PSALM 119:4-8...STARE DOWN!

You have commanded Your precepts
to be kept diligently.
Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping Your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all Your commandments.
I will praise You with an upright heart,
when I learn Your righteous rules.
I will keep Your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!

I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the extent of what living a righteous life demands. I can't go a day without messing it up. Sometimes, I can't go more than a few minutes without messing it up! Lord, help me! Oh wait...He does! Look at the weight of Psalm 119:4 and how that burden is lifted in 119:5. The weight comes with the command to keep (obey) God's law DILIGENTLY. "Diligent" means to be contstant in effort to accomplish something. Diligent is a heavy, weighty word. The release from this weight is verse 5...we pray to the ONE who is able to help us keep our hearts steadfast. The weight is in the expectation of obedience to every jot and tittle of the God's Word. The release is that He is the mighty One who helps us succeed. This morning, while reading these verses, I became so thankful that I have a relationship with the Holy God. He is able to bear the weight of keeping ALL of His own commandments. Why? Because He is the Word incarnate. He is the walking, living embodiment of everything He commands us to do.

Look at the next verse...119:6..."then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all Your commandments." The first thing that comes to mind in reading this verse is Hebrews 12:2, where the writer tells us to FIX OUR EYES on Jesus, the author and PERFECTOR of our faith. Jesus is the Word (John 1:1). The way that we remain diligent, steadfast and absent of shame is to keep our eyes fixed on the Word, Jesus Christ. Everything He is is the embodiment and the answer for how we are to live. If you want to be released FROM the weight of the impossibility of living up to all of His commands TO the light and easy burden of actually being equipped to live them, then stare down Jesus! Watch Him in the Gospels. Watch Him in Matthew 5-7. Watch Him in creation. Watch Him in response to other people. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Get to the know Him intimately and watch how your heart will be released to be just like Him. We're not alone. Time for a stare down!

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