Beginning with the third Hebrew Alphabet “Gimel,” Psalm 119:17-24 begin with the Psalmist asking God to deal bountifully with him. He knew that God would show favor to His people and be gracious to them in His dealing. He knew that had God dealt with him according to what he had done, he would have perished. And like the Psalmist, how often have we discovered that God deals with us according to His overflowing grace! We can’t even count the opportunity after opportunity He granted us to get our acts right. Remember He is merciful and when we sincerely seek to live life with an attitude to honor Him, He will correct our sincere mistake and help us get on track again.
Knowing that God’s instructions play a key role in
keeping him on track, the Psalmist desired to live and keep what God had
instructed. So he prayed that God would open His eye to identify and discern truth
from His Word. He did not just want to know the Word of God cursorily but to
know the lessons God had intended; to have the specific instruction for any
given moment and situation. Verse 18 should be one prayer that we should daily
utter when we come to the Word of God. We need the illumination of God through
His Holy Spirit. Only when He illuminates our spiritual eye would we be able to
get to that specific word for the moment. Know that God wants to assist us in
finding His truth from the Word. Like the Psalmist we are all earthlings but we
need to know that in reality we are citizens of the Kingdom of God. Hence in a
sense, we are stranger on earth. Since we are citizens of heaven, our rule for
living should be the rule that heaven had decreed i.e. God’s commandments given
through His Word. And if we are to make our journey successfully, we must live
life according to His commandments.
In verse 20, the Psalmist knew the importance of
keeping God’s Word, yet in the flesh he often had to struggle to live it. Aren’t
we like him? Every time we fail to make the mark of living according to His Word,
our failure will crush us. Be aware that our flesh is often the battle ground
between willingness and obedience to His Word. We must be careful not to be wise
in our own ways. This attitude is pride demonstrating itself. And we know that God
resists the proud but would give grace to the humble. The reason why the proud would be cured is because
of their unwillingness to yield to God’s ways. They want to be in control.
How should we see verse 22? How many times people
view us with contempt because we choose to live by God’s Word. Moses shows us
by example. According to Hebrews 11: 24-25, he would rather endure the reproach
for walking with Christ than lavish in the treasures of Egypt. Let’s emulate Moses and the Psalmist. Let us
seek God to help deal with the reproach we may have to endure in keeping God’s
Word. Even should people of prominence malign us for taking God’s side, we must
refuse to let them make us stray from God’s path. We should remain faithful and
keep on meditating on God’s Word. Like the blessed man of Psalm 1, we do so day
and night. Like the Psalmist, we must also choose to take counsel and be instructed
by the Word of God, especially those testimonies that affirmed the truth of His
Word. The Bible is God’s prescription for life. Our answer to life’s problems can
be found in the Word of God. Let us diligently read, study, meditate, memorize,
apply the Word and find our soul being counselled and richly fed and nourished.
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