I confess that sometime I dread Psalm 119. “It is sooooo long,” I think. I am saddened to admit this, but it is true. And speaking out this thought shows me that at times my ‘devotions’ are more ritual rather than relationship and devotion…
Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me.
Today, however, was not one of those mornings. I read through the Psalm slowly, at a deliberate pace. Each stanza spoke clearly… like a hammer drill, it pierced its way deeply into me. Obedience. Obedience. Obedience is the word for the day… for a life surrendered to the Lord. It appeared throughout the Psalm.
Oh, Lord, may Your truth settle deeply into my soul and my being.
I could have chosen words from any stanza but I decided upon the first. It sets the tone and the theme for the entire Psalm.
Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart—they do no wrong but follow his ways (1-3).
Blessed are those who walk according to Your Word… who keep Your statues. Obedience pounds the hammer drill. Obedience. Do, walk, keep God’s Word.
I wish it were that easy, just a singular decision of the will. But like all great endeavors it is much greater than a single decision. It takes endurance. It takes will power. It takes the ability to master the right skills, like knowing the Word. And it takes the inner work of God, the Holy Spirit, rooting out sin and all its vestiges that are scattered widely and deeply in my life.
Lord, I pray that I am up to the task and I ask You to strengthen me to play my part faithfully as You work Your cleaning power within me. Lord, I pray this so that I might walk according to Your world and keep all of Your statutes, that my life might be an offering of praise to You. Alleluia. Amen.
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