Morning Psalm and Prayer: Psalm 119:1-8

Consider these questions as we look at Psalm 119:1-8 today:

1. How does Psalm 119 emphasize the importance of God's word in leading a blameless life according to the given text?

2. What is the significance of praying for steadfastness in keeping God's statutes as mentioned in the text?

3. In what way does the text suggest that following God's commands protects believers from shame, and how does this perspective differ from the world's view on adhering to these commands?

Transcript:

So as we begin to look at Psalm 119, what we are going to see is that Psalm 119 is primarily about the word of the Lord. It's about his word and what it does for us. And so as we come to this, we see this first statement, and it really lets us know where we're going, right? Blessed are those whose way is blameless who walk in the law of the Lord. If we want our way to be blameless, if we want to walk in the law of the Lord, we need to know his word. We can't just arbitrarily come up with ideas on what God wants us to do. We need to know his word. And so that is how we are blessed. That is how we know the goodness of God, not only in keeping his law, but also knowing his gospel, knowing that we have a way to live that God has designed, but also that when we fail and when we sin, when we reject God's law, we have forgiveness in Christ Jesus. It is blessed for us to know those things. And so now we also see that verse 5, Oh, that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes.

 What a prayer. We could actually go through here and find so many things that we could pray every day. And it all starts with God's word, Oh, that my ways may be steadfast, that we would keep God's statutes, that we would keep his word in a steadfast way, that we would be able to do it because we often find that we fail. And so what a prayer for us. May our prayer daily be that we would be steadfast in keeping God's statutes. And then we see verse 6, Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on your commandments. If we follow God's law, we do not find ourselves being put to shame. Why is that? Well, Because God is the one who ultimately has us. He's the one who ultimately is the standard for whether or not we are put to shame. The world doesn't matter. The world may look at us keeping God's commands, and they might say, That's shameful. Why would you do that? Why Why would you love someone more than yourself? Why would you do these different kinds of things? But ultimately, what is our concern? Our concern is that God does not put us to shame.

 And so when we keep his commands, we will always be vindicated in what we do. And so we desire to do that. We desire to go into every day understanding God's commands and keeping them. And we pray that God would help us to do that because we are weak. We are fragile creatures. And so may God strengthen each and every one of us today to keep his word. And when we fail, may we also hear that word of God that comes to us with the gospel that says, When you are in Christ, God has kept the law for you. God the Son has kept the law that you might be found righteous in his sight. May that good news guide us today.