Delighting in God’s Word (Part 22): The Cry of an Obedient Heart

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Psalm 119:169

Let my cry reach you, Lord;
give me understanding according to your word.

(CSB)

Matthew 14:30 contains one of the shortest prayers in the Bible with Peter sinking and crying out “Lord, save me!”  When in trouble our first cry should be to the Lord but sadly, it is often what we do after trying to fix things ourselves and making matters worse.  The psalmist in Psalm 119:169-175 cries out to the Lord from an obedient heart.  His obedient heart means he is not just crying out because he is in trouble, only to go back to doing what got him in trouble in the first place.  Instead his cries are for rescue with the intention to sin no more.  In this last section of Psalm 119 we see the psalmist,

1)      Crying out to the Lord for Understanding (Psalm 119:169) – According to Guinness, the Bible is the best selling and most widely distributed book in history with an estimated 2.5 billion to 5 billion copies printed between 1815 and 1975.  (1)  However, without the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit the book reads like any book (1 Corinthians 2:14), but with the Holy Spirits enlightenment the words come alive in one’s heart and transform their life (Hebrews 4:12).  May we learn to make our first reaction crying out to the Lord for understanding. 

2)      Crying out to the Lord for Rescue (Psalm 119:170) – Peter’s actions in Matthew 14:22-32 teach a valuable lesson.  He begins with faith in Jesus by stepping out of the boat and walking on the water but begins to sink when he takes his eyes off of Jesus.  However, he cries out to the Lord and Jesus saves him.  We often begin with faith in God and take the leap but as the enemy hurls his fiery darts at us, begin to sink instead of putting up our shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16) by crying out to the Lord, the source of our rescue.

3)      Praise for God teaching us His statutes (Psalm 119:171) – God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3).  With this truth in mind, why not praise God for His statutes, inviting the Holy Spirit in to teach us. 

4)      Singing about the promises and righteous commands of God (Psalm 119:172) – Singing should be our response as we pause to reflect on the truth that the God who created the universe would bother to provide redemption at the cost of His only Son suffering a brutal death by crucifixion.  Jesus, God in human form (John 1:14), who knew no sin became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) and took upon himself our death penalty (Romans 6:23).  Even though we may not have a great singing voice, this truth should make us sing for joy.

5)      Expectation of God’s help through obedience (Psalm 119:173) – God is not a man and does not lie (Numbers 23:19).  When God makes a promise, He will hold up His end of the bargain.  When we couple that with obedience to God, we can have expectation of God’s help. 

6)      Hunger for salvation, delight in God’s instructions (Psalm 119:174) – Unlike the psalmist who looked forward to the coming Messiah that would provide his salvation, we can look back and accept salvation today through the completed work of Jesus on the cross.  Like the psalmist, however, we look forward to the return of Messiah to establish His kingdom on earth.  While we wait for this glorious event, we can take delight in the Word of God. 

7)      Living to praise God (Psalm 119:175) – Because of the amazing gift of salvation provided by God, we have eternal life and a reason to praise God knowing we have the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to guide us.

8)      A lost sheep needing God’s direction (Psalm 119:176) – Like the psalmist, however, we can go astray like a lost sheep but our loving God is never far from his sheep and seeks us out when we stray.  May we like the psalmist continue to take delight in the Word of God, even when we go astray for God’s Word is our road map back to intimacy with God. 

It is the desire of God to have intimacy and a relationship with His greatest creation, humanity.  Even our sin and straying from God does not change this desire as evidenced by God sending Jesus, the sinless lamb to die for our sins.  I would be remiss in my duty as a follower of Jesus to not extend an invitation to anyone reading this who has not entered into a relationship with God by accepting Jesus as their savior to do so now by praying with me,

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

Congratulations, you have just committed the most obedient act one can perform, accepting God’s gift of eternal salvation (John3:16).  You now have a reason to sing and rejoice.  You should also have a hunger to learn more about God and with the help of the Holy Spirit now living in you (John 14:15-17) can experience the words of the Bible moving from words on a page to a living word that transforms us (Romans 12:2). 

This concludes our study of Psalm 119.  Next Wednesday we will begin a study of the psalms of the ascents (Psalm 120-134).  Invite your friends to follow these posts as we learn how to prepare our hearts for intimacy with God through these psalms. 

May God bless everyone reading this.

1. Guinness World Records. The Bible. www.guinnessworldrecords.com. [Online] Guinness. [Cited: June 12, 2018.] http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/best-selling-book-of-non-fiction/.