“Wherewithal (how) shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed therein according to your word. 10. With my whole heart have I sought you: O let me not wander from your commandments. 11. Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
Living a clean life does not seem to be the goal of many people today, but it is certainly still possible to live that kind of life. Living a clean life makes sense spiritually, of course, but it also makes sense physically. Many ailments today stem from people living unwholesome lives. These three verses from Psalm 119 tell us how we can live a clean life. First, we can heed the word of God. To the psalmist the word of God was the Ten Commandments and other laws that were given to Moses on Mt. Sinai and written down for the enlightenment of the people of God. To us the word of God is both the Old and New Testaments, and also Jesus, who fulfilled the Old and New Testaments and made possible the New Testament. John refers to Jesus as "the word,” and Hebrews 1:1-2 declares Jesus to be the ultimate word of God. In order for us to live clean lives, we need to heed what is in the Bible, for there in is a moral law, and we need to heed our relationship with Jesus, for therein is our moral compass. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us in the study of the Bible and in the way we live our lives. We cannot ignore the word of God and expect to live a clean life. There are many frustrated church members out there who think that they can live a clean, Christian life and ignore the Bible, and not nurture their relationship with Jesus Christ. Second, we can obey the word of God. The psalmist declared that he sought the Lord with his whole heart. I think that a lot of our spiritual problems arise because of a half-hearted seeking of God in daily life. How do we seek God? One of the main ways we seek Him is by the reading and studying of God's word. It is impossible to stay close to God and ignore His word. Furthermore, the psalmist pleaded: "O let me not wander from your commandments.” We are not saved by keeping the commandments, but we are saved in order to be able to keep the commandments. We can’t take straying from the word of God lightly. This is what happens too many times in the lives of people who are struggling to live a clean life. David always serves as an example in this matter. David did not write this psalm, but he wrote many, if not most of them. We see what happened in David’s life when he wandered from God’s commandments. One night, while he was at “loose ends,” not out with his army, David saw the beautiful Bathsheba and just had to have her. In that weak moment, he strayed from God’s commandments, and his life was never the same afterward. We have to watch those weak moments, for we all have them in one way or another. It is at these times that Satan enters the picture and makes sin look so pleasant to us. This is why we need to wholeheartedly seek every day of our lives and be careful that we do not “wander from (God’s) commandments." Third, we can internalize the word of God. The bottom line was that the psalmist did not just read and study God’s word; he digested it and made it an integral part of his life. This means that we need to read and study the word of God until it becomes part of us. We can memorize scripture, but I prefer to read it until it is stuck in my mind and heart. I do not call this memorizing; I call it internalizing. He hid God’s word in his heart so that he “might not sin against God.” In the scene of Jesus’ temptation in Matthew 4, Jesus defeated Satan by quoting scripture to him. Jesus wasn’t just quoting words that he had memorized, but words that were ingrained in His heart and mind.. Read these three verses again and ask God to help you to use them to live a clean life. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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