{"id":40142,"date":"2018-05-18T01:18:43","date_gmt":"2018-05-18T08:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prayingpint.com\/?p=40142"},"modified":"2018-05-18T01:18:43","modified_gmt":"2018-05-18T08:18:43","slug":"oh-that-my-ways-may-be-steadfast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/18\/oh-that-my-ways-may-be-steadfast\/","title":{"rendered":"Oh that my ways may be steadfast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Psalms 119:1-8<\/b>\u00a0<\/a><\/span> Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! \u00a0Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, \u00a0who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! \u00a0You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. \u00a0Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! \u00a0Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. \u00a0I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. \u00a0I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!<\/p>\n

Survey and polling data constantly demonstrate that those who live lives in general conformity to God\u2019s standards are happier, enjoy life more, and are more content. Yet the illusion remains for many that a defiled<\/i> life is more \u201cfun.\u201d<\/p>\n

We need God to show us the way to a happy life, and it is centered on being undefiled in the way<\/b>. \u201cThe reason we are not happy is that we sin, and the main reason we sin as much as we do is that we do not know the Bible well enough. . . . Apart from being instructed by God, human beings do not know how to achieve happiness.\u201d (Boice)<\/p>\n

We wouldn\u2019t know<\/i> what a pure life was without God telling us. Certainly, some aspects of a pure life are revealed in human conscience and known widely among humanity. Yet there are other aspects of the pure life that we learn only from the Word of God.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo enjoy this beatitude a holy walking must become habitual. This sacred exercise is very different from sluggish piety. \u2018Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord.\u2019 A man may sit down in the road without soiling his skin or fouling his apparel, but that is not enough. There must be progress \u2013 practical action \u2013 in the Christian life; and in order to blessedness we must be doing something for the Master.\u201d (Spurgeon)<\/p>\n

Keep means doing<\/i>, not only hearing<\/i>. \u201cNeither is it enough that we understand or ponder God\u2019s precepts, but we must practice them, if we would be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessedness is ascribed to those who treasure up the testimonies of the Lord: in which is implied that they search the Scriptures, that they come to an understanding of them, that they love them, and then that they continue in the practice of them. We must first get a thing before we can keep it. In order to keep it well we must get a firm grip of it: we cannot keep in the heart that which we have not heartily embraced by the affections.\u2019 (Spurgeon)<\/p>\n

Yet, we do not miss the emphasis on the heart<\/b>. \u201cGod is not truly sought by the cold researches of the brain: we must seek him with the heart. Love reveals itself to love: God manifests his heart to the heart of his people. It is in vain that we endeavour to comprehend him by reason; we must apprehend him by affection.\u201d (Spurgeon)<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout You I can do nothing; my soul is unstable<\/i> and fickle<\/i>; and it will continue weak<\/i> and uncertain<\/i> till You strengthen<\/i> and establish it.\u201d (Clarke)<\/p>\n

\u201cUnto all thy commandments; <\/i>so as not to be partial in my obedience, not to allow myself in the practice of any known sin, or in the neglect of any known duty.\u201d (Poole)<\/p>\n

I will keep Your statutes<\/b>: This was a promise to keep<\/b> \u2013 in the sense of guarding<\/i> \u2013 the statutes<\/b> (huqqim<\/i>), the engraved, inscribed, written word of God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Psalms 119:1-8\u00a0 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! \u00a0Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, \u00a0who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! \u00a0You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. \u00a0Oh that my ways may … Continue reading “Oh that my ways may be steadfast”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[286,81,2916,7122,1079,5181,2012,652,1423,517,655,179,2786,3183,287,5520],"class_list":["post-40142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-prayers","tag-blameless","tag-blessed","tag-commanded","tag-dilegently","tag-forsake-me","tag-keep","tag-precepts","tag-righteous-rules","tag-seek","tag-shame","tag-statutes","tag-steadfast","tag-upright-heart","tag-walk","tag-whole-heart","tag-wrong"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40143,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40142\/revisions\/40143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}