(5) O that my ways were directed to keep thy
statutes!
Who
else can direct our ways but God Himself? But God does not force His ways upon
us. Instead, He extends to us the choice whether or not we will seek Him and
His direction.
"In all thy ways
acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:6)
"A man's heart deviseth
his way: but the Lord directeth his steps." (Proverbs 16:6)
There
seems to be a fine line between our hearts and our ways with the Lord's
direction. If we never acknowledge Him and His ways, He will not direct us. So
the question is: do I want God to direct me? If so, am I moldable to where He
can direct me?
(5) O that my ways were
directed to keep thy statutes!
(6) Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have
respect unto all thy commandments.
What
does it mean to "have respect" to God's commandments? The Hebrew word
nabat (5027) means, "to scan,
i.e. look intently at; by implication, to regard with pleasure, favor or care:"
There is no shame for the believer who relies heavily on God's Word and finds
It their source of pleasure.
Are
we ashamed of God's Word? or are we ashamed because we've not been in God's Word?
"Let my heart be sound in
thy statutes; that I be not ashamed." (Psalm 119:80)
"For I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one
that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)
"For the which cause I
also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have
believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day." (2 Timothy 1:12)
(7) I will praise thee with uprightness of heart,
when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
The
more we learn of God's righteous judgments, the more we will realize how we
should praise Him. Take, for instance, the Psalms:
- 132 verses mention "praise"
- 19 verses "praises"
- 6 verses "praised"
That
is a total of 157 verses (188 individual times) that a form of
"praise" is mentioned in the Psalms. If we poured over the Psalms
alone, we would glean so many reasons to praise our Lord.
(8) I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not
utterly.
We expect God to keep His promises ("O forsake me not utterly"), but do we intend to show
effort on our part? If God's promises were based on how we performed, we would not be as richly blessed as we are daily.
Are we willing to, in gratitude, keep God's statutes because He is faithful?
Just a few promises of God's faithfulness:
"And
they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not
forsaken them that seek thee." (Psalm 9:10)
"I
have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his seed begging bread." (Psalm 37:25)
"For
the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for
ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off." (Psalm 37:28)
"For
the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his
inheritance." (Psalm 94:14)
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