Thursday, February 6, 2014
Directed
The last few days have been interesting for me and my family. There have been some ups and downs that at the moment they occur seem big or strong. But in the end when we try to review them more realistically, we find that perhaps they are not as significant as they once seemed. What I mean by that is if I put them in perspective, they are just another day. The way I put them in perspective is by looking into the scriptures to see how my experiences are lining up. This morning for example I was contemplating two things, being thankful and how I can fall short of God’s expectations. I am thankful because God always looks out for His people, but I am sad because there are things I could do better in the kingdom of God, but fall short. I found a scripture that did a good job of capturing what I was feeling.
Psalms 119:ALEPH.
1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
In this part of Psalms 119 the psalmist says that those that are undefiled and walk in God’s ways are blessed in the first three verses. In the fourth verse we see that we are commanded to walk in God’s ways diligently. And then in verse five we see the emotion I was and am feeling, the cry to God that we want to be directed, somehow pressed into keeping God’s ways. Obviously the psalmist sees the benefits of following God and is thankful for that, but this desire to almost be “built that way” indicates that sometimes he does not hit the mark. He sees that he will be without shame and overjoyed with praise when he abandons all sin and walks after God and His ways. Finally, he ends with telling God he will keep God’s ways, and asks for God’s mercy as he stumbles through life trying to do the best he can.
Perhaps you read these scriptures differently than me today. Perhaps you do not have these feelings. But you likely know people that do. Let’s all pray to God that we may all walk in His ways, and praise Him with thanksgiving, as we move towards God’s calling on our lives.
Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High God. Please reach out to us today and help us to find Your ways. Help us to walk out our lives the ways You would have us walk. Please guide and keep us. Please help us do the right things. Please send us speedily the provision, the healing, and the deliverance we need. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.