Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

  You are good, and what You do is good; teach me Your decrees. Psalm 119:68 This verse isn't really stating the obvious, like we might initially assume. Many people nowadays question the idea that God is wholy good and only does what is good. Most people neglect God's decrees. God is good all the time. We see His goodness in what He does. The supreme example of God's goodness is the cross of Christ, whereby bad people like us can be made good One of the greatest aspects of God is that He can take bad circumstances and bring good out of them. The crucifixion of Christ was, humanly speaking, the worst miscarriage of justice ever. Yet in God's providence, Christ's death is where God's justice and mercy meet. It would be wrong of us to acknowledge God's goodness, only to pursue badness in our own lives. Instead we ought to ask Him to teach us His decrees. We find them in the Bible. 'Good God, we acknowledge Your goodness and ask that You would teach

 Be good to Your servant while I live, that I may obey Your word. Psalm 119:17 David might have been king of Israel, but he didn't forget that he was God's servant. Like a servant looks to their Master, so we are to look to God. We are to look to Him for provision and for our purpose. We don't know how long we've got on earth. What we hopefully do know is that we need God to be good to us as long as we live. Otherwise we're hopeless. If God is good to us, we won't necessarily have an easy life, but we will be enabled to obey His word. If and when we fail, there is forgiveness and restoration. Just because we're naturally sinful doesn't mean to say we can't be holy as God is holy. Our greatest need is for God to be good to us. Our greatest responsibility is to obey His word. In Him we live, and move, and have our being. 'Glorious God, please be good to us, and enable us to obey Your word. In Christ's name we pray, amen'.

 I delight in Your decrees; I will not neglect Your word. Psalm 119:16 Delight isn't a word we tend to associate with decrees. Maybe a vulnerable person might have delighted in some of the covid decrees; or a pedestrian in the highway code. Without decrees, we'd be living in anarchy. In the busyness of life, it would be all too easy to neglect God's law. Even though David was tremendously busy as the king of Israel, he always guarded his time in God's word. If he managed, we have no excuse. In His earthly ministry, Jesus was often so popular that He scarcely got any time to Himself. Yet He still often got up early, while it was still dark, and communed with His heavenly Father. He clearly memorised Scriptures in His armoury against satanic temptations. We devote time to what we delight in. Even if we don't enjoy work for example, we do it so we can earn money to spend on things we delight in. If we delight in God's word, we will make time to meditate on it. '

 I meditate on Your precepts and consider Your ways. Psalm 119:15 Biblical meditation is the opposite of Eastern meditation. Eastern meditation attempts to empty our minds, leaving them open to satanic influences. Biblical meditation is to fill our minds with the things of God, so there's no room for us to think bad thoughts. I think we often have a perception of meditation as being impractical and disconnected from reality. That's not what David had in mind. God's precepts are practical, they tell us how to live to honour Him in our day to day lives. Meditation isn't about mindlessly repeating mantras. It is a consideration of God's ways. We know God's ways by digging into His word by His Spirit. Jesus is the Way to the Father personified. If we follow Him, we can't go wrong. If we do go wrong as His people, He'll bring us back. 'Dear Father God, help us to consider Your ways and to meditate upon Your word, in the name of Jesus, amen'.

  I rejoice in following Your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. Psalm 119:14 Following God's statues might not be equated to winning the lottery by most people, but it was to David. As king of Israel, he had access to great riches. Yet obeying God's word is what really mattered to him. Riches are here today and gone tomorrow. God's word on the other hand endured forever. You can go figure which is more valuable. Give riches to a fool, and he will squander them. Give God's word to a fool, and he has the opportunity, potential, and ability to become wise. A wise man is far more interested in serving the Lord than in gaining greater riches. Give great riches to a wise man, and he's likely to invest it in the Kingdom of God, rather than hording it for himself. We can't take anything with us when we go, so there's no point hanging on to anything tightly, except our faith in God. We don't need to be rich to live fulfilled lives in Christ. 'He

 With my lips I recount all the laws that come from Your mouth. Psalm 119:13 If we know what God expects of humanity, we aren't to keep it to ourselves. Our lips are to recount all the laws that come from God's mouth, not just to ourselves, but to anyone who cares to listen. We have to remind ourselves to observe God's law before we tell others to. God doesn't want ghettoised Christians who fail to be salt and light in the world. He doesn't want us to be silent about Him, like Lot was in Sodom. It's not enough to be righteous through faith in God and troubled by unrighteousness; we need to stick our heads above the parapet. If we are to memorise God's word, to hide it in our hearts so we don't sin against Him, to recount it on our lips is a good method. Reading or reciting aloud is a good way of getting truths from our heads to our hearts. In the process, we can hopefully encourage others to take God's teachings on board too. I'm sure a lot of wh

  Praise be to You, Lord; teach me Your decrees. Psalm 119:12 The scoffer questions why we should praise the Lord. One reason we should praise the Lord is because of who He is. He's the eternally consistent One. Another reason we should praise God is because of His decrees. Our gut reaction to rules might be negative. God's law however is for our good. God's decrees are in summary to love Him and one another. It's not a bad thing He asks of us. The world would be infinitely better if we obeyed the Lord. Thankfully, God has made a way for law breakers like us to be reconciled to Him. This is the main reason to praise Him. Through faith in Christ crucified, we can have peace with God. 'Lord our God, we praise You for Your faithfulness, Your decrees, and Your salvation of us in Christ, in whose name we pray, amen'

  I have hidden Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:11 Davis never graduated from Sunday School. What many from Christian homes only so as children, David continued to do  He memorised Scripture. The Bible isn't just a nice book to read once and then to forget. We're to write it on the tablet of our hearts. Jesus Himself memorised Scripture. Memorisation of Scripture isn't just something to do for fun. It's to guard us against sinning against God. Jesus quoted memorised Scripture when tempted by the devil. The word of God is the sword of the Spirit. When satan attacks us, we need to counter him with the Bible. We need to know it well, because he will try to twist it against us. When he does so, we need to rightly handle the word of truth to bring it back ground in satan who seeks to twist it. 'Dear God, please help us to memorised Your word as an armoury against the evil one. For Your honour and praise, amen'.

  I seek You with all my heart, do not let me stray from Your commands. Psalm 119:10 Seeking God isn't like looking for a needle in a haystack. His commands are like a divine satnav to lead us to Him. Not only does God's word show us the way, but it also redirects us when we go astray. When we seek God, we're not to be like the stereotypical man who's lost his keys, who flounders about then asks his wife who finds them for him! We're not to be half hearted in seeking God; otherwise we won't find Him. We need to be wholehearted in our devotion to Him. By following God's commands, we demonstrate that we're seeking Him wholeheartedly. If we only follow half of someone's directions to get somewhere, we'll get hopelessly lost. We need to take God at His word. Our hearts might be naturally evil. Yet God is in the business of spiritual heart surgery, cutting away all that is amiss, and transplanting a godly heart. By His intervention, we can safely

  How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to Your word. Psalm 119:9 If we come to faith in Jesus, we move from an impure path to the path of purity. It's like God's path is a paved road, but if we go astray, we get muddy. So how do we keep to God's path? Firstly, it's worth clarifying that this verse doesn't just apply to young people. When we're young, we might assume that impurity is a young person's struggle. Yet it usually remains an issue throughout our worldly sojourns. To keep on purity path, we are to live according to Your word. I like the old translation about 'taking heed', but it is actually more than that. It's not just about knowing the right way; it's about living the right way. What is God's word in summary? It isn't to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Instead, it is to live lives defined by divinely inspired love rather than selfishness. 'God, thank You for setting us on t

  I will obey Your decrees; don't utterly forsake me. Psalm 119:8 I appreciate David's vulnerability here, which I'm sure we can relate to. If we are wise, we won't want God to forsake us. If He does, we're hopeless. Thankfully, there're some powerful promises in Scripture to reassure us. 'Never will I leave you or forsake you', God promises His people. If we have failed Him yet again, we might be tempted to think that He will forsake us. The implication in this verse is that David hasn't been obeying God's decrees. Yet in this verse, he makes a resolution to do so. What matters isn't so much a disappointing past, but a repentant present leading to a hopeful future. If we want forgiveness without us having to be obedient to God, we miss the point. If we are forgiven, we will seek to live lives that are pleasing to God. His decrees aren't just suggestions to take or leave; they are to be obeyed. 'Almighty God, please don't fo

 I will praise You with an upright heart as I learn Your righteous laws. Psalm 119:7 Jeremiah teaches that our hearts are deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. How then can our hearts be set upright? The righteous live by faith in the Righteous Lawgiver and Saviour. By all means we should learn God's righteous laws. Yet knowing them in our heads doesn't set our hearts right; only God can do that. Blessed is the one whose sins are forgiven and whose heart is set right by God. Having had our hearts set upright by God doesn't mean to say we can disregard His law. On the contrary, to keep right, we are to live in obedience to Him. We can do this by the power of His Holy Spirit. How do we know if someone's got an upright heart? Because they will learn God's righteous laws- not just to know them in their heads, but to put them into practice. With God's enabling we can do this. 'Father in heaven, please set our hearts right to put Your word into

Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all Your commandments. Psalm 119:6 In this verse we learn how to have victory over the sins that would shame us. We are to consider God's commandments. This is one of the things that set us apart from animals. Sloths don't consider whether they're lazy. Pigs don't consider whether they're greedy. We ought to consider these kinds of questions. If we do find ourselves lazy or greedy for example, we need to do two main things having considered this. We need to cry out to God firstly to take away our shame. Secondly we're to ask God to empower us to keep His commandments. The emphasis in this verse is on the positive. We're to consider not so much our laziness and greed for example. Instead we're to obey God's commands to work hard and to be self disciplined. 'Lord our God, help us to consider Your commandments we pray, especially when we're tempted to give in to shameful practices. In Jesus

                Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying Your decrees! Psalm 119:5                          I appreciate David's honesty here. He admitted that he wasn't steadfast in obeying God's decrees. Yet he longed to be, and his heart cry was that he would become steadfast in obedience to the word of God.                  We can and should echo David's prayer here. If we're honest, our ways aren't steadfast in obeying God's decrees either. Yet they need to be.   God's laws aren't there to be restrictive. They are to show us the right path in life. If we keep to God's paths, we'll have the best life possible.  There's no point bemoaning the fact our ways aren't steadfast in obeying God's decrees. Instead, we are to cry out to God to help us. With the help of His Spirit we can.   'O Lord, we echo David's prayer here and ask that we would become faithful followers of You. For Your honour we pray, amen'