It is probably fair to say that most believers want to live a virtuous and upright life before the Lord. Achieving that, though, is not always easy. We frequently fall short, and need some help in getting anywhere near reaching that goal. In our Scripture passage today, a portion from Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, we read a question asking how a young man, actually any believer, can lead a sanctified life. Our psalm also gives us an answer to that question. Let’s take a look.
Living a godly and sanctified life is, as mentioned above, not easy, and is impossible on our own. We need help, and we can find that help through the Holy Spirit, who indwells each believer. One way in which the Holy Spirit helps believers in striving to live sanctified lives is through reading, studying, and meditating on God’s Word, the Bible. That is the theme of this longest psalm, and of our Scripture today.
As we begin Psalm 119, we read that those who are undefiled, or blameless, are those who walk by God’s Law, His Word the Bible (vs. 1). If we have accepted the Lord Jesus as our Savior, He has washed our sins away, and in God’s sight we are now undefiled and blameless. For that condition to become evident and a practice in our life, we need to be walking in the Scriptures. We need to make what we read in God’s Word a habitual pattern of living.
Another key in striving to live a godly life is to seek God with our whole heart (vs. 2). Our whole heart means with our whole mind or intellect, our whole will, and all of our emotions. Every facet of our being should desire to follow after the Lord. The psalmist stresses that we seek God with our whole heart, not a divided heart. A divided heart wants to partly follow God, but also partly follow the world. One day we’re doing what we know God desires us to, and the next we’re living like the unsaved, following the philosophies of the world. One moment we are filled with faith, trusting God to care for us, and the next moment we are filled with worry and fear. That is not the way to live. Our whole heart must be devoted to God.
Life is frequently described as a journey. What path are we following along this journey? Our psalmist wanted to be following the way that the Lord laid out for him (vs. 5), not the way of the world or the devil. To live a sanctified and godly life, we need to be careful that we watch our step, and don’t trip up along the way. We need to keep our eyes firmly fixed on God’s Word. The Bible forms a path for our feet, from which we should not stray. As long as we are seeking to obey the Lord, our way through life will be established. When we seek Him with our whole heart, we won’t be prone to wander from His paths (vs. 10).
Verse 9 asks the key question of the psalm - how can a young man, or anyone, keep his life pure and holy before the Lord? Everywhere we look, we find temptation to lead impure lives. How do we stay pure in such a filthy environment as we see in this world? The psalmist gives the answer in the second half of that verse. We find strength and wisdom to lead the life the Lord wishes us to by reading God’s Word, and doing what it says.
Only His Word can cleanse us from sin, and the best way to allow it to do that work for us is to hide it in our hearts (vs. 11). Hiding God’s Word in our hearts requires reading, studying, meditating, and also memorizing it. The church I was saved in many years ago would encourage its members to memorize Scripture. Bible verses, short passages, and even whole chapters were memorized throughout the year. By doing that we could more easily put God’s Word to work in our lives. When we hide and store God’s Word in our hearts and minds, it remains available to help and strengthen us in tough times. We can’t use what’s not there, so memorize and meditate upon the Word of God daily.
In closing, let’s look at one more verse from this passage. The psalmist considered God’s Word more valuable and important to him than great riches (vs. 14). How excited would you be if you found out you had won a million dollars? Most of us would be skipping for joy. When the news interviews big lottery winners, they are all excited and happy, some even in tears. That is how the psalmist was about God’s Word. Are we happy when we open up God’s Word to read, or do we look at it as a chore, something to do and then check off our list? He looked at the Bible as a greater treasure than a chest of valuable jewels and gold bullion. Let’s hold God’s Word as something valuable to us, something that we will hide in our hearts so that our lives will be pleasing in His sight.
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