Meditations and Prayers Relating to the Law of God.
Aleph.
119 How blessed are those whose way is [a]blameless,
Who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,
Who seek Him with all their heart.
3 They also do no unrighteousness;
They walk in His ways.
4 You have [b]ordained Your precepts,
[c]That we should keep them diligently.
5 Oh that my ways may be established
To keep Your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be ashamed
When I look [d]upon all Your commandments.
7 I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8 I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not forsake me utterly!
The first stanza of Psalm 119 speaks repeatedly of the “blameless”, who seek God with all their heart, do no unrighteousness, keep His precepts diligently, and give thanks with uprightness of heart. While none of us is blameless, or can claim any of these other statements with perfection, we all ought to strive for this, to follow God without hesitation. But how?
This psalm makes it pretty obvious, and given that it is the longest psalm, and the longest chapter in the Bible, the lesson should be all the more emphatic. We need to know God’s law, His ways, precepts, statutes, commandments, and His judgments. Put simply, we need to know God’s Word, the Bible that contains all of these things.
How else can we stand firm, if we do not know that upon which our faith is based? Mere feelings and experiences are not enough, not in any arena of life, and certainly not when it comes to our relationship with our Creator. We must diligently study God’s Word, put it into practice, study it more, and rinse and repeat. We must not grow “weary in well-doing” but ask God to reveal something new each day.
To be clear, sometimes you’re going to get a similar message from Him, because we also need repetition to learn. Sometimes we just haven’t figured it out yet, and we all are a work in progress. If you’ve been following along here long, you’ll probably notice recurring themes. I share what God is teaching me that day, and if you see it again, I haven’t gotten it down yet either!
Too many claim to be Christians, and yet don’t bother to open the book that God gave us. It is way too easy to make excuses, or say you’ll do it later. Stop, and do it then. Later never comes, and we desperately need to hear what God has in store for us. Strengthen your spiritual muscles, and “work out your faith with fear and trembling”. And well we ought to tremble, for we serve an awesome God. He wants what is best for you, but do you want it too?