week of 06/21/11 3rd recorded HighQuest Psalm 119:97-104

The passage I read was Psalm 119:97-104

You can find that passage here:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20119:97-104&version=NIV

The verse that most stood out to me:

Both the 1^st and last verse of this passage stand out to me. Here’s how they read:

97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.

As I reflect:

I have chosen not to include 3 verses in my reflection simply because I struggle with pride at times and though you may say these 3 verses are not prideful, I believe (for me) they would cause boasting of myself instead of the Lord. So, verse 98, 99, and 100 are not being reflected upon by me in an attempt to remain humble.

Instead 3 ideas stood out to me most as I read and I noted that each in turn caused the other. Starting in verse 97 the psalmist says, “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” If this is true of the psalmist and also true of us, then it should cause on to restrain ourselves from that which is directly contradicting to the law. In our case, that would be sin. The Psalmist says in verse 101 “I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word.” So far I see that the psalmist because he loves the law of God, has kept himself from ever evil path in an effort to be obedient to God’s word. Easier said than done, but none the less a goal daily in my walk and I certainly hope in other’s walks as well that we would make effort to live in blameless ways being constantly obedient to Our Father… Not out of since of duty, but out of love. This brings me to the 3^rd idea that most stood out to me and it (I believe) a result of these first 2 concepts. In verse 104, the psalmist says, “I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.” I think of this as an evidence of change. Where we might have once been obedient to sin, accepting it into every area of our lives, we have now been changed. Now, as a result of loving God and loving His word, we have no more acceptance of sin. We hate sin and everything about it. Sin destroys where God’s word builds us up. Sin lures away from God, while God’s word draws us near. If we are to be lovers of the God’s word, then we ought to be haters of Sin. (not to be confused with hating sinners. – hate the sin, not the sinner)

How sweet the words of God are to me. I live on them and He uses them to correct me and build me up to do His will. I am thankful for the daily bread I find in His word for me. May it be as fulfilling to all those who read it.

My response to the Lord:

Jehovah Jireh, My Provider, I thank you for giving me your very word. I thank you for speaking to my new man and teaching me your precepts. May I never be wise in my new man but wise in you that I would not succumb to pride. May I know every wrong and right path and have your blessing of discernment to always choose right. May my will be so strong to turn away from darkness that I might be obedient to you eternally. May I hate sin and cling to your truth that I may live in such a way as to reflect you to others. Guide me in a walk that is blameless Father. In Jesus’ name I pray.