“I hate those with divided loyalties, but I love your instructions. You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope. Get out of my life, you evil-minded people, for I intend to obey the commands of my God. Lord, sustain me as you promised, that I may live! Do not let my hope be crushed. Sustain me, and I will be rescued; then I will meditate continually on your decrees. But you have rejected all who stray from your decrees. They are only fooling themselves. You skim off the wicked of the earth like scum; no wonder I love to obey your laws! I tremble in fear of you; I stand in awe of your regulations.” (Psalm 119:113-120)
Life can get pretty difficult sometimes. I’m talking frustratingly difficult, like to the point where you don’t know whether to scream or to cry. To the psalmist who was surrounded by evil-minded people who were so desperately trying to trip him up, the Word of God acted as his foundation, his anchor, his rock and his shield. Not only did it offer a firm place to stand on, but it provided protection and hope. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to stand firm on the truth and the promise of the Word of God when everyone around you was trying to tell you something different. It sounds to me like the psalmist’s life was difficult, frustratingly difficult, perhaps, but he continued to keep his eyes on God and on his Word as he navigated through life passing by people who were so desperate to destroy him. They were closing in on him, but the Word of God is what sustained him and what kept him alive. He greatly valued it and because he greatly valued the very Word of God, he also greatly valued God. In fact, it could definitely be said that he had a reverent fear of God. He knew that God was powerful enough to save him as well as to skim him off the face of the earth right along with the wicked. What is the Word of God to you? Do you value it? Is it your foundation, your anchor, your rock, your shield? Do you turn to it for hope? Or is it just words on a page in a book that doesn’t really hold much meaning to you? God has provided his Word as a way to communicate to us exactly how to live our lives to glorify Him. It provides for us instructions on how to live and deal with different things that may come up in our lives that make it frustratingly difficult. Take some time to evaluate what the Word of God is to you. What have you done with it in your own life?
Life can get pretty difficult sometimes. I’m talking frustratingly difficult, like to the point where you don’t know whether to scream or to cry. To the psalmist who was surrounded by evil-minded people who were so desperately trying to trip him up, the Word of God acted as his foundation, his anchor, his rock and his shield. Not only did it offer a firm place to stand on, but it provided protection and hope. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to stand firm on the truth and the promise of the Word of God when everyone around you was trying to tell you something different. It sounds to me like the psalmist’s life was difficult, frustratingly difficult, perhaps, but he continued to keep his eyes on God and on his Word as he navigated through life passing by people who were so desperate to destroy him. They were closing in on him, but the Word of God is what sustained him and what kept him alive. He greatly valued it and because he greatly valued the very Word of God, he also greatly valued God. In fact, it could definitely be said that he had a reverent fear of God. He knew that God was powerful enough to save him as well as to skim him off the face of the earth right along with the wicked. What is the Word of God to you? Do you value it? Is it your foundation, your anchor, your rock, your shield? Do you turn to it for hope? Or is it just words on a page in a book that doesn’t really hold much meaning to you? God has provided his Word as a way to communicate to us exactly how to live our lives to glorify Him. It provides for us instructions on how to live and deal with different things that may come up in our lives that make it frustratingly difficult. Take some time to evaluate what the Word of God is to you. What have you done with it in your own life?
No comments:
Post a Comment