What A Vow!

“I have sworn, and I will perform [it], that I will keep thy righteous judgments.” (Ps 119:106 AV)

That is a pretty serious vow to make.  I imagine an even harder one to live.  A verse or two later, the writer discusses his failure to keep the judgments of God and the steps he took to make it right.  Failure to live perfectly does not mean complete failure.  Rather, how we choose to respond to those failures is what determines our walk with God.  If we vow to live in the law of God and fail to do so, there is a remedy provided by God by which we can be right with Him.  This remedy involves confession and forsaking of sin.  This remedy seeks a commitment to learn from our failures and strive to do our best to avoid the same failure.  If these failures are presumptuous, the remedy is to rely deeply on the empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit.  We may have to make changes so that temptations do not come so easily.  Whatever the case, we are to vow and strive to live under the perfect law of God.  When we fail, seeking the remedy is the answer to keeping that vow.

The bible refers to the law as the perfect law of liberty.  As we learn to live by the principles and commandments of the word of God, we gain liberty.  We do not lose it.  Rebellious saints and sinners alike often misunderstand this.  We assume the word of God exists to make our lives more miserable.  Not so.  It is designed to do just the opposite.  We are all going on a journey.  This journey is like a maze.  Our perception is very limited.  We cannot see the events of the future.  All we know for certain is that life will end some day.  Other than that, there are no certainties in life.  We may have our plans and work toward those ends.  That doesn’t mean life will end up as we have planned and prepared.  This maze has one entrance, and we have been pushed through it.  It has many exists, but only one ends well.  We cannot see it.  All was can see is right in front of our faces.  Each turn may have a hazard.  It might be a trap.  In fact, most of them are traps.  There is one maze master overlooking our journey and through a PA system, is giving us instructions.  We can choose to follow or we can try to figure it out ourselves.  The problem is, we have to trust that Maze Master.  We have to trust he desires us to get through the maze with little or no adverse consequences and reach the exit with a prize.  How many of us stubborn people would think of shutting off the PA system and risk certain pain and suffering, never arriving at the one exit that promises relief?

This is exactly what we do when we ignore the word of God.  God is our Maze Master.  He is on the PA system called the word of God.  He gives us turn by turn instructions but we turn it off.  As a result, we suffer consequences that, in turn, limit our liberty.  We suffer hardships that make our lives more difficult to live.  We lose liberty when we do not listen.  We may feel we have freedom, but that freedom lasts only as long as consequences are delayed.  Once they come, we lose a bit of liberty.  The writer above promises to live by the holy word of God.  He knows if his life is to have meaning and certain blessings, he must submit to the One who has the rule book in His hand.  There is another consideration.  If a person accepts Christ as their Savior, the new nature within them will long for the holiness of God.  If there is no desire to make such a vow above, then perhaps there is cause to seek the legitimacy of one’s relationship to God.  If we are a child of God, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit produces a longing for the law of God as a means to please our heavenly Father.  The vow above extends beyond a desire for blessings.  More importantly, the writer desires to please his Creator-God.  The law is seen as an opportunity to do something, or be somebody, for the God who created him.