A Look At Our Relationship
Each and every day, the believer is faced with a choice to walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. The Bible being God’s perfect word is designed to help us along the way. Yet, today I wanted to highlight a small portion of scripture to help facilitate this walk. Let’s examine just one small part of Psalm 119.
Psalms 119:17-24 “Deal bountifully with Your servant, [That] I may live and keep Your word. 18 Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law. 19 I [am] a stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me. 20 My soul breaks with longing For Your judgments at all times. 21 You rebuke the proud--the cursed, Who stray from Your commandments. 22 Remove from me reproach and contempt, For I have kept Your testimonies. 23 Princes also sit [and] speak against me, [But] Your servant meditates on Your statutes. 24 Your testimonies also [are] my delight [And] my counselors.”
Here we have a saint who is wanting their relationship with the Lord to be ever more. They are not settled for the status quo but rather with enriching the relationship they have with Christ.
“Deal bountifully with Your servant, [That] I may live and keep Your word.” They know their relationship is built on both God and themself. I want to quickly iterate this has nothing to do with salvation, but rather our walk after salvation. The believer recognizes God’s part in our lives, but also in the blessing of His word.
The more we focus on Christ and walk in His commandments, the more we will see the wonders of His word; but also have tribulation today. This is why the believer in this passage identifies the wondrous things within God’s law, but also the feeling of being a stranger. It is no surprise that Jesus in John 14 says we will expirence tribulation and Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 5:20 that we are ambassadors.
“18 Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law. 19 I [am] a stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me. 20 My soul breaks with longing For Your judgments at all times.” Jesus states in John 15:2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every [branch] that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” Discipline signifies that we are saved. When there is no discipline, this can be a sign that an individual is most likely not saved. This is why the psalmist identifies discipline within the relationship.
“21 You rebuke the proud--the cursed, Who stray from Your commandments. 22 Remove from me reproach and contempt, For I have kept Your testimonies.”
Each chapter of proverbs points the reader to the liberating philosophy regarding wisdom and how to apply it in our life. What is truth and when people attempt to malign our actions to follow Christ, He teaches us how to act accordingly. The Psalmist sees this and understands the relationship that God has in our lives with the daily interactions with mankind.
“23 Princes also sit [and] speak against me, [But] Your servant meditates on Your statutes. 24 Your testimonies also [are] my delight [And] my counselors.”
You see for the believer, their relationship with Christ should be paramount. We need only to recognize that God is more than our salvation; but rather our foundation, our denominator, our motivation for all progression forward. He loves us too much to abandon us to the way side after purchasing us with His blood. We are His children, and like any good relationship it takes two.
Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,
JL