GODLINESS REQUIRES WORK
Psalm 119:33-40
Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it to the end.
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.
Confirm to your servant your promise,
that you may be feared.
Turn away the reproach that I dread,
for your rules are good.
Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life!
The progression we find in these verses is so necessary for
our lives. The writer begins with ‘teach me’ and then he moves to ‘give me
understanding, lead me, incline my heart, turn my eyes, confirm, turn away, and
give me life’!
I know that, in my laziness, I want to ask God to give me
blessing and life without the rigorous and diligent work that needs to be done.
There is no wiser place to begin to learn His statues than at
the footstool of the LORD. We have already seen this truth in the previous
verses, but again we are reminded that we need to be taught. The question we
must ask ourselves is if we really believe it. Our weeks consist of 168 hours. How
many are spent learning the Word? For some, the only learning time is the
Sunday morning service: 50 minutes, compared to 168 hours. Take time to do the
math in your own life: is there something that needs to change? Remember, we
are asking the LORD to give us ‘life”, but are we willing to cooperate with His
work in us?
Paul reminds us about the work of the Scriptures.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable
for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Life for a true believer is a godly, maturing life that is
dedicated to eternal goals. Only the inspired Word of God can provide the
teaching and the necessary exposure of wrong thinking and sin, so the Spirit can
transform our lives.
The psalmist is asking to learn the way of life; he is not
looking for information, but for the path he needs to follow. He needs
understanding: the ability to know, discern, and apply the instructions found
in his study. He knows that he needs to be led in his walk. His joy is found in
walking according to the Scriptures.
Part of his understanding, I believe, is also seeing the
benefits and value in following the directions of His Lord. I know that as I
get to know the character and love of God, I am more apt to understand and
trust His ways and to fully delight in them.
The battle is always raging between our selfishness and our
desire to live for God. The psalmist knows that, and he asks the LORD to
incline his heart in the right direction. I know that this needs to be my daily
prayer: to inform, transform, and incline my heart to godliness. When I am left to my natural desires, I
become the center of my heart’s inclination.
The world is always shining lights and aggressively alluring
my attention. Not only am I naturally inclined to follow the world, but
everything around me wants to pull me in that direction. You and I know how
easily we are distracted from all that is valuable and eternal.
But our fear of the Lord is the guiding light for our lives,
and a strong deterrent from wandering, to which we are so prone. Solomon, a man
who had allowed his life to be greatly distracted and pulled in wrong
directions, reminds us of this in his inspired writings.
Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
wisdom,
and the knowledge of the
Holy One is insight.
Going in the wrong direction will only produce reproach;
following God will produce all that is good. How greatly I need to be prepared
and reminded, for my days are filled with choices and decisions.
This stanza ends with an exclamation of desire for the
teaching of the Word, for only through the Word will a righteous life be
produced. A godly life is the result of
a godly resolve!
No comments:
Post a Comment