Scripture: Psalm 119:17-24
17 Be good to your servant,
that I may live and obey your word.
18 Open my eyes to see
the wonderful truths in your instructions.
19 I am only a foreigner in the land.
Don’t hide your commands from me!
20 I am always overwhelmed
with a desire for your regulations.
21 You rebuke the arrogant;
those who wander from your commands are cursed.
22 Don’t let them scorn and insult me,
for I have obeyed your laws.
23 Even princes sit and speak against me,
but I will meditate on your decrees.
24 Your laws please me;
they give me wise advice. (NLT)*
Observation:
The obedient servant experiences God’s laws, instructions, regulations, commands, and decrees as wonderful, wisdom-filled, life-imparting truth. The obedient servant feels a foreigner in a world in which the goal is self-pleasure rather than pleasing God. When worldly denizens and powers mock and insult the obedient, the servant remembers that such arrogance has already been judged and condemned. The only good, pleasing life is pursuing God’s way.
Application:
God desires my life’s occupation to be obeying his word. What a good gift he gives all believers in giving both his written word to mediate upon and his Word made flesh to be with and in us. Through his Word I have already received everything I need to live a godly life (2 Peter 1:3).
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the good gift of your Word. Open my eyes to your wonderful truths. Make me willing to obey you. Rebuke me when I go astray. Forgive me and lead me back to you. Keep me safe as I encounter those who do not know you. Give me gentle words to share with them the hope you have given me in Christ Jesus. In whose name I pray, Amen.
*(NLT) New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation, Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.