Psalm 119 Devotional
22 Days: Knowing is Loving
Day 19 (Qoph – verses 145-152)
I cried with all my heart; answer me O’ Lord! I will observe Your statutes. I cried to You; save me and I shall keep Your testimonies. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words. My eyes anticipate the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word. Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness; revive me, O’ Lord, according to Your ordinances. Those who follow after wickedness draw near; they are far from Your law. You are near, O’ Lord, and all Your commandments are truth. Of old I have known from Your testimonies that You have founded them forever.
The boldness of the cry of the psalmist to God is here for us to see, a cry and a promise on the part of the psalmist. Maybe at times we do something similar, yet maybe we also offer God a contingency based statement. Might we say, “Lord if You do this, then I will do that.” I am thankful that God is so forgiving of me, because after all who am I that I should be bargaining with God? We might remember Job as he bargained with God (Job 40:6-9). What if we simply observe God’s statutes, cry out to Him in our prayers, and have complete and total trust in who exactly God is. He has answered a cry of salvation for those of us who have put our trust in Jesus.
This stanza of Psalm 119 is a demanding cry out to our Lord. The prayers that we can make to God can be bold, can be direct, and can be made in times of great rejoicing, in times of great anguish, and in times that perhaps we are not even aware of yet to come. The confidence that we can bring to the Lord in our prayers can be strengthened in our pursuit of Him and our focus on His word. Now let’s be clear, that it is not being said here that we must be in god’s word for Him to hear our prayers. Rather, when we are in His word, we will be able to cry out to God with greater confidence and greater faith in His actions, and may be more willing to step in faith in the areas to which He calls us. God hears us based on His promises and His character, and not based on our promises we may have made nor our character.
Do we ask for revival in our lives in our prayers? As we do so we should be expecting God to act in a way that requires us to be stepping in faith. When we step in faith we will be stepping in God’s will for His glory. What we can also find in our prayers is that despite the sin we find ourselves in, that closeness to God can be achieved. He does forgive when we take the step of faith to ask Him for His forgiveness. It may even be in the moments that we are mired in sin as we call on God that we find ourselves closer to Him. Nobody has nor will, ever forgive us the way our Lord has and can. We have an eternal God, with eternal testimonies, who loves us for eternity. That is His promise.
O’ Lord, who am I that You love me that way that You do. I do not deserve what You have given me, but even when I think that there You are giving me more. Lord, I love You. Forgiveness is a mercy that You pour down on me Father. Your forgiveness given to me freely for me, but with the cost of the life of Your Son Jesus. Lord I will cry boldly to You as I pray and submit myself in obedience to You. All things of You are perfect my Lord and my God. I am overwhelmed by Your love for me. Lord, I am Yours. Please use me as You will for Your glory.