“Let my cry come before you, O LORD;give me understanding according to your word! Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word. My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes. My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right. Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation, O LORD,and your law is my delight. Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. Psalm 119: 169-176
This morning we conclude our time in Psalm 119, for now. I pray that these devotions have been helpful in your growth in Christ and the witness given to each of us for those around us.
David concludes this long Psalm by reminding us, “Let my cry come before you, O LORD… Let my plea come before you… Let your hand be ready to help me… I have gone astray like a lost sheep”. King David is downcast before the LORD, but he knows at the same time that the LORD is the only one who can care for him as he needs, that God alone hears His cries and his pleas and only through God alone can he understand what is right and good in this dark world at this time in his life.
He seeks God to “…give me understanding according to your word!…and to, “…deliver me according to your word… and then to, “…seek your servant.” He needs this from God because he knows he can’t trust those around him who are just pandering to him or those who are seeking his downfall…but also, he knows he CAN’T trust himself. The ONLY ONE he can trust is God! So he cries and pleads before the LORD for God’s understanding and God’s deliverance because he has once again sought to do it on his own…as he says, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep”. This tells us he was seeking to trust his own counsel and his own direction and recognizes that that is not working…trusting in his own pride, like a stubborn sheep. You see, because of the Spirit within him, King David knows that there is no true understanding or deliverance except on God’s terms… “… according to your word!”
We say to ourselves and others, “I got this!…I’m on my own because they don’t understand…I am the only one who cares any way.” Our pride and our arrogance get the best of us, because like David. God has provided us with His Word and at least a few wise counselors for us to trust…and so we should listen to them at times like this as a gift from God. I have talked many times about how badly we need the Church in our lives…to physically be with people, hearing His Word preached and participating in the other means of grace, this way we seek the LORD.
And what now do we see King David doing in the midst of his affliction? Praising God and actually longing expectantly for God to come through just as He always has in the past. He says, “My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes. My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right. I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight. Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.” David cannot help but praise God as he discovers anew from God’s Word, God’s promises to him…that never change! He longs expectantly for “more” of God…the “more” that he receives every time he reads God Word. He comes to the Word expecting to see something “more” of God…even while in affliction…even while he’s not “feeling” it. It is seeking God consistently over the long haul by praising God, thanking God and singing to God in ALL circumstances that David is convinced God’s Word helps him push through the drudgery, the darkness that we sometimes finds ourselves in day by day.
In every verse of this entire Psalm, David speaks of the importance of God’s Word for us. Even when he has or is going astray…trying to do things on his own. Because he is God’s he knows something that non-believers don’t know and are unwilling to admit…God and His Word are all powerful and they are his only salvation…and his only place for grace, joy and peace in this life and the next.
So look to God’s Word always and along with the Spirit’s work we can find ourselves repeating these words even today… “Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.”
God Bless y’all today.
In His grip,
Pastor Mike
