FRIDAY 21st
Psalm 119
ESV (vv4-6) ‘You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.’
I have returned to a couple of verses from the first section again today, immediately that we commence this long psalm we are reminded of the importance of keeping or being obedient to the Word of God, whether we call it his commandments, precepts or statutes as seen in these verses.
The word precept in English means a rule of conduct, a rule for morals, and taken in the context of this psalm it is showing to us very clearly that God has a standard of morality which he expects his people to keep, and it is to be found in his Word. If we fail to keep God’s moral code, we will be individuals whose lives will be filled with shame. We see an example in John 4 with the woman from Samaria, her lifestyle meant that she had a shameful reputation. Later in this same psalm we have the verse ‘How can a young man keep his way pure?’ the answer follows immediately, ‘By guarding it according to your word.’ (v9)
In this psalm the author is making a request or expressing his desire ‘that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!’ – The word statute, means more than what we would consider as the ‘ten commandments’ but would include anything that God has instructed his people in ‘non-specified laws or commands’*
God has standards, in Romans 3:23 we read that mankind has fallen short of the glory of God, that is we have all fallen short of God’s standard and Jesus came to keep that standard on our behalf, therefore when we come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s standard has been reset in our lives, we have become new creations, the old as gone and the new has come, as a result we should make every effort to live according to the pattern of life which he has called us to, and the standard is high as we find it in 1 Peter 1:15-16 ‘but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’ Of ourselves we would still fail in every point, but thank God he has not only given his Word to help us, he has also given the Holy Spirit to us so that we can deal with the desires of the old nature and begin to walk in newness of life.
We are still only a few weeks into the new year, what a resolution it would be if we sought to go through this year seeking to be more Christlike in every way, to live according to the standard that he himself has set for us, and according to his Word.
*New International Dictionary of OT Theology and Exegesis Volume 3 page 329