"Meanwhile, being placed in this most beautiful theatre, let us not decline to take a pious delight in the clear and manifest works of God....it is...the first evidence of faiths to remember to which side soever we turn, that all which meets the eye is the work of God, and at the same time to meditate with pious care on the end which God had in view in creating it."
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, I.14.20.
Reading Psalm 119 this morning, I was struck by the prayers of the Psalmist to God over the Word. Coming to the Word should always be a prayer-filled event, asking for God the Holy Spirit to be present and teach us through His Word. It's not enough to schedule time and make ourselves read...we must seek the presence of the Author and that He'll bring us to the Word in His timing…let’s look at a few of these prayers.
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Oh that my ways may be established to keep Your statutes (119:5)! Who establishes our ways? The God of the Word. The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps (Proverbs 16:9). This is a prayer of the Psalmist, that God would establish his ways in a certain way – not the way he wants, but according to what God wants and has shown in His Word.
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With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me wander from Your commandments (119:10). Why do we struggle through times when we wander from the Word? Well, it’s not just a book. It’s the living Word of God, breathed by the Holy Spirit. When we have divided hearts and our singular desire is not His presence and glory, He gives us over for a season to those things that damage our inner faithfulness to Him. Whether it’s stuff, non-Kingdom priorities, relationships, our own pleasure, His name is Jealous (Exodus 34:14 – we don’t pray to Him using that name, do we?) and He will not allow divided loyalty (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13), anymore than spouses would allow it in the marriage relationship (which is nothing more than a picture of the relationship with God). Even when we go through a period of closeness and outward fidelity to Him, He knows the heart. Sometimes we are Providentially sent on a period of miserable wandering to highlight the infidelity in our hearts (Jeremiah 29:12,13 – a promise to those exiled for spiritual infidelity). The Psalmist pleads with God to save Him from such a time of wandering from the Word, the place of our primary communion with God. Pray this for yourself, and pray it over those who are wandering.
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Incline my heart to Your testimonies and not to dishonest gain. Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, and revive me in Your ways (119:36,37). More “defensive” prayer. Consider this preventative to wandering. It’s also almost confessional, isn’t it? I’m reminded of the hymn: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it; seal it for Thy courts above” (“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” Robert Robinson [1735-1790]).
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We’ve all been blessed in life by great Bible teachers. They are all conduits themselves for the Holy Spirit, Who longs to teach us directly (in addition to His gift of human teachers in the Church – Ephesians 4:8,11).
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Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word (119:17). This is the basis for a prayer for life; not fear of sickness, calamity, or death, but a prayer for a life keeping God’s Word. How backward is this to our fallen nature, which places itself first! The new creation puts God’s Word first. Life serves the Word, not the twisted view of the fleshly christian, who sees the Word as a means to get what he/she wants. Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live (119:144).
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Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law (119:18). The Psalm recognizes Who the Teacher is. Prayer is the most neglected part of Bible study for us. We have such an intellectual (even the least intellectual among us) attitude about it. It’s a book. Books are read with the intellect. It’s something to be dissected and categorized scientifically, its facts absorbed like so much history or trivia. No! This thing is the breath, the voice, the essence of God. It is alive, and contains more wonderful things than our tiny minds can pull from it. Pray to see the wonder!
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My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to Your word…My soul weeps because of grief; strengthen me according to Your word. Remove the false way from me, and graciously grant me Your law (119;25,28,29). Grief, depression, sorrow. O, would that God would put this conviction in our hearts, that the remedy is not an outward change in circumstance, but an inward application of the Word of life to our weary souls! Even in moments of joy, pray that the next valley is lit by the light of the Word.
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Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I shall observe it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law and keep it with all my heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it…Establish Your word to Your servant, as that which produces reverence for You (119:33-35,38). The Psalmist doesn’t ask once, does he? Look at all the ways he has to describe the Word: statutes, law, commandments, word. It’s always reminded me of lovers who have a multitude of secret names for each other. The Psalmist isn’t a “five-minute devotion” kind of guy. God has gifted him with a wonderful, multi-faceted, passionate, singular fidelity and intimate love for the Word. If that’s not something worth praying for, I don’t know what is! What’s the goal: “…that which produces reverence for You.” How can we say we love this God without showing Him reverence? How can we show Him reverence when we aren’t devoted to the source of that reverence?
The earth is full of Your lovingkindness, O LORD; teach me Your statutes (119:64). Natural revelation, the imprint of God’s character and attributes on creation (Psalm 19:1; Isaiah 6:3; Romans 1:20), inspire the Psalmist to go back to the Word. Nature doesn’t teach us the Word, though. It inspires us to a conception of a God of beauty, order, and power, but we still ask God to teach us through His Word.
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Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in Your commandments (119:66). Do we really believe His way is best, or is this just some religious confession that isn’t reflected in our lives? The Psalmist comes to the Teacher with this offering: belief.
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O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me Your ordinances (119:108). Part of our prayer before studying the Word or hearing it taught (and during and after these times, too) is not just asking for teaching only, but an offering of praise for the previous times of teaching, for God’s promise and provision to teach, for the marvelous fruit the Word has produced in your spirit-life, and for the closeness of relationship with the matchless God the Word provides. Let my lips utter praise, for You teach me Your statutes (119:171).
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Deal with Your servant according to Your lovingkindness and teach me Your statutes. I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies (119:124,125). God is not the cold, impersonal professor. He deals with us and teaches us according to His character, the embodiment of lovingkindness. He knows the reason and purpose of our creation. He knows what is best for us (an existence of giving Him praise and enjoying His glory). On this basis (a God-centered reality as opposed to the false self-centered reality) He will teach. Your hands made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments (119:173). Not only does the Creator enable His creation to enjoy His love through His Word, but His goodness: You are good and do good; teach me Your statutes (119:68).
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Make Your face shine upon Your servant, and teach me Your statutes (119:135). The Word itself is an unfathomable expression of God’s radiant glory. The more we spend time in the Word and Spirit (as He answers our prayer to give us opportunity), the more we’ll reflect and enjoy that “shining.”
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Let my cry come before You, O LORD; give me understanding according to Your word (119:169). Job’s experience is not unique – when difficulties come, we all seem to be surrounded with people who don’t give us God’s wisdom for dealing with the situation. Their advise will often appeal to our fleshly desires for revenge, justification, or wallowing self-pity. The Psalm asks for correct, God-oriented thinking. This takes a maturity and a willingness to die to those parts of ourselves that want to come out on top in difficult situations (rather than embracing the cross).
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I am a stranger in the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me (119:19). We need to confess this every day. Unless we remind ourselves before God of this truth, there is an almost irresistible tendency to start feeling at home here. His Word should be the constant flag of a foreign country lifted up before us here on our pilgrimage. If He hides His commandments from us, we would immediately forget our true home. Your statutes are my songs in the house of my pilgrimage (119:54). Songs! Not brief times of study we force ourselves to endure to assuage a guilty conscience! Songs touch the emotional seat of our souls, don’t they? We don’t sing songs to stimulate ourselves intellectually. They are capable of radically modifying our mood, and equally capable of expressing the inexpressible. This is how the Psalmist views the word in land far from home. Pray this becomes your passion!
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I hope this has given you some ammunition as you pray for yourself, those close to you, and all of the Church of Jesus Christ. O, that we, the Bride, would come to desire to enjoy all we can of the Bridegroom in His Word. May this be our prayer.
