psalm-119 – Daily PBJ

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Read Numbers 7, Song of Songs 5, Psalm 119:25-48.

This devotional is about Psalm 119:45: “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.”

Unbelievers sometimes complain that the Christian life is restrictive. You aren’t supposed to party and get drunk every weekend, you have to wait until you’re married to have sex, you are commanded to give to God’s work with your money, you’re supposed to worship on Sunday instead of going to the beach, and so on.

The Psalmist here in Psalm 119:45 thought that God’s commands were just the opposite of restrictive. He wrote, “I will walk about in freedom.” What kind of freedom did he have in mind? Verse 46 supplied one answer: “I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame.” That describes the ability to speak truth knowing that you won’t be refuted because God’s word is truth. Other freedoms that following God’s word gives you are freedom from a nagging guilty conscience, freedom from the pain and consequences of sin, and freedom from the fear of death. I’m sure there are others but this is, to me, an attractive list of benefits that we receive for obedience to God’s word.

April is almost over so, if you’ve been reading these scriptures daily, you’ve had four months of regular, direct exposure to God’s word. I hope you’re thinking differently in some ways and finding some of the freedoms that are promised in scripture for those who believe and obey God’s word. But, keep it up! One day of healthy eating doesn’t make you a healthy person. One week of daily exercise doesn’t make you fit. Growing in Christ through God’s word is similar. It takes daily practice to unlock the growth benefits but they will come if you are consistent.

Rumble | YouTube | SermonAudio | Calvary Bible Church

Read Numbers 6, Song of Songs 4, and Psalm 119:1-24.

This devotional is about Psalm 119:1-24.

Being blessed is something that happens to you. It is an aspect of God’s grace, the result of his choice to bring benefits into your life. You don’t earn blessings any more than you earn God’s forgiveness or eternal life. It is a gift and God bestows blessings when he wills, how much he wills, and to whom he wills according to the purpose of his will.

Nevertheless, here in Psalm 119, verses 1 and 2 describe people who “are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord… who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart” as blessed. And other passages of scripture tell us that God blesses those who hear, meditate on, and obey his word (Josh 1:8, Jas 1:25). Doesn’t this indicate that if we “do” certain things we will get God’s blessings? In other words, don’t these passages that commend hearing and obeying God’s word in some sense refute what I wrote in the first paragraph about blessings being something that happen to you rather than what you earn?

No, because the very desire to know God’s word that compels you to learn and obey it is part of God’s gracious work in your life. In verse 10 the Psalmist cried out, “do not let me stray from your commands,” demonstrating that it was God’s work in the songwriter’s heart that gave him a desire to read, learn and follow God’s word. Furthermore, God’s word is one of the ways in which God gives grace to us. The desire to learn and practice God’s word is a gift of God. So is the word itself. With these gifts God has left promises that the one who lives by God’s word will find God’s blessings in his or her life.

Is there anywhere in your life where you are resisting obedience to God’s word? Has it ever occurred to you that you may be missing out on God’s blessing because of it?