To Love and Obey

Psalm 119:57-64

Verse 57  You are my portion, Lord; I have promised to obey Your words.

    As we talk about diving into the Word it would be good for us to take a day and discuss a very important aspect of our abiding in Him.

    The psalmist starts today’s passage with an important reminder of the relationship that is needed with the Father to lead us to a greater hunger for His Word.  He had a view of God that wasn’t about what God could or would do for him, but from the perspective of who God was in his life.  He knew that God was who he needed.  But he wasn’t willing to stay at the level of knowing that God was his greatest need.  The psalmist didn’t think it was enough to believe that God was what he needed, he knew that he needed to make a commitment to God.  A commitment to God is a very important part of our being fruitful branches.

    Commitment is a word that gets such a workout today that we tend to lessen the value of real commitment.  The simple truth is that many people don’t take commitments as serious agreements.  Sadly, this has seeped over from society into the Church and we find ourselves lacking in true commitment to God.  Oh, we say we are committed to Him, but our lives tell the truth of the matter.  He is seldom our number one in life.

    The psalmist points out the seriousness of his commitment when he says that he has promised to obey the words of the Lord.  He doesn’t just read or listen to the reading of the Word, he is promising to obey it.  His commitment to the Lord is so true that he is being intentional about the level of commitment.  Promising is something that is supposed to show our level of commitment.  Promises were serious business in those days, as they should be today, and to give your word and not keep it gave a person a detestable reputation.

    Verse 58 shows that this wasn’t a rash promise, it was something that he had thought about before making.  This is what we need to do too.  If we are going to be people who are committed to God and obeying His Word, we need to ask ourselves how serious we are about the decision.  Are we being honest about wanting to obey everything He says or just the things that we find easy to obey?

Making It Personal

    How serious is your commitment to God and His Word?  Is He truly Lord over your life?  What do you need to surrender to Him today?

Making It Personal Kids

    What is a promise?  Is a promise a lie if you don’t keep the promise?  Should we think about a promise before we make it?

Closing Prayer

    Father, forgive us the times that we aren’t serious about our commitment to You.  Please help us know when we are not being true to Your Word so that we can make the needed corrections in our living.  In Jesus’ name, amen.