy of Pixabay.com
and Pixabay.com
Images without citation are in public
domain. Unless noted, Scripture quoted
from NLT©
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