Psalm 119: Focus On God's Word Pt. 44 What Does My Life Tell Others About Christ?

Psalm 119:9  BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 

This question sets the stage for the "BETH' section of Psalm 119. How can a young man or any person, be cleansed from the stains of sin? By taking heed to the Word of God. 

Psalm 119:10-14  With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. 11)  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. 12)  Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes. 13)  With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. 14)  I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. 

Benefits of meditating on God's Word.

Psalm 119:15  I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

We receive many benefits from meditating upon the Word of God. One of the best is that meditation on scripture imprints God's truth on our minds and fastens it upon our hearts.

This leads to a change in behavior when we respect the ways of God, and we want to walk in the path He has marked out for us. 

Building up a supply of the Word in our heart. 

Deuteronomy 11:18  Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 

We are to lay up the scriptures in our heart. Meditation is the chief tool to accomplish this. We meditate in order to store up an abundant supply of God's truth in our hearts. 

Binding scripture as a sign on our hands means that we live out the truth of God's Word in whatever activity we are engaged in. Work, school, chores, travel, should be undertaken as we meditate on the Word. 

Remembering and retaining the Word in our heart.

Proverbs 3:1-4  My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:  2)  For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.  3)  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:  4)  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

Meditating on the Word of God will help us remember and retain it in our mind, soul and heart. Blessings are attached to this act of worship. A longer life and a peace that passes all understanding are available to us if we meditate on God's Word. 

Building up a strong supply of scripture in our hearts will bring the grace of God to us and grant us good understanding of worshipping, walking, and witnessing for God. 

Spiritual guidance & light from the Word. 

Proverbs 6:20-23  My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 21)  Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. 22)  When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. 23)  For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: 

Meditation on the Word of God helps us "keep" it and "binds" it upon our inner man. God will use the supply of His word in our hearts and minds, to lead us where we should go, guide us in His ways and keep us safe. It will speak to our heart at all times so that we can live righteously before Him. 

Promise to write it on our hearts. 

Jeremiah 31:33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

God has a promise to the Jewish people that He will put His law in their inner man, and write it on their hearts. He promises to be their God and they will be His people.

Meditation is not for the purpose of filling our heads with more knowledge. Rather, it is needed to change our hearts, that we might love God and fear Him, that we might abhor sin, avoid Hell and pursue Heaven. 

Meditation is needed to govern and guide our thoughts. Without meditating on the things of God, our thoughts will focus on trifling things that do not matter.

Meditation reproves wrong thinking.

2 Corinthians 10:4,5  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 

We make plans, think about projects, school, work, vacation, family or friends. Yet, we could be thinking about the glories of Jesus Christ, the splendor of heaven's grace and mercy.

Worse yet, if we do not meditate on the scriptures, our thoughts may plunge into that which is unclean or impure. 

An adulterous relationship begins with wrong thoughts in the heart (Matthew 5:28). 

Feelings of taking revenge on someone who did us wrong begins with devising evil in our heart (Proverbs 6:14). 

Envious thoughts motivated King Saul to attempt murder against David ( 1 Samuel 18:9). 

Pride begins within the imaginations of our hearts (Luke 1:51). 

A covetous spirit begins with hearts focused on wanting things that we do not have (2 Peter 1:14). 

Meditation helps us love the things of God.

Psalm 119:97  MEM. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. 

As we meditate on the things of God and His holy law, we learn to love it and desire to live in accord with it. The Psalmist thinks and meditates on the law of God during the day, even while he is working, or walking or worshipping. 

Psalm 119:113  SAMECH. I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.

Loving the law of God happens when we meditate on it. Our love for God's law will help us keep vain, empty and foolish thinking away from our minds. 

Psalm 119:119  Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.

We meditate on the testimonies of God because they teach us that judgment is coming. On the day of great judgment, God will cast off wicked people like the dross is scraped off pure silver or gold.

Psalm 119:159  Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness.

When we meditate on the precepts of God, we learn to love. We discover that God's precepts can quicken or revive our soul, in order that we might serve Him aright. 

Meditation imprints the work of God's Spirit on our lives. 

2 Corinthians 3:2,3  Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3)  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. 

Believers are like an inspired epistle written in the heart. We are not a letter written with paper and ink. Rather, the letter of our life in Christ, is written by the Spirit of God on the tender flesh of our heart. 

This connects to the fruit of the Spirit that should be evident in the life of a Christian. 

The law was chiseled on stone tablets and it required obedience. The gospel of Christ is written on our hearts as part of the regenerating work of God. It is a living book with each chapter written by the Spirit as we go through this life day by day. 

Thus, Paul could say believers are a living epistle, known and read by all men. What we say we believe must come out in how we choose to live, and this is the living epistle that men read as they observe our lives. 

What we say we believe is a testimony of faith in God, but it is our actions that speak the loudest to other people. 

If we claim to know Christ and but live in sin, then our profession is empty and worthless. 

If we live a life that honors God, obeys His Word and seeks to worship Him in Spirit and in truth, then we become a living epistle, a vivid testimony of the Spirit of God indwelling the heart of man. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

As we mediate on the Word of God, Divine truth becomes part of who we are. Scripture becomes imbedded in our minds and fastened on our hearts. 

The indwelling Spirit of God takes the Word that is imprinted on our hearts, and sets about transforming us into the image of Jesus Christ. 

He brings the love of God to us and pours it into our heart. He helps us become productive Christians engaged in serving our Master, Jesus Christ. 

He works in us to produce His fruit in our lives. God wants each believer to live as a living epistle, a book that men can look at, and they can see Jesus Christ working in the life of a redeemed sinner.

May the Spirit of God help us seek these wonderful things with renewed vigor.

Bob