“I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law [is] my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me.” (Ps 119:174-175 AV)
The humility and simplicity of our psalmist is remarkable. Life is no more complicated than to live to obey. That is all he wants. If our psalmist is David, he has much for which to be pleased. He accomplishes more for Israel than most leaders before or after him. He laid the foundation of Israel as a nation whose God is Jehovah. He defined what it meant to be Jewish. He refused to be a victim and carried the torch of victory. Yet when push came to shove, his heart’s desire could be boiled down to one, single thing. He simply wanted a life that walked with God in obedience and faith. Note in particular that salvation is tied directly to obedience. David is not speaking of a work-based salvation here. Trusting in Jesus Christ is a command. That is the first and most important. To what David is referring is a life that is saved from sin and the consequences of sin. To what David is referring is a life that pleases God. Not only in obedience. But, also, by faith. Salvation and delight in the law of God go hand in hand. Of all the thoughts that went through the mind of the psalmist, this is the most consistent. Of all the goals he had or could have had, obedience and faith topped them all.
I had the privilege to homeschool my sons for a few years. I also had the privilege of teaching high school Bible class for a few years. If you ask any teacher what is the most satisfying experience they had while teaching young people, they will tell you it as that one student who struggled with classwork who took it upon himself or herself to ask for help. That’s what we lived for. When my son lost his patience with his schoolwork, it was a blessing to help him through it. When there were a few students who struggled with course work, it was a blessing beyond all blessings for them to stay after class and ask for help. When I preach or teach and someone asks a question because they do not understand, or seek more insight that they might apply truth to their situation, it pleases the heart. It takes humility and a pure heart to ask for help. It takes a realization that self-help will fall short. It means humbling oneself under the guidance of another, admitting that we are not self-sufficient. What makes it even more special is if the student asked for help solely because they knew a better grade would please a parent or a teacher. Rather than seeking better grades for a sense of self-fulfillment, knowing that ‘getting it’ would put a smile on the face of a teacher is all the more special.
Failure results in feelings which we do not enjoy. We feel resentment, regret, shame, guilt, and depression, to name a few. Some of these emotions are inward centered. What I mean by that is these emotions can, in a roundabout way, make us feel better about our reaction to sin. If we feel regret or shame, we feel better that we felt that way. It shows we have a conscience and are willing to be self-loathing. However, there is a more noble result of our sin should be disappointment at the reality that we failed to please our God. What we see above is David’s deep desire to live to the praise of God, his Father. There isn’t one phrase that is more important to me, but that last phrase strikes me as powerful and insightful. Remember the context. David seeks salvation from his sin and himself. Therefore, he delights in the law of God as the most important thing in his life. Because God enables him to live in the law, he can praise God with a pure heart. Knowing all this, the last thing David asks for is help to accomplish just that! How amazing is that? Of all the things David asks for help to live in compliance with the word of God. Realize that for what David is asking is correction and instruction. The heart is what we want to see. His heart is after the God of his fathers. He just wants to please the One who has given him life and salvation!
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