I Will Praise You With An Upright Heart
Psalm 119:7-8 NIV
7 I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. 8 I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.
The word upright in the original Hebrew means upright, straight, right. Can refer literally to being straight or metaphorically to having moral integrity.[1] When we come to God we should come with a pure heart that is upright and committed to integrity. Integrity is what we do when no one is watching. One of the great weapons of the enemy is to get us to give into compromise. Every area of our lives in which compromise is taking place is an open door for the devil to not only influence us, but also to destroy our lives. But we must guard our hearts against sin and wickedness. The greatest way that we will overcome temptation of any kind is to walk and live in the Holy Spirit. We must be fully yielded and surrendered to the Spirit’s leading.
The writer of the psalm speaks of learning the righteous laws of God. Under the Old Covenant they lived under the demands of the law. The law was to dictate every area of their lives. Every choice and decision were to be examined and measured by the law. Every thought was to be examine and compared to the law. The same stands today as it has to do with God’s word from Genesis to Revelation. The word of God is our standard of righteousness and truth. Every thought and desire must be examined against the word of God. If it is in opposition against the word of God we can be aware that there is an area of deception in our life that is trying to take hold. Anytime we build our lives on deception or lie we open the door to live imprisoned to the devil.
Obedience is important to Almighty God. Here the writer says I will obey your decrees. Decrees mean enactment, statute, decision; allotment, boundary. In its underlying meaning, indicates something prescribed, whether a rule or otherwise.[2]. The decrees he speaks of once again is the law of God. It is the boundary God set for His people. It is the rule by which they are to conduct themselves. All of Psalm 119 is committed to the majesty and beauty of God’s word. When God’s word dictates the course of our lives, great blessing will be poured out in every area of our lives. We will truly come to know His peace and joy even in the most difficult and hard times.
We can be certain that God will never leave us nor forsake us. Even in our failing, His grace holds us near, and The Holy Spirit empowers us to live and be a witness for Jesus. We must learn from our mistakes and why disobedience may have taken hold in an area of our lives. Often disobedience is a result of unbelief or fear. But the more we spend time in God’s word and His presence, the more our lives will be immersed and led by The Spirit of God.
Prayer
Father thank you for loving me. Thank you for giving me your word. Thank you for choosing and using me in the midst of my failures and my weaknesses. Thank you for your grace. May your word be written upon the depths of my heart. May you give me greater understanding and revelation when it comes to your word. Thank you for saving me and transforming my life. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen!
[1] Garwood P. Anderson, “Righteousness,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014). [2] Timothy A. Gabrielson, “Law,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
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