Psalm 119 Devotional
22 Days: Knowing is Loving
Day 8 (Heth – verses 57-64)
The Lord is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words. I sought Your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to Your word. I considered my ways and turned my feet to Your testimonies. I hastened and did not delay to keep Your commandments. The cords of the wicked have encircled me, but I have not forgotten Your law. At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You because of Your righteous ordinances. I am a companion of all who fear You, and of those who keep Your precepts. The earth is full of Your lovingkindness, O’ Lord; teach me Your statutes.
The Lord is our portion, our freedom, our way to live fully. As we look at this first line of the psalm a link can be drawn to what we have in the Lord and our obedience in keeping His word. As we keep following the Lord in our obedience, we see more of who He is. Not that He loves us more, but rather we see and know Him more. We want the graciousness of God to pour down on us, and the psalmist has made the clear distinction that when we miss God’s graciousness just possibly it is back on us to turn back to the wonderful words of God’s testimony to us. Let me say again that we do not lose or gain God’s love with our actions, but we certainly can determine if we desire to move in His will.
As we move in God’s will we are going to find the encumbrances that the psalmist refers to as “cords of the wicked.” God’s word is clear and as Jesus spoke to His disciples, trouble will come (John 16:33). But we can never, nor do we want ever to forget the very word of God, and therefore we can be filled with the confidence of overcoming the trouble that encircles us. In the darkest moments is when we can and need to turn to the One who saves and remember His great promises over our lives. What is the trouble that is around us right now? Please lay that out before our Almighty God and trust that just as we see in His word, we will give Him thanks as He walks through the trouble with us. Know the word, keep the faith.
As the psalmist rose at midnight to give thanks to the Lord, he also found himself seeking to be in step with other followers of the Lord. What mattered to him was what mattered to God. A reverent awe of God as we move in this world following His precepts – is that what the desire of our heart is? Let us look around at the perfect creation of the Lord, and in all we do seek to know Him more. This will not be easy but let us see the example of the psalmist. Instead of sleeping he rose to give thanks. Or was the midnight that he wrote of a dark part of his life? Either way, whatever the time was, he gave thanks to the Lord. A challenge for us, but something that we can do.
My Lord my God, may I seek You more, may I seek You always, and may I pursue You with all of my heart. May Your word be the place I always go to seek and find the truth. Lord thank You for all of the moments that I cried out and You were there. May I like the psalmist, regardless of whether it is night or day, always be giving thanks to You. Lord, I know that trouble will come, but much more important than that is the fact that You are always with me. Thank You my Lord and my God. I love You Lord Jesus.