“Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart” (vs33-34).
The Psalmist reveals his need of God's instruction to do what God commands (vs33). He says, “Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end”. The gospel is faith in God to do what He has promised, and He's promised that all of salvation - from the teaching to the doing - is God’s work for us and in us.
There's never anything to do on your own. It is God’s grace and God in Christ who gets the credit. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph 3:20-21). He’s the One we look to! Never say, "I must, so He can". Say, "God, You must, so I can". Walk humbly, lean on Christ, and He'll answer you. You'll get power, and you'll move in peace instead of fear.
I will be wholehearted when I receive instruction because grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and live zealously for Christ (vs34). He says, “Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart”. Grace isn't merely an outward to the ear teaching, not when applied by God. We forsake all to follow Him, realizing that grace has given us eternal life, even godliness, and grace, the salvation that God gives,makes us holy (Titus 2:11-12). Obedience is not only reasonably demanded, but it is also freely worked in us by the Spirit.
I love the law of God, the way that He’d have me to live, so I ask Him to show me the way and teach me, because this is the joy of my new heart (Ps 119:35). He says, “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it”. If you hate God and despise His way, then be honest. Admit you’re lost, in your sin, under the curse, and estranged from God. But, if you’re able to say, “I love You, so teach me. I rejoice in Your ways, Your presence, and doing Your will by faith”, then say it.
If we love the gospel, then our prayers are real, because we’re asking for what we truly desire, our First Love.
Secondly, I need help staying on the right path (vs36). He says, “Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness”. One song says, “Prone to wonder, Lord I feel it, prone to LEAVE the God I love”, and we must admit this is us. It is NOT enough to put us on the path and in the right way. We must be kept from and drawn AWAY from what would harm us into what is best. The pleasures of sin, the ability to keep it a secret, and the folly of our deceived natures teaches us that we need protection, like sheep, from straying into the path of the wolf, from eating poison, and from walking off a cliff. I admit my need, because I know my wickedness. I know that I need Christ in every way, every day, until the end.
But, God’s way is the way that I want to go (vs37). He says, “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way”. I am allured by sin, but I know better by grace. I WANT to do evil, because I have a war within, but I’m not left to my desires. I have another nature saying, “Turn my eyes”, “Make me look at You”, and “Keep me from chasing vanities”. Pray in this warfare and honestly confess to God, right now, how evil and weak you are, and receive His continual grace and holiness. He doesn’t despise the weak, like a superstar athlete who looks down upon the guys making mistakes. But, it is His character to care for us who can do nothing, and this is GRACE in God, that the infinitely holy - the all wise and Perfect God - would be so good as to GRACIOUSLY carry us, pick us up from falls, and protect us repeatedly from the danger of sin. He doesn’t say, “Help yourself”, and, “Get it together”, but He WILLINGLY and delightfully - for His honor and our good - carries the weak. He promises, “Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you” (Is 46:4). Let us be patient with others and helpful to sinners and saint, who fall repeatedly.
I fear You, so I come to You afraid, saying, “Establish Your way”, and, “Make me able to obey” (vs38). He says, “Establish Your word to Your servant, who is devoted to fearing you”. We are to perfect holiness in the fear of God, reverencing our Father in heaven (2 Cor 7:1). This isn’t slavish fear of dread, whereby I must earn His favor or keep a smile on His face; it is the FEAR of sin, whereby my Father is continually called upon, so that my Father is honored, as He commands.
Many fear not God! They think that He’s OK with sin, that it really isn’t a big deal, and because Christ died, He’ll do us no harm, but they are wrong. He says, “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear” (1Pet 1:17). And, when you’ve been chastened, left to yourself, and confounded before your enemies, then you know that you NEED the Spirit of God, and His presence isn’t to be taken for granted. We don’t earn His favor, but our walk determines so much of our experience of His favor (our joy and peace), so we say, “Keep me from messing up,keep me from sin,and keep me from dishonoring Christ and hurting others, because I know this is best for me”.
Finally, God’s goodness is the reason that we desire to be turned to Him (vs39). He says, “Turn away my reproach which I dread, for Your judgments are good”. We know that His judgments, like a judge rendering a right verdict, are good and gentle, so we want to be turned to His way. We want what God wants, because we fear fruitlessness and we love obedience. Let the new man in Christ know that he’s wholeheartedly to live for the gospel as the best thing for him. Let him fear returning to the old ways, or being found a person who preaches to others but dies in sin. Paul says, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected” (1 Cor 9:27). We want the BEST way, and so we despise the way of sin, failure, and reproach, the shame of not living our profession.
And, in the righteousness of God who saves sinners by faith in His Son’s blood, we ask the blessings of grace, obedience, and intimate knowledge of Christ and His will (vs40). He says, “Behold, I long for Your precepts; revive me in Your righteousness”. We don’t come unjustly to God, asking Him to sin, so that grace might abound, but recognizing the blood His Son shed and the justice honoring appeasement that He has given, we ask God to do what Christ DIED to give, which is save us righteously.
Make sure your gospel is by faith in His blood, and then you can have what you desire, which is God making you able to do God’s will for His glory (1 John 5:14). He’ll make you honor Him in holiness, so that others might be saved.
