Not An Empty Promise

“HE. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.” (Ps 119:33-35 AV)

 

The vow of verse one is contingent on what follows.  The Psalmist, David, promises to keep the law unto the end.  That is quite a promise.  On the face of it, this promise seems impossible.  No one can live perfectly and without sin while he battles the flesh, the world, and the Devil.  We often make promises like this.  We know, practically speaking, we cannot.  Yet to the hearer, it sounds comforting.  It is the desire and intent of the heart even though we all know it is impossible.  But this is not what is happening here.  David does mean what he promised.  There is no sincere promise without the means to accomplish it.  The means follow the promise.  David asks the LORD for understanding.  Then he asks the LORD to make him go in the way of His commandments.  These two qualifiers are what make the initial vow a doable one.

Part of learning scouting skills was tying knots and knowing the purpose of individual knots.  Some knots could slip.  Some knots could slip, but under tension, would not slip.  Others didn’t slip at all.  Some knots were difficult to untie while others came apart with a simple tug.  Learning knot tying was not limited to the knot itself.  We had to know under what conditions we would tie a certain knot versus another.  Fishing line knots also have several applications.  Depending on the types of line, the weight of line, or application, one might choose different knots for different situations.  Learning knots is not as easy as it might seem.  The one that really threw everyone for a loop (no pun intended) was the bowline hitch.  There is a rhyme that goes with it.  See the rabbit go up the hole, around the tree, and back down the hole.  It helped a little bit.  Not that much, though.  This knot is very specific.  If tied wrong, it completely falls apart.  There is no tension to keep the knot in place and functional.  The desire to tie the knot was there.  There was only one way to tie this knot.  It had no room for individual interpretation.  You knew it was wrong because when under load, it would fall apart.  The bowline is used for lifesaving applications.  One needs a knot that is impossible to slip or come apart.  The consequences of a knot tie wrong were severe.  The scout needed understanding and he also needed consequences.  This is for what David is asking.

David’s vow is not an empty one.  It is not a ‘feel good’ promise that he knows has no chance of happening.  It is sincere.  Looking over his life, there were times he failed.  He was not always successful.  However, David did submit to the hand of God in those times of failure.  When he numbered the people, he sought mercy for the people’s sake. And, not his own sake.  When he fell with Bathsheba, he sought mercy for the child’s sake and Bathsheba’s sake.  He never sought mercy for the consequences of those choices as they affected only himself.  He welcomed the instruction and correction from the hand of the LORD because his heart was genuine and sincere.  He truly wanted to live a life in perfect obedience to the law of the but he knew the old man made this impossible.  Impossible, that is unless the LORD enabled him to do so.  David’s vow is admirable.  It is worthy of emulation.  But we cannot make that vow unless we also ask for understanding and consequences.  Then we can endeavor to do the impossible.  OBEY.