Tag Archives: Reflections in Psalm 119

Idols and Adultery

“Those who wander from your commands are cursed.” Psalm 119:21 NLT

 Idols and Adultery

“Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to redeem them but they speak lies against me. They do not cry out to me from their hearts, but wail upon their beds.” Hosea 6:13-14

Oh Israel, you’ve done it again. You’ve left your God in the dust to follow after your own lusts and desires. You have committed idolatry and adultery against your Redeemer.  Does this sound at all familiar with the modern day church? How long does God put up with this nonsense? If you have ever sat down and read through the book of Hosea you have likely noticed the theme: Adultery. God even commanded the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute, Gomer, to signify this relationship between Israel and Himself.

Harsh

Not only do we see the adultery of the nation of Israel, we see the consequences of their choices. They knew the truth, yet they chose to ignore it. God declares

Woe to them

Destruction to them

My anger burns against them

I will come upon them like a lion

I’m getting the idea that God takes things like adultery/idolatry very seriously. No, I am not talking about a physical adultery, though that is a very serious sin for sure. Rather, I am referring to the adultery of wandering away from our first love, our True Love and making relationships with other lovers. (Idols)

Some of the more common idols today:

Work

Kids

Church Ministry

Finances

Health

Food

It’s easy to get out of balance; serving the service rather than the One we seek to serve.

Are we wailing to God with our mouths, but not with our hearts? (Hosea 6:14) We must stay in the word to keep our hearts pure, keep Jesus on the throne where He belongs, and keep our priorities straight.

God makes it clear; those who wander from his commands will suffer the consequences.

“After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:15

When our eyes wander from the truth of God’s word, we lose our focus and if it is not regained we can quickly fall into sin.(Idolatry, pride, unbelief…) God disciplines those he loves, and he loves His children! Sometimes he will allow us to suffer the consequences of our choices during our times of wandering.

We would do well to learn a lesson from Israel instead of rebuking them; mean while acting like we would never do the same things. The truth is we probably commit idolatry more times than we realize. We need to heed the warning given to us by the Psalmist:

God does not tolerate willful disobedience, and he will deal with it.

If you have a known act of rebellion in your heart, won’t you allow God to deal with it today? Be thankful if you have not come under major consequences yet, consider that God’s mercy.

 If you’re contemplating sin, run from it! The desire itself could bring forth the act, and sin will always lead to death of some kind. Confess, repent, and be renewed.

Are you counted among the cursed or the committed?

Prayer

Jesus, I confess my idolatrous heart to you. I realize that many times throughout the day I lose sight of you and focus on myself, my needs, what I need to get done, and who or what is bothering me at any given moment. I confess my attitude and ask you to make me whole again through your word. Don’t let me wander from your commands and fall into the deadly consequences of sin! Keep me from judging the actions of my brothers and sisters in Christ, and help me focus on my own heart and relationship with you. Keep me committed to your word.

Focus

“I have tried hard to find you-don’t let me wander from your commands.” Psalm 119:10 NLT

Focus

 What does our life look like without the Word?

It’s so easy to lose focus. I must be a professional at this. How many times have I read Matthew 14:29-30, and scoffed at Peter for not keeping his eyes on Jesus while he was walking on the water? Come on, Peter! How hard could that have really been when you had Jesus right in front of you? Of course, easy to be a back seat Bible reader, isn’t it? How often do we see someone else going through a difficult time, and we proudly tout our Bible logic, “Just trust Jesus!” We’ve done our part, shared some wisdom, and maybe we’ll say a prayer or two for that individual.

Then OUR storm comes.

Before you know it, we’re wandering around in a sea of confusion and doubt. Perhaps this type of thing happened in the Psalmists life, and he recognized his need to stay close to God’s Word. He cried out, “Don’t let me wander from your commands!” How often do we pray such a thing?

 Maybe we would do well to ask God for some focus.

 Maybe, if we had more focus in His Word, our circumstances wouldn’t feel so crushing.

The second our eyes wander from the Word is the same second our focus gets shifted to the storm-from Him to me.

When we are saturated in the promises and truth of God’s Word, it leaves little room for doubt and wandering eyes. Does it mean we’re bad Christians if we have a moment of fear or worry? No, I think that means we are normal.  However, there is a difference between momentary glances at our circumstances (fear and worry) then there is a shift of focus (doubt, unbelief, depression).

If we recognize these feelings within us, we must force ourselves to focus on His Word, the Truth, and His care for us. It’s the only way out of the miry pit of self-pity and spiritual collapse.

“…they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me.” Hosea 5:15

How nice it would be if it didn’t take the misery of guilt, depression, worry, doubts, or pain to seek the face of God? Like the Psalmist we should be asking our Savior to keep our focus continuously on His Word, that we will not become distracted, disjointed, and despairing followers of Christ.

Let us stay committed to focusing on the Word of God and leave no room for wandering spiritual eyes.

Prayer

Jesus, do not let me stray from your Word! Keep me faithful to your truth, and keep my focus on your promises of care and love for me. Do not let the circumstances of life overwhelm and consume me with fear, worry, and unbelief; rather, let my focus be so intent on you that these lies will have no place in my heart. Convict me where I need a change of focus, and draw me deeper into your Word.

Opinions

“I consider all your precepts right.” Psalm 119:128 NIV

Opinions

What do you think about the word of God?

It matters.

What you think about the word of God will translate in to how you live the word of God.

In some areas of spirituality our opinions really don’t matter. For instance, what we think of God doesn’t change who he is or his character. However what we believe and how we view God and his word will always play a huge role in how we obey him.

The Psalmist recognized Gods word for what it was: right. If we truly believed the word was right, every last stroke of the pen blotted down, would we live differently? This question was recently posed in a Sunday morning class I attended and we all sat kind of stumped as we realized we really don’t live like we consider the word of God to be true.

 Silence and stares.

We often walk around thinking we know our stuff, we talk our talks, we walk our walks, and boy we have a lot of knowledge! But when it comes down to it, the unbelief, doubt, worry, anxiety, angst, and care speak for itself.

Our behavior shows what we really think of what God has told us.

“God…will supply all your needs…” Phil. 4:19

If we considered that true, would we ever worry about our physical needs, possessions, material wealth, or finances?

“He cares for you.” 1 Pet 5:7

If we recognized that truth, would we question the circumstances he has allowed in our lives?

“Your plans are too numerous for us to list.” Psa. 40:5

If we acknowledged that truth, would we wonder if God had a purpose for our lives?

“He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” Psa. 103:12

If we thought this to be true, would we agonize over the past?

When all is said and done, the Bible is full of God’s heart towards his creation-us. This book is a great gift to us, full of his love and truth, his great Gospel message and salvation along with life promised and peace eternal. There it is, all for the taking! We read, smile, nod in agreement, then we close the Book and walk through our day consumed with-our own understanding. We just don’t trust his word! We say we do, we want to, but our behavior gives us away!

I’ve lost my job, how will I pay my bills?

God could never use me for anything after what I have done with my life!

I don’t even know why I am here, I am useless.

My marriage is falling apart, I don’t know how to fix it, what will I do?

God must be punishing me for all the horrible things I’ve done, no wonder all these bad things keep happening.

We need to start recognizing these attitudes as doubt, unbelief, and distrust in the word and promises of God. Read his word, believe it, and act on it! Do as the Psalmist did, consider the word to be right!

Knowing the word of God is like knowing the answers for the test called life.

The answer is trust; the result is peace.

Prayer

As I lay my head to sleep this night, I thank you Jesus for your righteous word of truth. I thank you for your promises that give peace and life. I confess my doubt and unbelief. Let me sleep well knowing that I can trust your heart for me, trust your words for me, and trust your plan for me even if I don’t understand the moment by moment circumstances. Surround me with your peace as I sleep, and let my mind meditate on your truth as I rest in you.

Balancing Act II

“Righteous are you, O Lord, and your laws are right. The statutes you have laid down are righteous.” Psalm 119:137-138 NIV

Balancing Act II

As important as it is to stay balanced through our studies in the word of God, it is also important to stay balanced in our everyday life. When we are unbalanced with our nutrition we become vitamin deficient. When we have an unbalanced activity level our muscles atrophy. If we have two vehicles and we only focus on maintaining one of them, the other one will fail to work properly. If we play too much and refuse to work, the bills won’t get paid. Balance is necessary everywhere.

I wanted to get more specific with this issue of balance. I have a confession to make; I raise my hand in guilt. I become easily side-tracked, like a cat with cat-nip. Throw me a toy (said theological debate) and I chase like a cat rabid for a fix. Come back to me a few days later and I’m tired, cranky, drained, emotional, and no better off than when it started. God whispers to my heart, balance, you’ve lost your balance child.

Sigh

Yes, I’ve done it again. Next time I will keep my mouth shut, live peaceably with all people…and all that good stuff.

Oh look, is that cat-nip?! Chases toy….

We all have our hang ups, our vices, our debates or truths we hold dear and defend. God help those who get in the way! We can be ravenous about our beliefs. Give a group of believers some tricky subjects and watch the blood flow:

Tongues

Prophecies

Tribulation/End Times

Sports

Politics

Ding! Let’s get ready to rumble folks!

It’s downright ugly what we do to each other over such issues. God is righteous, or just. His word is right. Why do we act like unrighteous heathens quarreling like rabid animals over things that cause strife and divisions? Is it edifying, does it build up the church, does it draw us to love and good works? Is this how we are communicating with each other?

Balance

How easy it is to lose focus!

My Pastor said something in his sermon today that clarified the issue for me.

Just because it’s important, doesn’t mean we need to focus on it.

Think about that for a minute. Example: Should I devote my life to figuring out what day Jesus will return? Well, it is important isn’t it? Yes, but is it our focus to try to figure out the exact date? No. It’s our greater focus to live for him now, while there is still time, and live in anticipation for his return, whenever that may be.

God’s righteous word is full of important issues. All of them worthy of our attention, but are we to lose sight of the big picture and focus on one particular item alone? Who’s to say which subject is more important than the next? Isn’t that more or less up to the individual preference? One person loves all things Old Testament, another loves all things end times….both important, but neither to be weighed as more important than the other.

Is it ok to discuss these issues? Of course! Argue, fight, get hurt feelings, lose relationships, and attack people over them? No!

When engaging in discussion, we should always consider:

Does it edify the brethren?

Does it honor God?

Am I speaking truth as best as I understand it as laid out in God’s word?

Usually the best option is to agree to disagree and move on. It really is the spiritually mature choice. Our faith is best lived out, not blared out through verbal attacks.

“Run after mature righteousness-faith, love, peace -joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God’s servants must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a servant who keeps cool…” 2 Timothy 2:23-24 MSG

As we balance out our daily Bible study, let us also balance out our daily communication with our sisters and brothers in Christ. The next time that hot debate topic comes up, whether it is about religion or politics, food, television, books, or sports, why don’t you consider the Psalmists view of Gods character first and how you can be a reflection of that in your conversation.  Are we displaying a balanced mature faith by living righteously?

We live righteously by following a righteous word.

Balance

Prayer

Thank you for your righteousness, for being a just and holy God. Thank you for being perfectly balanced, and for walking on this earth in human form, demonstrating what it means to be perfect. I know I fall so short of that standard, but I want you to continue to change my heart and make it clean. I want to be balanced in my words and actions, as well as my prayer and Bible study. Jesus, continue to purge the bad habits from my life! Before I sleep tonight, reveal to me any unbalanced ways that need healing, and restore them. Let this truth be on my heart as I sleep tonight, your statutes are righteous! I want to be righteous like you!

Balancing Act

“Let my tongue sing about your word, for all your commands are right.” Psalm 119:172 NLT

Balancing Act

I have been wearing corrective lenses since I was in kindergarten. I remember the first time I wore them to school I was miserably teased. Throughout my growing up years I would continue to be teased for things such as my weight, glasses, and acne. I basically grew up with a distorted view of myself. God said one thing in his word, but I saw myself in a completely different way, based on the experiences my life had taught me. My focus was blurred.

Once I got to my early teens I recognized the need to lose weight or be condemned to a life as an outcast (in my mind that was my reality). What started off as diet and exercise developed into bulimia and self-mutilation; even attempted suicide. It took years of struggling with insecurity and doubt before I finally began to grasp how God made me truly was wonderful. It’s only been in the last couple of years that I have accepted my physical appearance and weight. I spent many hours in Psalm 139 pouring over passages about being fearfully and wonderfully made, but it never sank into my heart, it was a truth that remained in my head. As long as my focus remained on myself and my imperfections, I remained out of balance.

In much the same way we easily become out of balance when we approach the word of God. We often focus on our favorite passages and stay there. For some it’s Isaiah, some it’s Psalms, some it’s the Gospels. It’s easy to become out of balance when we don’t take in the word as a whole, how it was intended to be taken in. How many times have you seen a random verse be taken and used to support an idea you know to be contrary to the word of God as a whole?

Balance! We need balance!

I have been immersed in Psalm 119 for almost a year now, and surely over a year by the time this project is complete, and throughout this time I have not remained solely in this chapter or even this book. I have kept myself growing and learning through the resources of several other studies in other books of the Bible. God’s word was intended to be read as a whole, taken in as a whole, absorbed as a whole, and we often get confused when we take bits and pieces and build ideas and philosophies off of them. Let’s face it; there wouldn’t be dozens, if not hundreds of different religious denominations if there weren’t people interpreting Scriptures differently, with different focuses.

Psalm 119 is clear about one thing. Our focus should always be the word, not a chapter, or a verse, or even a book. Obviously we cannot read all of scripture at once, and sometimes “reading through the Bible in a year” type plans can be a little dry and aren’t necessarily for everyone (though I recommend doing it at least once), but we can certainly stay balanced in our studies by not focusing solely on one passage over and over in our personal time. Doing so is like allowing our spiritual lenses to become blurry and distorted.

The Psalmist declares “…all your commands are right.”

”All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable…” 2 Timothy 3:16

The word is right, the word is just, all the word profits, and the best way to stay balanced as a believer and continue to mature is to keep searching and learning and exploring passages new and fresh. Ask the Spirit to lead us to uncharted territory, books we’ve never read (Hezekiah anyone?!) or doctrines we’ve never studied. If nothing else, we can understand why we believe what we do even better, but as we search deeper into the word of God we will only be scratching the surface. We will discover the clever ways he has tied in his Old Testament prophecies, illustrations and stories with the coming of Jesus; we will see treasures never before uncovered due to apathy of what we didn’t know or fear of what we might not understand. There is enough in the righteous word of God to study for a lifetime! You might spend 30 days in this Psalm 119 devotional, and then move on to a Gospel, or perhaps an obscure Old Testament prophet! Be daring and try something new! You’ll be simply amazed at the intricacies of his word, and compelled to worship even more when you see every infinite detail! Truly you will want to let your tongue sing about the word!

Prayer

Lord, I ask that you keep me balanced as I spend time in your word. Keep me in your truth, guide me in your righteous word, and lead me in the studies you want me to participate in. Show me where I have been unbalanced in my spiritual life, perhaps focusing too much on one thing while neglecting something else. As I continue to walk in your ways today, convict me of any area that needs the corrective lens of your Holy Spirit to redirect my focus.

Calculated

“Your instructions are more valuable to me than millions in gold and silver.” Psalm 119:72 NLT

Calculated

How interesting. I find myself sitting to write and here I am talking about wealth and riches and what really matters in life when my husband has barely worked for the past two weeks. I just finished a prayer, “Jesus, I am trusting You to get us through this, and I know whatever you have in store will be great. I thank you for it in advance,” then I opened my notes and laughed, “Yes, Jesus, Your word IS more valuable than gold!”

Sometimes you need to have your material securities stripped down in order to figure that out.

It’s not always so cut and dry. God isn’t necessarily waiting to take all that you love away from you to teach you some sort of lesson on valuing his word more, or setting your sights on eternity more. Sometimes it is just life. Will we accept pleasantries from God and not the uncomfortable? We must accept it if we truly trust him, because with trust comes understanding that all things work for our greatest good.

Brokenness

Financial Ruin

Sickness

Losses

Pain

God is up to something, he is calculating our every circumstance to work out in our best interest. Unfortunately for us, we cannot see the big picture.

God does.

The Psalmist learned his most valuable possession was the knowledge of God’s character, and that was found in his word. What else brings us peace, joy, and the greatest gift of all, salvation? The word of God! This is the “good news”, this is the “greatest news”!

Sometimes it seems easier to say the Bible is valuable when we sit in relative financial obscurity. Certainly it is valuable, for it is all some of us have! But the Psalmist, he was a man of wealth, worldly wealth and riches, and of all people most uniquely qualified to give a value to the word of God.

He put a price tag on it: priceless.

All of our lives we will suffer losses. We will go through ups and downs, times of gains and decreases, but one thing remains sure, and that is the precious, priceless word of God.

Taking a risk and investing your life in knowing the character of God is a calculated move that will pay off over the course of your entire life as you learn who he is; you will learn to trust him and live a more joyous life in him. There are so many unknowns in this world, but the word of God is a sure thing. Invest in it, and have an eternal treasure you can take to the grave (and beyond!) Knowing the heart of God is something you will not regret.

Have you experienced something today that you don’t understand? Is not fair? Confuses you? Are you tired of wondering why it is so “easy” for some to “cast their cares upon God” while you’re struggling to get what is going on in your daily life? God doesn’t promise us understanding, but he does promise us wealth beyond comprehension. That wealth is in knowing him. Sound too easy? Open the word, find out who God is, where he is, what he is up to, and find out for yourself if that peace he offers isn’t more priceless than millions of silver and gold. I can tell you from my own experience it most definitely IS.

When the money is gone, when the health is gone, when the job is gone, when the niceness of your coworkers (or family) is gone, you will have the entirety of God’s promises in your heart and at your lips.

It truly is a wealth of choice.

Prayer

Jesus, as I bring to you my cares, worries, anxieties, and doubts today, I trade them for the riches you offer me freely. Peace, joy, contentment, purpose, mercy, and everlasting life to name just a few! Thank you for what you are working out in my life, for the things I understand and the things I don’t understand. I choose to trust you in every situation knowing you are in control. Change my heart that I may love you more every day; consume me with the wealth of your word!

Cravings

“How sweet your words taste to me, they are sweeter than honey.” Psalm 119:130 NLT

Cravings

What is the first thing you crave in the morning, your normal breakfast food fair? Do you crave cereal, toast, cinnamon rolls, donuts, or are you like me, stumbling and fumbling around hopelessly in search for your coffee?

When you see the word “craving”, you may think of a woman who is pregnant. The stereotypical ideal is that this woman craves pickles and ice cream at crazy hours of the night. (Not my experience, but who am I to judge?) Or perhaps we think of the dieter trying to avoid carbs and sugar at all costs. That poor soul, all they can think about is what they cannot have, which is everywhere on every street corner!

Sometimes you don’t realize you have a craving until the smell hits you. I know this has happened to me many times. I don’t even feel hungry until I step outside and someone somewhere is barbequing.

Mm mm

Now all of a sudden I am starving! In fact, I am fairly certain at this point I may come into physical harm and/or discomfort unless I fix my craving.

Can you imagine loving and craving the Word of God like you do your favorite food? It’s really sad that I even had to type that. The fact is we spend time and consume our lives in what we love. We seek these things out, we prioritize them. When we wake up in the morning, that thing is on our minds.

Work

Kids

Meetings

Ministries

Duties

People

Pleasures

Hobbies

Is God’s word the first thing we crave as we take our waking breath in the morning? Is his sustenance what we crave as the day unfolds before us? When we are bewildered and befuddled are we craving a word from our Savior, or a word from another person who can say what we want to hear but not necessarily what is best for us?

People get so fixated on their craving they may lack total self-control when it comes to food. Often times it is sweets, chocolate, candy and sugars that are the greatest downfalls. Yet the psalmist describes the Bible as being the sweetest thing he has ever tasted! So sweet he craved it over and over, he loved it, he was obsessed with every word of it, he couldn’t get enough of it, he couldn’t wait to dig into it, he couldn’t wait to discover more treasures in it. Now that is the healthiest craving a person could ever hope to have!

Feast on the sweetest sugar of all, the word of God, but never gain weight! His word is always perfect for us, satisfying, never too much, never more than enough. It is just right. There is no such thing as too much of this sweetness! Indulge yourself! You need not ever diet when you’re feasting on this truth!

Wake up, have your breakfast of truth, the real breakfast of champions. And make sure to balance that out with several “meals” throughout the day. You don’t want your spiritual metabolism getting too slow.

“Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come buy and eat! Come; buy wine and milk with no money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor for what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good and you will delight in the richest fare.” Isaiah 55:1-2 TNIV

Prayer

Jesus, as I start the day you have so mercifully blessed me with, I ask that you give me a new desire for your word. Plant in me a deep craving for the only bread that doesn’t cost money yet satisfies the deepest longing of my heart like no other. Every day I eat food to satisfy my physical needs, I eat consistent meals to stay healthy, yet I neglect to stay consistent in your word. Give me consistency and balance throughout the day, so my spiritual life will be healthy and radiate your truth.