Set Free to Keep His Word...

GIMEL

Deal bountifully with Your servant,

That I may live and keep Your word.

18 Open my eyes, that I may see

Wondrous things from Your law.

19 I am a stranger in the earth;

Do not hide Your commandments from me.

20 My soul breaks with longing

For Your judgments at all times.

21 You rebuke the proud--the cursed,

Who stray from Your commandments.

22 Remove from me reproach and contempt,

For I have kept Your testimonies.

23 Princes also sit and speak against me,

But Your servant meditates on Your statutes.

24 Your testimonies also are my delight

And my counselors.

25 DALETH

My soul clings to the dust;

Revive me according to Your word.

26 I have declared my ways, and You answered me;

Teach me Your statutes.

27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts;

So shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.

28 My soul melts from heaviness;

Strengthen me according to Your word.

29 Remove from me the way of lying,

And grant me Your law graciously.

30 I have chosen the way of truth;

Your judgments I have laid before me.

31 I cling to Your testimonies;

O LORD, do not put me to shame!

32 I will run the course of Your commandments,

For You shall enlarge my heart.—Ps 119:17-32

Are you getting the picture here that God’s word to David was the only weapon in his arsenal and the answer or remedy for whatever he faced?  David’s prayer is to God alone...it is both direct and personal.  He makes it clear from the first verse (17) that without God’s mercy and grace toward him he could not live, no less serve Him and keep His word.  It was God who opened David’s eyes to see the wondrous things contained in His word.  Because David understood this, his soul broke with longing for it   The keeping of His word was both the objective and the joy of the psalmist’s life. It was his meditation through every circumstance he faced.  David was desperate for God’s truth, and his desire for it wasn’t for show.  David truly understood  that without God he was a dead man walking and his future without hope.  The Lord’s testimonies were his delight and his counselors.  When he was bowed down, it was His word that revived him.  When his soul was melting from heaviness, it was His word to him which strengthened him.  David’s heart purposed to walk always in the truth of His God. He clung to His testimonies and trusted that God would use His word to energize his heart and enlarge it...literally...and I love this...set it free to obey His commandments. 

The Sufferings of This Present Time...

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.—1 Peter 1:3-5

Aren’t you glad these verses are here?  Reading them at any time but especially in the midst of a difficult trial brings much joy to a believer’s heart, hurting or otherwise. They take our mind off of our circumstances and remind us of the greatness of our salvation and of our true position in Christ.   1 Corinthians 6:17 tells us we as believers have been joined to the LORD and have become one spirit with him. The God we serve is merciful!  We who are pitiful and desperate sinners NEED this mercy.  Without it we are without recourse...helpless and hopeless.  According to this great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  Darkness and misery might prevail here but nothing can stop this beacon of hope from shining in our hearts...for it is in Him that we HAVE eternal life.

It is IN HIM that we have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that cannot be destroyed, decayed or taken away and is unstained by evil. This inheritance is the polar opposite of our inheritance here in this fallen world which is marked by decay, defilement and fading away.  Here in this world filled with depravity and sin, we as believers also have God’s guarding and keeping power.  Our God is sovereign, all knowing and all powerful.  No one and nothing can take this living hope from us.  Our God secures it.  Our saving faith is permanent. 

We can rejoice then, despite our circumstances and look past our troubles to the fullness of joy of our eternal inheritance in the very presence of God. Believing, then, we joy inexpressible and full of glory.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us—Romans 8:18

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.—Romans 8:38-39