February 18, 2004

Reading: Ps 119:59

 

“I pondered the direction of my life, and I turned to follow your statutes” (59) NLT

 

Last week we contemplated the words of God to Abraham, “Walk in every direction and explore the possessions I am giving you” Gen 13:17. Don’t be an onlooker, but a participator. The caution is to be sure we are walking on the path of God’s choosing. Today the Psalmist does just that, he examined the path he was on, decided he was heading in the wrong direction and made a choice—to follow God’s Word. Throughout this psalm the writer speaks of the path we should be walking. He refers of those who “do not compromise with evil” but “walk only in His paths” (3). He speaks of the Word of God being the light that enables him to stay on the right path (105). He prays that the Lord will guide his steps by His Word (133). It was very important that he walked only on God’s path for he knew his happiness depended on it (35).

Sometimes, when the promises of God are not evident, we need to ponder the direction of our life. On which path am I traveling? The psalmist saw he was on the wrong path and decided to do something about it—“I turned to follow your statutes.”

When the psalmist dedicates himself so completely to God’s law, to what is he referring? Whatever it is, he meditated in it day and night, “I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word”” Ps 119:15-16. That which the writer had to delight in was the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the bible. God explicitly laid out His law and commandments and it was in this that the writer delighted. How excited are we when we read the 10 commandments? The rules and regulations, along with the offerings and sacrifices, seldom bring happiness when we read them—that is if we read them at all. I can imagine David and the other O.T. writers reading passages like Deuteronomy 28, where God plainly emphasizes the need for absolute obedience to His commandments. Not only did they know of the wonderful blessings that would be theirs if they obeyed, but the punishment for disobedience also. They knew that God was faithful to His word, so that is why they committed themselves to it. Obedience to His Word brought happiness, but they approached it with fear and trembling.

In the same breath the psalmist says, “I love Your testimonies. My flesh trembles for fear of You, and I am afraid of Your judgments” Ps 119:119-120. He loved God’s Word because of the wonderful blessings He promised to those who obeyed, but, at the same time, he trembled because of the punishment for disobedience.

What is the path of God’s law for us today? In His ‘Sermon on the Mount’ Jesus clearly lays out the path we, as Christians, are required to walk. The N.T. writers teach the principles Jesus taught. There are tremendous blessings associated with obedience to the law of Christ, and severe chastening is promised to those who ‘neglect so great a salvation’ Heb 2:3. God is faithful in the chastening of His children who live with unconfessed sin in their lives.

Do you need to turn and commit yourself to follow His statutes? May we each one examine our walk with the Lord, and, if we need to turn, may we do it without procrastination. “I will hurry, without lingering, to obey your commands” Psalm 119:60.