Knowing the Word

Yesterday we started looking at Psalm 119: 9-16, and today we find the author committing himself to do two things.

First, in verses 9-12, we find a Commitment to Know.

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart, I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!”

How committed are we to know God? I think a good place to start is where he starts in verse 9…he starts with the question, “How can a young man keep his way pure?” The world tells the young people to go and live, to sow their wild oats, to experiment, and to come back to the things of God when your old and have nothing left to do…it is as if we believe true happiness comes only from indulging the flesh, but the Word of God says just the opposite because it knows the things of the world will not satisfy...the Word wants us to start following God as young as possible and to continue until He calls us Home. That’s where abundance is found.

Parents, I think we are going to have to reconsider how we educate our children…we’ve dumbed it down…in the schools and in the church. In the Church, we’ve exchanged the teaching of theology and doctrine and the expectation of memorization and meditation for trivia, games, and entertainment. If David Livingstone could memorize this Psalm by the age of 9…what can our own children do…and what can we do?

The question, “How can a young man keep his way pure?” How much time do you ponder on the idea of keeping yourself and your children pure? If we are to know a holy God—you and I are going to have to spend some time thinking about that question.

The Psalmist gives us the answer, “By guarding it according to your word.” In Leviticus, this same word speaks of how we repent and make atonement for our sin and how we live a life that pleases God. We must guard our lives—we can’t just do whatever the flesh wants to do…we must discipline ourselves as an athlete disciplines his or her body…we must not be squeezed into the world’s mold, but we must be transformed by the Word of God. We will see more about this over the rest of the week.

Last week I shared that in many ways this Psalm is an outline of Psalm 1. It really does come back to “Blessed is the man who…delights in the law of the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water…”

Last week Kim and I walked among the giant sequoias. They drink over 500 gallons of water every day in the summer! How do they get that kind of water in a land that is often arid? Much of it comes from the snow melt…they are enjoying now what the snow of yesterday provides. I want to urge you to pour the Word into your heart for NOW, but also for the summer droughts that come.

The picture above is of a sequoia that is between 2,000-3,000 years old. It was living when Jesus walked the earth! Think of the times of plenty and the times of drought this tree. It’s no wonder it is called the Grizzly Giant. Let’s be giants of the Word of God.