Our daily Bible reading schedule has slowed down on Sundays and Wednesdays as we take the time to reflect on and soak up the wisdom and encouragement of Psalm 119, a twenty-two part masterpiece revolving around the goodness and power of God’s word to purify our hearts, shape our character, and fuel our walk through life. Meditating on it in eight-verse chunks over the next couple of months will be well worth your time and focus.
For most of us, the beginning of a new week is prime time for action words. As the rest and refreshment of the weekend slowly shifts into thinking about the opportunities and responsibilities of the week ahead, action words easily begin to fill our minds.
Plan. Schedule. Arrange. Meet. Evaluate. Pickup. Execute. You get the idea.
Could I suggest a few more action words for your week? They are all over the first twenty-four verses of Psalm 119.
Behold.
Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law. (119:18)
What a great thing to pray in a world full of frivolous distractions. There are truly wondrous things, by God’s grace, within our reach, but our eyes must be open. Our hearts must be hungry and receptive.
Seek.
With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments! (119:10)
Here is life, the way it was meant to be. This is the purpose for which I and you and all of us were created. The God who made the world and everything in it gives to all mankind life and breath and everything, that we should seek him and find him.
Learn.
I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules. (119:7)
Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes! (119:12)
God’s law is perfect. His testimonies are sure. His precepts are right. His commandments are pure. His rules are true and righteous altogether. We need to be life-long learners of the God who is good and does good.
Walk.
Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways! (119:1-3)
Blessed are those who are determined to walk on Monday in the ways they studied on Sunday. It’s not a weekend cultural hobby. It’s a lifestyle. A way of life. But how? This world can be a tough place. How can we walk in this way?
Fix.
I will… fix my eyes on your ways. (119:15)
God’s way is the right way, all the time. And so my mind is set. My compass is locked in. His ways have defined my path to the best destination possible.
Store.
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you. (119:11)
The journey ahead very well may be long and uncertain at times. In order to reach my eternal home, my heart needs so much more than sports box scores and the crumbs of pop culture. I cannot feed on what I do not have. My heart needs fuel, and there is no better fuel for life than the word of my God, which leads me to…
Meditate.
I will meditate on your precepts… (119:15)
Guard.
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word. (119:9)
Keep.
You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes! (119:4-5)
Deal bountifully with your servant,
that I may live and keep your word. (119:17)
Delight.
In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches. (119:14)
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word. (119:16)
Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors. (119:24)
The more I learn and meditate and guard and keep, the more reasons I find to delight in God and his word.
If the Lord wills, the week ahead will be full of demands, opportunities, responsibilities, and challenges for most of us. By all means, be the good student or employee or parent or boss who plans and picks up and meets and evaluates and executes. But realize that some action words are weightier. Some action words just mean more because they will echo all the way into eternity.
Behold. Seek. Learn. Walk. Fix. Store. Meditate. Guard. Keep. Delight. Ten action words that ought to shape and fuel my week. And if I do? What will I be?
Blessed.