Psalm 119 – Do It

For previous posts in this series, click here.

I will hurry, without delay, to obey your commands. – Psalm 119:60 (NLT)

How much time do we waste on a daily basis? I believe that our generation of people is caught up in a culture and attitude of procrastination that is not what God wants for us. We seem to think that if we put something off for a little bit no harm will come from it, but how many of us do that with God too? Whether it’s doing something that God has specifically told you to do or just logging out of Facebook to read your Bible, we tend to think it’s okay to do it ‘later’. We need to break this spirit that has such a hold on us. When God says do something, do it! It’s that simple. The psalmist says that not only does he/she obey God’s commands immediately, but he/she hurries, without delay to do what God has said. This shows me that the psalmist absolutely desired to be obedient – it was a lifestyle. There was no debating on whether or not to do it, there was no waiting another hour until it was convenient. We need to start retraining our minds to immediate obedience. Let’s think about how much we could miss out on, how much we’ve already missed out on, because we procrastinate. It delights God when we stop what we’re doing to listen to Him and to obey His commands, and nothing makes us happier than for Him to delight in us! My challenge today is simple: when God says do something, do it!

Psalm 119 – Totally Worth It

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I long to obey your commandments! – Psalm 119:40a (NLT)

I will keep on obeying your instructions forever and ever. – Psalm 119:44 (NLT)

This is how I spend my life: obeying your commandments. – Psalm 119:56 (NLT)

I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments. – Psalm 119:45 (NLT)

Desire 2 Obey==>Obedience==>Lifestyle==>Freedom

That’s how I connect with these four verses. This psalm is such a beautiful prayer to God and a theme throughout the whole thing is obedience. Obedience, radical obedience, has to come from a desire to obey what God’s telling us to do. It has to begin with understanding what He wants (we get our instruction from being immersed in Scripture), wanting to do it, making it a lifestyle as opposed to a ‘phase’ that we move on from, and the end result is a beautiful sense of freedom; knowing that you are walking in the midst of God’s will for your life and that you are doing all that He’s asking of you.  When we decide to spend our lives obeying God’s commandments, it is a very serious commitment. We are committing to sacrificing certain things, to being in tune with what God is asking us to do – we are committing to a life lived in total obedience to Him no matter what. We can’t afford to be complacent in our walk with the Lord; the blessings that He has promised us are fully available to everyone but it requires obedience from us in order to get to them. At the same time, the motivation for our obedience cannot come from an attitude of entitlement. We cannot be obedient simply to gain favor from the Lord – it has to come out of a place of love for Jesus. Love and desire for Him. 2 Corinthians 5:14 says that Christ’s love controls us. This might seem like a verse that puts us in a place of feeling bound to something in a bad way but in truth it is the most freeing statement! When Christ’s love controls us and we are making a lifestyle out of our obedience to Him, that is when we experience true freedom. When we’re obedient to God we are no longer wallowing in the mess of our own lives, but experiencing freedom from all of that. When we’re obedient to God we experience a deeper level of relationship with Him because we’re listening intently to His instruction.

Desire 2 Obey==>Obedience==>Lifestyle==>Freedom==>Totally Worth It

Psalm 119 – Understanding

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Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart. – Psalm 119: 34 (NLT)

Let’s be honest, the Bible isn’t always the easiest book to understand. Sometimes we read things and have no clue why they’re in there, what we’re supposed to do with them and we can easily become discouraged if nothing we’re reading is making sense or if we don’t feel like we’re ‘getting something’ out of our time in the word. What I love about this particular verse is the honesty – this guy (or girl!) is admitting that he doesn’t understand everything! True understanding is grasping the concept, and knowing how to apply it to your life. It is okay to ask God to help you understand something  – especially in the Bible! I believe that everything is in there for a reason, and that we can ‘get something out of it’ every time we open that book. We just have to humble ourselves and ask God to help us to understand. It’s hard to obey instructions when you don’t understand what they are! This psalmist is saying that if God would grant him the understanding, he will put into practice everything that God tells him to do and not only that, but put them into practice with all of his heart. That’s a big commitment, but it’s one that I think is so vital to our relationship with God. We need to be sold out – not lukewarm! We need to put our energy into obeying God’s instructions with all our heart, and if we don’t understand something it’s okay to ask God to give us understanding. I do it all the time. My challenge to you today is to ask God to give you understanding so that you can obey Him with all of your heart. Ask God to reveal something to you in the scriptures that you’ve never been able to fully grasp before – it will deepen your relationship with Him so beautifully, trust me!

Psalm 119 – Choices

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I have chosen to be faithful; I have determined to live by your regulations. – Psalm 119:30 (NLT)

I am a firm believer that everything in life is a choice – even when things happen to us outside of our power, we still have a choice as to how we’re going to react. Our choices can carry a ton of weight so we need to be very careful in making our decisions. Now, you may have already chosen to ‘accept Jesus into your heart’, but there are other choices to make – will you choose to be faithful? Will you choose to live by God’s word, obeying the instruction that’s in there? Will you choose to turn away from the sinful way of doing things and to turn towards God’s way? In Psalm 119, the psalmist says ‘I have chosen to be faithful’. What does that look like? The dictionary defines the word ‘faithful’ as ‘loyal, constant and steadfast’. One synonym of ‘faithful’ is ‘devoted’. Have you chosen to be devoted to God’s regulations? For all of us at some point this means altering the way we live our lives and the choices we make. This is no light-hearted decision – it should change everything. My challenge to you today is to think about whether or not you have truly chosen to be faithful and think about the implications of such a choice. In previous posts we have seen that obedience to God brings so much joy to our lives – so choosing to be faithful to Him and to live by His regulations may require some difficult life changes but ultimately will bring you the kind of joy that only He can bring.

Psalm 119 – From a Chore to a Privilege

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Keep me from lying to myself; give me the privilege of knowing Your instructions. – Psalm 119:29 (NLT)

How often do our minds misconstrue the truth? Maybe it’s just a girl thing, but I know that I have to work hard at controlling and transforming the way I think because my mind can exaggerate, misinterpret and project things that simply aren’t true. I think that everyone is in danger of lying to themselves if they’re not careful. We justify sin – “This isn’t really sinning, it’s kind of on the line” “If I tell this little white lie, no one will find out anyway and God knows that my intentions are good”. Uh oh. Big uh oh. Not only have you just lied, but you’ve lied to yourself. Lord, keep us from lying to ourselves! This should be such an easy thing to do – we shouldn’t have to guard against ourselves but unfortunately the nature of our hearts is a sinful one. So what does the word tell us to do in Psalm 119:29? It tells us to ask God for the privilege of knowing His instructions. First of all, being able to read God’s word in our own language – being able to read at all! – is a huge privilege. We need to stop thinking of time spent in the scripture as a chore, and we need to train our hearts to see it as a privilege! For years I struggled with this, and only when I asked God to plant the desire to dive into His word on a daily basis did my mind state changing towards being honored to read the Bible. My challenge to you today is this: pray that God would change your perception of reading the Bible from a chore to a privilege and start enjoying and living out the wonderful truths that can be found there!

 

Psalm 119 – Lying in the Dust

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I lie in the dust; revive me by Your word. – Psalm 119: 25 (NLT)

I weep with sorrow; encourage me by Your word. – Psalm 119:28 (NLT)

Some days kick us down, and we don’t feel that we have the strength to get back up. We all have those days. You know, the ones where everything seems to go wrong and our hearts are discouraged because we’re not getting anywhere. We’re battling but not gaining any victories. We don’t feel like our faith is rising or our strength is renewed – if we were to be honest, we’d say that we were ‘lying in the dust’. Yesterday we spoke about how obeying God’s word can bring us joy and purity of heart but you and I both know that there are times when we don’t feel joy. God uses His word to encourage us and to build us back up – to pick through the rubble of our circumstances and grant us renewed strength and renewed faith. This is why it is so vital that we keep His word hidden in our hearts (Psalm 119:11) and that we know where to look when we need that kind of encouragement. Here are some of my favorite verses that I have written down in several different places for when I’m ‘lying in the dust’:

If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there; if you’re kicked in the gut, He’ll help you catch your breath. – Psalm 34:18 (MSG)

 

‘Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you. – Isaiah 54:10 (NIV)

 

And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. – 1 John 4:16 (HCSB)

 

Forget the former things, don’t dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! – Isaiah 43:18-19a (NLT)

 

They will fight you, but they will fail. For I am with you, and I will take care of you. I, the Lord, have spoken! – Jeremiah 1:19 (NLT)

Psalm 119 – Get Into The Word!

In part two of our Psalm 119 series we will be looking at Psalm 119:9 and 11. For the first part in this series, click here.

How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word. – Psalm 119:9 (NLT)

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against  you. – Psalm 119:11 (NLT)

Life as a follower of Jesus Christ is a constant battle to turn away from the things of this world, from sin, and to turn towards Him and a life that is pure. Often when we see the word ‘purity’ we assume it is talking about sexual purity. I believe that in this verse, while it might include sexual purity as well, it’s talking about purity in general – purity of the heart. We are called to have pure hearts and minds so that we can rid ourselves of temptations and distractions and focus on what God has called us to do. But let’s be honest, this isn’t always easy. Some of us struggle with being judgmental – impure! Some of us struggle with gossip – impure! Some of us struggle with lust – impure! Jealousy, greed, gluttony, hatred, bitterness, unforgiveness,  self-righteousness – impure! It is a battle to keep our hearts pure and verse 9 of Psalm 119 clearly gives us the solution – obey His word. In the last post we talked about obedience and it’s popped up again today: obedience brings joy and a pure heart. The way to make sure that this is forever ingrained in our lives is revealed to us in verse 11 – hide His word in your heart. Immerse yourself in scripture, read it, love it, ask God to help you understand it, and then do what it says. These things all go hand in hand: obedience, joy, purity, God’s word. In the last post was a challenge to choose obedience. Today I challenge you to get into the word, obey what it says, hide it in your heart and experience joy and purity as God intends for us to have!

Psalm 119 – Choose Obedience!

Today is the beginning of what I hope is going to become a series on Psalm 119. God led me to this passage this morning and it has been speaking volumes to me today. I want to break it down, pick out the particular verses that are speaking to me right now and unpack them a little so that we can get as much out of them as possible. I pray Psalm 119 encourages you as much as it has encouraged me so far!

We’re going to begin with verses 1 and 2. The author of this Psalm is unknown, some say it was Ezra the priest but there is no real proof of this and I don’t think it’s relevant in this situation – what’s important is what we can learn from what we read!

Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey His laws and search for Him with all their hearts. – Psalm 119:1-2 (NLT)

Out of obedience comes joy. When we choose to follow the instructions of the Lord, there is joy and joy abounding. God only has good for us and when we obey His word, that is what we get – fullness of joy, life, peace, hope, GOODNESS. Later on in the Psalm, in verse 143, it says “As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands”. When we are bogged down by the stresses and trials of this life, we can find joy in God’s word, and in obeying what it commands us to do. So often we get stuck in a rut, wallowing in the misery of our circumstances but if we would just immerse ourselves in His word and do what it says, we can find joy! I was recently blessed to hear from the Lord about what He wanted me to do in a certain situation and I decided to be obedient – let me tell you, I received so much joy from that experience! Just to know that God would care enough to instruct me on something and that He would bless me for being obedient is beyond my understanding. I challenge you to choose obedience, and to ask God to bless you with an incomprehensible joy!

An Enduring Faith

We feel entitled to comfort and convenience, yet when we observe true followers of Christ in the Bible, and even Christ himself, they had neither comfort nor convenience – in fact, they suffered through much more than most of us would say we could handle BUT….they had a fire inside of them that could not be put out. Their faith was somehow not as shaken as mine probably would be given their circumstances. I’m about to introduce a somewhat radical idea (at least for me anyway): Discomfort and suffering can actually be beautiful experiences that God can use to build up our faith. Now I am not saying that we all need to go out into the desert without food and water and wait for something amazing to happen, but I am saying that instead of asking God to change our circumstances, to remove our current struggles and sufferings, we should rather BEG God to use what we’re going through now to strengthen our faith, to prepare us for more trials. Because let’s be honest, life is never going to 100% peachy. Whether you’re rich or poor, whether you’re single or married, whether you’re in Africa or America…everybody’s going through something. The trials don’t end, the struggles continue. I feel as though it’s foolish to ask God to get rid of everything we’re going through because with the right attitude and prayers, those are the very things that should draw us so much closer to Him, those are the things that should build up our faith despite our circumstances (just like some of the people we read about in the Bible) – and that is so pleasing to God!

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. – James 1:2-4

Love

This morning I saw a great quote on Twitter and just had to share it:

Love is the most powerful weapon in spiritual warfare.

– Rick Warren