The Proverbial Monkey Wrench…

Morning!

Raises his cup of coffee

Today I am very excited to announce we are starting the Psalm 119 Challenge!  Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible.  It also happens to be one of my favorite passages— a chapter I return to for teaching, reminders, and direction almost daily.  One might say I continue to hide the Psalm in my heart.  However—there will be nothing hidden in what we’re doing with it.  We’re going to take a look and see if there’s anything that jumps out at us.

David is the author of the Psalm.  King David—of Goliath-slaying fame.  The boy who started off as a shepherd and ended up king of all Israel.  If there’s one thing that’s certain, it’s that David lived a life of faith in God.  He also lived a life that was marked by sin. Nevertheless, David is called

“a man after God’s own heart.”  And I think we can fairly say— God loved him.  If for no other reason, then because his name has been remembered for generations throughout the world.

As I opened my Bible this morning to get started, I noticed something.  In some translations of the Bible, there are headers given before certain sections.  Typically, these are small blurbs about the content that follows.  I think it’s important to mention— these headers are not Scripture.  I’m currently looking at five different printings of the Bible, in two different translations, and three of them have headers before our Psalm.

My electronic printing of the KJV translation has the header: “Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet.”  In The Reformation Study Bible, edited by R.C. Sproul, the header reads: “Meditations on the Excellencies of the Word of God.”  The third printing I’m using is a little different— it’s the 1889 Oxford University Press copy I picked up.  Side note: I like to collect Bibles.  This version has a small header that reads: “This psalm containeth sundry prayers, praises, and professions of obedience.”  Meanwhile, my last two printings— An NKJV translation from 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishers, and, interestingly enough, another KJV translation by Thomas Nelson as well— neither includes any additional text or header before Psalm 119.

Now— I bring this up because it’s important to remember: These headers are not Scripture.  They can sometimes get in the way of our study when they are relied on as Scripture instead of directing our attention to the actual text.  Headers can also frame our study in a way that may end up being detrimental.  That said— If you notice a small difference like this in printings, or even in the Bible of the person next to you, it’s no big deal.

And with that said…

Without further ado, let’s get to some Scripture.

Psalm 119: 1-8

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD!  Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart.  They also do no iniquity; they walk in His Ways.  You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently.  Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes.  Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commandments.  I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.  I will keep Your statutes; Oh, do not forsake me utterly!”

How many of us want to be blessed?  Let’s start with the first word of our Psalm— Blessed is the state that our Word says we will be in

if we are undefiled in the way.  So what does “blessed” mean?

The Hebrew word used is ‘Esher.  It means happiness, but it is not a simple happiness like when you get a treat at the store, it is an interjection, a superlative, a joyous happiness.  The kind of happiness that only comes from knowing the LORD.  It gets me thinking.  What does blessed mean in English?

Blessed: (Adjective)

- Held in reverence: venerated; honored in worship: hallowed; beatific

- Of or enjoying happiness

- Bringing pleasure, contentment, or good fortune

Blessed are the undefiled in the way— those who walk in the Law of the LORD.  This same blessedness comes with keeping God’s testimonies

and seeking Him with our whole heart.  So the recipe for blessedness

that David begins to give us here seems pretty straightforward: We are to walk in the Ways of the LORD.  We are to walk in the Law of the LORD-Which, by implication, suggests we are to know the Law of the LORD.

How does this blessedness look?  The psalmist explains that those who seek God with their whole heart— those who walk in His Ways— do no iniquity.  Does it not follow, just as our psalmist explains, that we have been commanded to keep God’s precepts diligently— and if we do so, we will be blessed? It makes complete sense that David’s next line is an exclamation— a desire to follow God’s Law.

Shame and— to use a KJV term—curses, come from straying from the Way of the LORD.  Straying from the Way of the LORD—sin— can come from many different places.  But one of the ways we can trespass is if we simply don’t know the Law of the LORD.  The more we know God’s Word, the more we know God.  The more we know God, the more we can see God in the world around us.  The more we see God, the more we desire to be with God— assuming our hearts are seeking Him.  It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance.

If we stay on the path God gives us, we will be blessed.

I think it’s important to mention that the specific path that each of us takes is going to be specific to each of us.  A unique story given by God for our Sanctification.  However, there will be plenty of things that are similar because, after all, we are dealing with the same God, for those who are seeking the God of the Bible.

So we’re off to an incredible start in Psalm 119.  It occurs to me that while we go through this passage we might want to keep in mind that our walk with The LORD is through Jesus.

John 15: 9-17

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.  These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.  This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.   You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My Name He may give you.  These things I command you, that you love one another.”

So— Blessed is the man who is undefiled in the Way of the LORD.  What is Jesus’ Commandment?  We see in John 15 that the Way of the LORD, the way that Jesus commands us to walk, the Way in which He promises the blessing of abiding in His love— is to love one another as Jesus has loved us.  The easiest hardest instruction ever.  Easy, because it’s not difficult to understand.  Hard, because… application.

Jesus teaches us that greater love has no one than this— to lay down our lives for our friends.  So the question follows…  Are we being a friend to Jesus?  What part of our lives without Him are we laying down for Him today?

Blessed is the man undefiled in the Way.  Blessed is the man who keeps Jesus’ precepts diligently.  Jesus teaches us that if we continue in His commandments, we are abiding in His love.  This love will remain with us

as we abide in His commandments.

How do we learn His Commandments?

We look to Scripture.

And what better way to lay down a part of our lives that is without Jesus than to replace it with time in Scripture?

Stay with me here.

Our psalmist tells us— Blessed are those who are undefiled in the way,

who seek God with the whole heart.  So the question we ask ourselves is…Where is my heart?  Is it set on seeking the Will of the Lord?  If that’s where we want our heart to be— Is what we are doing today

furthering that desire?  Or are we being less than diligent to keep His precepts?

Matthew 22: 37-40

“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’   On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

This, of course, means that through difficult times and challenging seasons, we are to love God.  But if we are loving God with all our hearts and minds, it also means loving Him through the mundane times too.  It means praying without ceasing, staying in communication with God

while doing the everyday things.  Like a friend.  Like going shopping.

Yesterday, I had a monkey wrench thrown at me.  It started off as a regular day.  I was here, working on the post and podcast, when it occurred to me that I needed to stop by CVS to pick up some prescriptions.  It was a beautiful day— sunny and in the seventies— one of the first truly beautiful days of spring.  People were out walking their dogs, running— the world was really moving.  So I hopped in the car and said to myself, “I’m going to make sure I work on constantly praying during this ride.”  I threw on some tunes and started praising Jesus on the way to the drugstore.

Then I got there.  That’s when the monkey wrench was thrown.  One of my prescriptions was out.  That meant I was going to have to transfer the prescription to another store then add another trip and do more errands outside of the house.  It was unexpected— But you know what I found?  Instead of getting frustrated that my plans weren’t going exactly as I’d hoped, I was much more calm- I was at peace.  Why?  Because I was praying the whole time.  And I don’t know about you, but when I’m praying and talking with God, frustration seems to stay further away.

Turns out, my wife had more errands for me to do.  The prescription was easily transferred to a CVS near where I was already going, and I got to spend a little more time out in public—praying with Jesus.  The whole ordeal was incredibly everyday and yet incredibly epic simply because I was praying without cease.

Walking in the Law of the LORD, as our psalmist says,

is just as much about walking with the LORD through the mundane

as it is through the epic moments of our lives.  For me— what could have been a mildly frustrating day turned into a praise-filled day because I sought God with all my heart in the everyday moments.

Love Jesus with all our hearts, all our minds and all our souls, all of the time.

I think that’s a good place to start for the day.