A LACK OF DESIRE FOR THE WORD SHOULD ALARM US!

DIFFICULTIES SHOULD DRIVE US TO THE WORD

Psalm 119:17-24

Deal bountifully with your servant,

that I may live and keep your word.

Open my eyes, that I may behold

wondrous things out of your law.

I am a sojourner on the earth;

hide not your commandments from me!

My soul is consumed with longing

for your rules at all times.

You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,

who wander from your commandments.

Take away from me scorn and contempt,

for I have kept your testimonies.

Even though princes sit plotting against me,

your servant will meditate on your statutes.

Your testimonies are my delight;

they are my counselors.

Again the writer of this Psalm is driven by his desire to keep the Word of God. He recognizes that he depends on God, as His servant and follower of God’ law.

It is interesting, how many people like to state that they are followers of God, but do not have the goal of finding out what God expects of them. The writer asks God to open his eyes, that he might behold the wonderful things in the law of God. Only God can open our eyes so that we can understand spiritual truths.  Only God’s children can understand and accept spiritual things.

1 Corinthians 2:14

            The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Spiritual truth is not natural to man. Not only he must be born again, but he must discover the truth by diligently searching the Word of God. The writer is consumed by his desire to learn and apply God’s truth.

When a person who professes to be a believer does not have a longing desire for truth, he should be greatly alarmed. When a believer is in sin, this desire will diminish, and patterns of prolonged sin and disinterest for the Scriptures should be very alarming.

The believer knows that straying from the Word has consequences on his spiritual life and God will not look the other way. Rebuke will come for those who stray.

Those who follow the Scriptures know that they will find themselves at odds with the unsaved. A life lived according to the Bible will bother those who live according to the flesh. Jesus said this very clearly:

John 16:33

            I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Tribulation and difficulties should drive us to the only true refuge we have: the arms of God. In fact, it is in the careful meditation on the Word that we find His peace and care. This is why a true believer so delights in God’s nurturing Word.

The world offers many alternatives, but the true believer knows there is no other place where he can find real comfort. It seems impossible that a believer could live his life in such a difficult world without the comfort and guidance of the Word.

Our study of the Word not only prepares us to live our lives in a godly fashion, but it prepares us to be a help for those around us. We must be diligent in studying the Word. I am so grateful that God is using these devotionals in the lives of many. I hope they are a spring-board for desiring a deeper walk with our Savior.