21 Days of Prayer in Psalm 119 (Day #2)

Read Psalm 119:9-16

           "Whole Heart"

My focus today is found in verses 10 and 16,

v. 10 With my whole heart I seek you;
             let me not wander from your commandments!...

v. 16 I will delight in your statutes;
         I will not forget your word.

The psalmist’s confession is that he follows the Lord, seeking with his whole heart, but that there is also the risk of his wandering, hence he prays to be kept close. Not only does he pray to be kept close he reveals one of the primary ways of being kept close—delighting in God’s word and in actively remembering the loving things God has said. We will follow that type of person in which we delight.

Dearest Lord Jesus, as you have done all that was needed to capture my heart may I not forget. May I continue to treasure what you have done for me, spoken to me, and planned for me to experience in relationship with you. capture my heart 

21 Days of Prayer in Psalm 119 (Day #1)

In keeping with our Foursquare family of churches' 21 days of Fasting & Prayer to start the New Year with daily readings from Psalm 119, each day I will post the verse that stands out to me with a short response.

Read Psalm 119:1-8.

          "Led by the Heart"

My focus today is on verses 2-3, 

Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
    who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
    but walk in his ways!

Too often as Christians in the west, we think that we must start with our mind/intellect/will to follow the Lord when a more biblical model is presented here, one that begins in the heart as a love response to the love of God poured out in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5,8) Our will is sure to follow our heart’s desires.

O, Lord! May you capture our hearts today with your great love and goodness and your commitment to walking with us through everything we face. Our hope is not in our resolutions but in your revelation of who you are and how you are for us. Why would we want to walk in any other way but yours?

Psalm 138 "Whole-hearted Thankfulness"

Photo by Alex Woods on Unsplash

Psalm for Today = 138:1-3 

¹ I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
    before the gods I sing your praise;
² I bow down toward your holy temple
    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

    for you have exalted above all things
    your name and your word.
³ On the day I called, you answered me;
    my strength of soul you increased.

    before the gods I sing your praise;

Comments:

What a tremendous psalm of whole-hearted thanks (v.1) by David and words of his future confidence in the Lord. But what is David thankful for?

1.    God was a God of steadfast love and faithfulness (v. 2a)

2.    God had exalted the name and word of God above all things (v. 2b).

3.    God had answered David’s prayer and strengthened his soul (v. 3)

4.    The Lord, though high, regards the lowly while distancing himself from the haughty (v. 6).

5.    God preserved David’s life amid trouble (v. 7a).

6.    God opposed the wrath of David’s enemies (v. 7b)

7.    That God’s purpose for him (David) would be fulfilled (v. 8).

So, what are we wholeheartedly thankful for, or does our thankfulness not rise to such a level? I think it is possible in our affluent society to have become so acclimated to having our needs met and dwelling in relative safety that while we may have a habit of saying “thank you,” we don’t fully live lives of gratitude.

David knew what it was like to be falsely accused, hunted, and betrayed by a trusted advisor. He knew what it was like to have it all and also to have nothing. He knew what it was like to mourn the apparent death of his family after an Amalekite raid (1 Samuel 30). Yet, even then, he encouraged himself in the Lord. Thankfulness is a great way to encourage yourself in the Lord.  

I would like to borrow the age-old question, “What comes first, the chicken or the egg?” and apply it to the issue of personal gratitude. So what comes first…the thankfulness (v.1) or the strengthening of the soul (v. 3)? 

Perhaps David understood something that we don’t. While if our prayers are answered it makes it easier to be thankful, the gratitude that arises from a love relationship with the Lord will never be dependent upon our getting what we want.

Mere things cannot produce “whole-hearted” gratitude…can they?