Psalm 119:9-16

Beth

⁹ How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to thy word.

¹⁰ With my whole heart I seek thee; let me not wander from thy commandments!

¹¹ I have laid up thy word in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.

¹² Blessed be thou, O LORD; teach me thy statutes!

¹³ With my lips I declare all the ordinances of thy mouth.

¹⁴ In the way of thy testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.

¹⁵ I will meditate on thy precepts and fix my eyes on thy ways.

¹⁶ I will delight in thy statutes; I will not forget thy word. (NIV)

As a young man, we must heed the call of God. This concept of God’s desire seems to get lost in our everyday routine of living. If we are not careful Satan, the cares of this world, or the desires of this world will rob us of a desire that God wants for us in our life. In the devotion for June 11 in his book, My Utmost for His Highest Oswald Chambers writes:

The questions that truly matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words— “Come to Me.” Our Lord’s words are not, “Do this, or don’t do that,” but— “Come to me.” If I will simply come to Jesus, my real life will be brought into harmony with my real desires. I will actually cease from sin and will find the song of the Lord beginning in my life.

This is what David is writing here in these eight verses in this second section of Psalm 119. As I look back on my life as well as the lives of other Christians I know or have known; I realize that it was not our seeking after God that brought God in our lives, but it was the way that we responded to the seeking God as we opened our hearts and let him enter our inmost place to dwell. Once we open this door and receive Him then the true transformation of bringing our life into harmony with His desires for us will take place and we can then experience the peace that passes understanding in our life.

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding his daily walk according to God’s Word and seeking Him with my whole heart. I will not wander away from His commandments, statutes, ordinances, testimonies or precepts.  Instead, I will delight in them and declare them to the world as I strive to be godly witness to this transforming power of God in my own life.