“My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word! When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes! Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word! Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law! I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me. I cling to your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame! I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!”– Psalm 119:25-32
Do you hear David’s prayer? When was the last time you went to God this way? Why has it been so long considering the troubles and afflictions we have had…some known…others not?
David is fearful. He is one his last leg, if you will…“My soul clings to the dust…” he has little in this world to hold onto. How do you hold on to dust? From dust he came and to dust he will return…but rather than let fear get the best of him he quickly adds, “…give me life according to your word.” He is saying, “Revive and transform me (by or) according to your word…the only thing with the power to lift me from my despair.” David knows the power of the Word of God; he has personally seen it and experienced it in his life as a believer and as King and Shepherd of God’s people. But like us sometimes “forgets” when the going gets especially tough. But even WE need to be reminded where our life comes from and to whom we need to give thanks rather than dwelling on the fears and anxieties that this world presents us with on a regular basis.
And listen to what he experiences when he turns his focus from his fear to God, “When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes! Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.” When he told God his fears in prayer, God answered him making David want even more of what God has to say. Being so bold as to tell God things in prayer that maybe you can’t tell anyone else…for He is our refuge after all. Telling is crucial for well-being. And telling God especially for when we admit our weaknesses and or needs to Him He will answer us. Jesus Himself said, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what He says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11: 22-24) That sort of settles the matter if only we could believe as He commands.
David, also, realizes something else when he says, “My soul melts away for sorrow…Put false ways far from me…” He realizes that his fears have gotten the best of him and this fear has caused him to think and act wrongly, so once again he asks God to “…strengthen me according to your word!… and graciously teach me your law!” David wants to see through his fear. He knows that will only be accomplished when he takes his eyes off his fears and places them back on his God.
So, as he works through this fear…(that is what he is doing in this Psalm)… and He chooses faithfulness which is based on setting God’s Word before Him to guide and direct him going forward by the power of the Spirit rather than take part in the shame that comes with letting fear get the best of him/us. He says, I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me. I cling to your testimonies, O LORD…” Now instead of cling to the dust (vs. 25) He clings to the Word of God. And by choosing wisely to focus on God’s Word, God enlarges His heart…” I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!” Actually the Hebrew means that God “set my heart free” from the fear of the day.
See what can be experienced when we spend more time thinking about what God says than what the world may be saying. See the peace that can be experienced when we don’t let our circumstances seize the day but rather focus on the fact that “This is the day the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!”
I so love God’s Word especially Psalm 119.
God Bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
