Merry Christmas! I trust you are resting in the great gift of our Savior today!
15 I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways. 16 I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your Word.
Resolve! It is not just something we do as we approach the New Year. President George W. Bush brought significant attention to the word "resolve" as he managed the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Resolve means great determination toward an objective based on reason, not emotions. This is not to say emotions are not a good motivator, but emotions can introduce dynamics that are not germane to the objective. This is the idea behind the psalmist's declarations within Psalm 119. The psalmist used two key phrases to communicate his resolve to put God's Word foremost in his life. In the first strophe (VSS. 1-8), the psalmist declares he shall praise God with an upright heart (vs. 7). Interestingly, he must resolve to do something that should come naturally in a state of thankfulness.
We must remember to choose to give thanks, regardless of our situation. Although it is easy to give thanks when overwhelmed by a problem that turns out in our favor, being thankful for an upright heart amid trials is challenging but essential. Verse 9 says the soul must declare to keep God's statutes because obedience does not come naturally to us. Therefore, despite what we're feeling, we must choose to be obedient. The Christian life is a life of resolve. We must be determined to become more and more like Christ because worldly influences are constantly present.
A couple of years ago I was skiing in Utah with my son-in-law and grandson. I’ll be honest; I cannot ski. But I wanted to learn and found myself struggling to make progress. At one point, I was at the foot of the mountain, trying to make my way up a small slope. I was progressing little by little but realized I would move backward if I stopped moving forward. This illustrates our fight against worldliness. If we're not moving forward towards Christ, we fall back to disobedience, impurity, and sin. With great resolve, we must choose to obey the Word of God, choose to love the Word of God, and choose to apply God's Word to our lives effectively.
There are other declarations from the psalmist in our text today. In verse 15, the psalmist declares, "I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways." I heard someone say, "we are all meditation experts," and I would agree. The reason we are all meditation experts is that we all worry. If you think about it, they are similar. Both meditation and worry require determined thought about a particular truth or potential truth, its outcome, and its impact on our life. We turn these thoughts over in our minds time and time again, considering them from every possible and improbable angle. Improbabilities become possibilities in our minds as we strive to determine how we react to every conceivable outcome. If this sounds like a lot of work, it is, and much of it is a worthless effort.
It would make more sense to use that effort to meditate on the truth of Scripture. To take a verse and turn it over in our minds and consider it from every angle, picking apart each verse. Let's try Psalm 8:4, "what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" Start by trying to answer the question this verse poses; "What is man compared to God?" This question indicates we are quite different. This question reduces man and increases God. How and why is it true, and why is it relevant to me? How can the application of this truth change me, humble me and make me more like Christ? We could also ask ourselves, "What does mindful mean?" We could challenge ourselves to define, to some degree, the magnitude of God's holiness and power while comparing it to the lowliness and sinfulness of man. If we dwell on this correctly, we should be humbled by the truth presented by this question; God does indeed care for man and is constantly mindful of him. What are the implications of these truths for you?
The closing verse (16) gives more declarations. "I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word." Delighting in something by choice is almost as difficult as being thankful for something when we don't feel grateful. Delighting in God's Word is a choice that we make based on our perspective of Scripture. If we view Scripture as restraining, antiquated or irrelevant, then we cannot have the freedom to delight in the truth and wisdom of God's Word. We must begin with the proper attitude towards God's precepts. The Bible is a tremendous gift meant for our good, pleasure, and edification and to nurture our ability to know God intimately. It is given to bring us salvation, righteousness, holy living, and a deeper understanding of faith and redemption. The final declaration in vs. 16 is a simple commitment to memorization. God's Word must not remain in the pages of our Bible just for us to look at in times of crisis. We must meditate, memorize and apply them as a response to life's trials, fears, doubts, and questions.
Meditation Points – Take time to pray about what your answers may reveal.
1. Is it difficult for you to be thankful even when things are not going your way? Can you genuinely thank God even amid a crisis? Explain your answer.
2. Take some extended time to meditate on Psalm 8:4; what are some questions and observations you make?
3. Based on your reading of the first 16 verses (first two strophes) write three declarations beginning with "I shall."
Choose to draw God's Word to you with all your heart every day.