Now, Stay There

“Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” (Ps 119:133 AV)

This passage is one of those timeless truths that seems to require revisiting.  We are fallen creatures struggling to live holy lives.  We are more successful since salvation came, but not nearly as much as we wish to be.  The writer is not telling God what to do.  Rather, he is surrendering his will to the hand of God because he is sick and tired of sin being his god.  He sees sin as a terrifying threat to him.  He wasn’t deliverance from himself.  He knows the only way to do this is to let God be God.

The word ‘order’ has more implications than what might first appear.  The definition goes beyond mere organization and structure.  It has a stricter meaning than simply laying down a plan with purpose in mind.  The word ‘order’ here means to fix solidly.  Imagine fixing your feet in concrete.  That is what the word has in mind.  The voice is imperative.  This suggests the only way deliverance from dominating sin can happen is if our lives are fixed in a concrete block of God’s word.  Our writer goes beyond the rod of the Shephard.  He goes beyond chastening.  What he is asking is that the LORD would permanently fix his soul in the law of the word of God.

Have you ever seen this scenario?  A father is trying to accomplish something or have a conversation with another adult, and his toddler is running around like a wild animal.  Perhaps he is trying to keep his whole family safe, and he has one child who is out of control.  Maybe he is strapping an infant into a car seat, yet his toddler is endangering himself by running around.  He picks his toddler up by the arms and plants him firmly in place.  He tells him, “Now, don’t move!”  The toddler is startled.  He is shocked into compliance.  One minute he was a free spirit.  The next; he was standing at attention.  One minute he had all the freedom in the world.  The next; he was forced to stand and not move.  This is the picture above.

We have a wicked and wild spirit within.  The old man wants to please the flesh.  He wants what he wants and does not care about the consequences.  The old man runs wild and needs some shock that will bring him unto subjection.  Our writer is asking the LORD to pick him up by the armpits, plant his feet solidly in the law of God, telling him, “Now, stay there!”