Live Accordingly

DEVOTION

PSALMS

LIVE ACCORDINGLY

Ps 119:9-16

9 Beth

How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. 10 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 12 Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees. 13 With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. 14 I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. 15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

NIV

Day two in this longest psalm. This secret, although obviously it is not a secret, to keeping our way pure, even if we are older than a young man, is to live according to the Word of God. This might be seen as living according to the law, but the law as only put in place to show man he could not live by the law and needed a Messiah, a Savior. The world of all the scripture points to Jesus Christ. He is the word that became flesh.

John 1:1-2

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

NIV

So then we live according to Jesus. We seek Jesus with all of our heart and it is him who can keep us from straying. Again the secret to this, which is not a secret is hiding Jesus in our heart, as well as hiding the word of God, the scriptures so that when temptation comes, just as Jesus quoted the scripture, we can quote a scripture to resist that tempter from influencing us. It is difficult to quote one if it is not hidden in our heart. We don’t have time to whip out our bible, providing we have one on us at all times, and research to find the one scripture to quote. However, if we are always recounting his word on our lips, we will also always have one to quote. It is interesting that the psalmist is looking to the Lord to teach him about the Lord’s decrees. This has to mean there were no seminaries or bible colleges or professors to teach others about what they think the Lord has decreed. This has to go back to the Spirit leading us into all truth. How else would the psalmist learn? The other interesting thing is that this psalmist rejoices in following the Lords statutes as one rejoices in great wealth. How much effort some people put into obtaining wealth and believe they find joy, peace, and security in having wealth. This is the kind of joy that is found in knowing we are following after the Lord and how he desires we live. We are to spend each day mediating on the Lord’s precepts and his way of life for us. We are to delight in degrees, his commands. Never are we to neglect his  word. This is always being aware, all the time, never forgetting, even for a split second, that we are believers in Christ Jesus and we have him on our mind and in our heart and reflect him to others. This is not the easiest way to live, as we get distracted at times and lose sight of how we are to act, or responds in certain situations. Although we put that old self to death, it keeps wanting to resurrect itself. But, we keep trying, keep on keeping on. We want to be the person God desires us to be and he is the one who can help us live in accordance with Jesus. Thank you Lord for all you do for us, in us and though us.