The Devotional - 1505 - Bound to be Sanctified

The Devotional – 1505 – Bound to be Sanctified

Psalm 119:33-40 – Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness. 

Comments and Challenges: HE

1.      33 – Teach me YAHWEH, the way of Your STATUTES. I will keep them to the end.

2.      34 – Give me understanding, and I will keep Your LAW; yes I will obey it with my whole heart.

3.      35 – Direct me in the path of Your COMMANDMENTS, for I delight in them.

4.      36 – Turn my heart to Your STATUTES and not to selfish gain.

5.      37 – Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things; revive me in Your WAYS.

6.      38 – Fulfill Your PROMISE to Your servant, that You may be feared.

7.      39 – Take away my disgrace that I dread, for Your ORDINANCES are good.

8.      40 – Behold I long for Your PRECEPTS, revive me in Your Righteousness.

As a CHILD of the LIVING GOD, we see YAHWEH or JESUS His name is ONE in the same and He is wonderful. He has appointed STATUTES (a CUSTOM or ORDINANCE) for His children to be knowledgeable of (by the way these customs of His are the ways of HIS Kingdom). Every soul in HIS Kingdom abide in His Ordinances. Now you may be wondering “I do not know what you are talking about?” The apostle John gives us a hint in 1 John 5:1-5; abiding in the STATUES of God are by FAITH, faith will reveal to each of us the JOY of the LORD. 

How then is FAITH connected to the JOY of the LORD? (In every way) Hebrews 11:1-8 explains that from the dawn of history, faith was required by God and it is required of you and me too. Then the writer goes on to share with his readers the number of Patriots who walked by faith and in verse 6, he tacks this message to soul of his readers. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who DILIGENTLY seek Him.

Our Psalm writer, the apostle John, the writer of Hebrews and ALL of the witness named or identified in the Holy Bible were “seekers” not seeking to be saved as in SALVATION but SEEKERS of SANCTIFICATION (our future home) to know the "builder" of the PRECEPTS, ORDINANCES, LAW, COMMANDMENT, PROMISES, STATUTES and WAYS of YAHWEH/JESUS. Now listen up, there is no way to FULFILL this search without FAITH.

 

First as CHILDREN of God, we must be willing to allow God to revive our soul, God promises to do the WORK, Hebrews 13:20-25 and Philippians 1:6 and 2:13. There are many more passages of scripture on this subject as these passages of Isaiah come to mind like, Isaiah 45:9-10 and 64:8-9. So the writer of Psalm 119 understanding that he is living as a prisoner of the Babylonian Empire (the evil of his day), is more mindful of the Kingdom of God, or his future (of being SANCTIFIED in time).

I believe that the psalmist like so many of us today realizes this; “yes I am a child of God, yes I am saved by God’s grace, yes I have faith in God, but I need to be in an ongoing process of being SANCTIFIED in my soul with God’s TESTIMONIES which will replace my sinful desire to COVET, verse 36. Also I need to let God turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things and be revived in my soul in God’s WAY; God’s way is RIGHTEOUSNESS, if we are not practicing RIGHTEOUSNESS we are being deceived; 1 John 3:7.