Single Mindedly Seeking God…

Morning!

Raises his cup of coffee

This morning we’re going to continue in our Psalm 119 challenge and pick up where we left off in the second stanza.  Before we get there though, I want to take a moment to add in some more Scripture from James to get us started.

James 1: 2-8

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.  For let not that man supposed that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Our trial is getting through Psalm 119.  I don’t know about you, but this exercise in study is a test of my faith— a test of my trust in God for several different reasons.  One of those reasons?  The issue of double-mindedness

that James speaks of in our passage.  Psalm 119 is long.  And at the pace we’re going, it’s going to take some time to get through.  My Test?  To stay focused.  To stay single-minded on the task at hand— without getting too distracted.

It’s one of the things I’m working on with Jesus.

Single-mindedness.

The testing of our faith produces patience.  And patience, as the text implies, has work that it performs in us.  It is through patience’s work

that we become more perfect and complete, lacking nothing in our faith.  I thought it was a good place to start here in James, because we are, in truth, asking God for wisdom in our study.  And it’s a reminder— That He gives wisdom to all liberally who ask…  and that we should let patience do its perfect work.

So let’s start the day by reminding ourselves.

We’re on the Eternal time clock.

Psalm 119: 9-16

“How can a young man cleanse his way?  By taking heed according to Your Word.  With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!  Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.  Blessed are You, O LORD!  Teach me Your statutes.   With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth.  I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches.  I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your Ways.  I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your Word.”

How can a young man cleanse his way?  By taking heed according to God’s Word.  “Blessed are You, O LORD,” the psalmist continues—praising God for His Word.  Then David asks: Teach me Your statutes.  If any of us lacks wisdom, we are to ask God in faith.  God will teach us.

So.

Have we considered how that happens?

Our psalmist speaks of the Word of God— all of the Word of God.  He states that he declares the Word.  He rejoices in the Word of God as much as he would in all the riches of the world.  The psalmist meditates on God’s Word and thinks about the Way of the LORD.  He declares that he will delight himself in the Word of the LORD.

Our psalmist studies the Word.  Thinks on the Word.  Speaks the Word and then delights himself in the Word.

When we take our time to study the Word of God, we are doing two things.  We are prioritizing the Word of God as more important than anything else in that moment.  We are simultaneously lowering the importance

of other things.  The longer we study the Word of God, the longer we have our minds focused on God.  The longer we spend focused on Him, the less focused we are on the things that are not of God.  The more trouble we stay out of.

1 John 2: 15-17

“Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

And let’s remind ourselves of…

Romans 12: 1-2

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.   And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect Will of God.”

Our psalmist has filled his heart with love of the Word of God and through this love he has filled his mind with the Word of God which then spills out of his mouth and the cycle continues as delight seems to be the fruit of his behavior.

Single minded focus on the God of the universe.  It is a singleminded focus that is full of action and a request for more.

God is good.

When I started out with God’s Word, I had a hard time.  I struggled to study in the beginning— mainly because it had been many years since I had studied anything in written form.  There were also many spiritual challenges to overcome.  But what I found was this: The more time I spent asking God for wisdom, the more time I spent looking for that wisdom.  At first, I spent a lot of time listening.  But eventually, I realized— the answers I was seeking were going to be found in Scripture.  And if I learned how to read Scripture for myself, I wouldn’t have to depend on other teachers— no matter how good their teaching was.  Scripture promises that the Holy Spirit will teach us— just as David is asking God to teach him in our passage.

The more I struggled through the text, the more I began to understand.  The more I began to understand, the more I began to love the Word.  The more I loved the Word, the more I began to take heed to the Word.  And the more I took heed to the Word— the more the world around me began to change.  But only after I did the work. In this case, one of the many blessings on my journey was the blessing of being able to read the Word

and enjoy it without struggle.  It took some time.

So I found a passage in Joshua I wanted to share today.

Joshua 1: 1-9

“After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: ‘Moses My servant is dead.  Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them- the children of Israel.  Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.  From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.  No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.  I will not leave you nor forsake you.  Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.  Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.  Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua was blessed with the Presence of the LORD in the same way that Moses was.  As Joshua was beginning his walk at the end of Moses’ life, God promises to be with him.  He promises to be with him and to never leave him.  I wanted to share this passage because here, God clearly commands Joshua that the Book of the Law is not to depart from his mouth.  He is meant to meditate in it day and night.

This is three leaders of the Bible that we’ve been studying— David, James, and Joshua— all teaching us that keeping our minds on God’s Word, studying it, keeping it close to our hearts, doing it, and learning how to rightly divide the Word of Truth— is exactly what we are meant to be doing.  But more pointed to our study over the last week— this practice is directly tied to the Presence of God.

David prays and asks for the Presence of God, seeking it through the Holy Scriptures.  Paul teaches us that the Word of God will transform us through the renewing of our mind.  God Himself tells Joshua that He requires him to study the Word of God as part of His Presence.  God tells Joshua to meditate on the Word day and night, so that he may observe what is in it and live accordingly.

What does Jesus say?

Matthew 28: 18-20

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

It is the Presence of God that David seeks in Psalm 119 and it is the Presence of God that we are seeking ourselves.

Or is it?

One of the common themes we’ve uncovered in our study on the Presence of God is this: The repeated instruction to pray without ceasing and to study and love the Word of God.  If we are emulating David and Joshua,

then we are to be meditating on the Word day and night.  So Here Comes the Challenge— Are we ready to take the Bible at its Word?

Do we value the Presence of God more than we value the things of this world?

Do we meditate on His Word day and night?

Joshua did.

David did.

And presumably they had time to lead nations.

Paul did.

And he had time to start how many churches?

Proverbs 3: 5-6

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Commit our works to the LORD and our thoughts will be established.  I keep thinking about vacuuming for some reason this morning…

I think that’s a good place to start.