Scripture: Psalm 119:137-144
I grew up in a home where going to church was a Wednesday and Sunday habit, prayers were prayed, and God’s Word was taught and instilled in us. I am forever grateful for this part of my childhood. The foundations that were laid are priceless and counted as a treasured gift from the Lord. However, as I was reading this passage today – the thought hit me again of how easy it is to become so familiar with the Word and even with God through the eyes of others that we can find ourselves caught up in a religion rather than a relationship with God. We wake up one day to find ourselves living off of the beliefs and the truths we’ve heard preached, only to realize that they lack the joy and substance that come from a life spent with God.
Don’t get me wrong, it is a great gift to grow up in a godly home and to be familiar with God and His Word from infancy, and to place your faith in Him at a young age – but at some point, we must make it our own faith and build on the knowledge we have been given by searching out the Scriptures as the Bereans1 did and by building a relationship with God through Christ that leaves us able to say of our God the same beautiful truths that the Psalmist declared – by belief and experience – he knew and trusted God and found his joy in God’s commands – so much so that he became filled with indignation when others, namely his enemies, disregarded God’s Word.
Read the passage again, noting all of the declarations the Psalmist makes about the Lord. He sees God as righteous and His regulations as fair. He proclaims God’s laws to be perfect and completely trustworthy. He reveals that his love for God’s promises is based on the fact that they have been thoroughly tested, most likely throughout the course of his own life. He doesn’t just assess the Word of God but makes particular note of the indignation he feels because his enemies have disregarded God’s Word. My favorite acknowledgment and assessment comes in verse 143, when he talks of the joy he finds in God’s commands – even when the stresses and pressures of his life weigh him down.
O Lord, you are righteous,
Psalm 119:1137-144 NLT
and your regulations are fair.
138 Your laws are perfect
and completely trustworthy.
139 I am overwhelmed with indignation,
for my enemies have disregarded your words.
140 Your promises have been thoroughly tested;
that is why I love them so much.
141 I am insignificant and despised,
but I don’t forget your commandments.
142 Your justice is eternal,
and your instructions are perfectly true.
143 As pressure and stress bear down on me,
I find joy in your commands.
144 Your laws are always right;
help me to understand them so I may live.
Living Out the Journey (personal application)
How about you? How would you describe God and His Word (laws, commands, instructions, regulations)? Do you see them as fallible, fair, righteous, perfect, and trustworthy? Or do you doubt and question them? Are they so precious to you that you are offended or riled up when others disregard them? Do you strive to understand them, remember them, and live them out – or are they just in one ear and out the other until the next time? Have you experienced God’s peace and the joy that comes from His commands, even when life is pressing in on you? – I’m not trying to weigh you down with questions, but rather just simply hoping to share with you the encouragement that God pressed on me as I read the words of the Psalmist. – Know who God is, find delight in His Word, and if you don’t know or see God as the Psalmist described Him – search the Word – ask God for the understanding of who He is and the truths of His Word. Seek Him with all of your heart, and I promise you – He will be found –
The More We Know
You will find me when you seek me … While these prophecies and promises are specifically related to the people of Judah and Israel, the principle that God will draw near to those who draw near to Him is a universal truth (James 4:8a). But we have to draw near to God on His own terms—with clean hands and purified hearts (James 4:8b) that only God can provide by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8–9). While Jeremiah’s letter recorded the words of God for the exiled people of Judah, readers today can benefit from recognizing that the same God who said, “You will find me when you seek me with all your heart,” has also told us that we can draw near to Him and He will draw near to us (James 4:8) and that He will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
gotquestions.org/Jer 29:13
Seek and you will find… The heart of Jesus’ point is that God is listening, paying attention to His people, and ready to give them good gifts. What a remarkable truth! The God of all creation cares so deeply about His children that He hears them when they pray. Even better: He answers. This also speaks to those with doubts and questions about faith. Those who lack faith, but pursue truth, will find it in Christ (Mark 9:24; John 14:6).
Bibleref.com/Matthew 7:7
Me From the Inside Out 