Psalm 119: Beth

ב Beth

⁹ How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
¹⁰ I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
¹² Praise be to you, LORD;
teach me your decrees.
¹³ With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
¹⁴ I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
¹⁵ I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
¹⁶ I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.

The first verse of the passage is a prayer topic that I have held on to for sometime, “How can a young man keep his way pure and righteous before you?”

The Word, the commands of the Lord are living making one’s heart pure.

Daily there is a battle between our hearts and the snake hiding within our hearts. There is this fight that causes one’s heart to seek purity and direction. I asked myself a lot if my thoughts are righteous. I tend to over reflect a lot and my anxiety can pull me down quickly during trials; nevertheless, I have this seeking heart.

The passage strongly starts with a seeking of the heart’s purity. The Psalmist understood that the Lord is relational and that all strong relationships start from the heart. By reading the Word of God and holding to his commands, one’s heart will build a strong relationship with the Lord. By growing in relationship with God’s heart, our hearts hold dear to His truth. The Lord’s truth digs itself deep in our hearts in which it grows to become the reminder of our identity in Christ.

The teaching of God’s Word towards our hearts is the Psalmist prayer, for what we hear and read becomes apart of our lips. I enjoy the passage in which it speaks, “with my lips I recount all the laws that came from your mouth.” After all the words and songs I hear about our God, it becomes apart of me. I cannot grasp the concept, yet it is something I rejoice to. Even the Psalmist is amazed by this concept that the verse calls it “riches” and only one’s heart can only rejoice for such magnitude. Knowing that there is an infinite foundation of riches in God, meditation is our source of protection designed for our hearts that seek purity. The Word is active and living. Many times, it is easy to miss the point, but in meditation, our hearts are able to consider the Lord’s ways. Over time the wonders of God are deeply rooted having our hearts deciding to not neglect the Word.

By creating a big idea statement, my heart was looking for God’s teaching and not my own selfish wanting of what the passage can offer. I cannot say that I never look towards the Word with a selfish heart, but by creating a wider passage, I have a foundation on mediating God’s word.

I enjoy Psalms a lot and have read the Message Version to look deeper into what the Psalmist’s hearts are conveying. I can say I learned a new tool to mediate on the Word, in which I can have a one on one connection with the Lord. I truly have this hard time understanding my anxiety and my constantly running mind. I got to trust what I cannot see and not let it get over my head. I want to dwell more in the riches on my Savior in which I can become pure. Where I can not neglect the Spirit and view the relationship as more that anything the world can offer. I have been so overwhelm at Biola and in my life, I some how am able to find peace. I cannot explain it, but I believe it’s the constant diving into the Word with a hungry heart. The power of the Word and the commands of our loving God are infinite. I specifically want to hold on to the Word and Christ’s heart, in which He opens my heart to more of Him having my heart grow purer than gold.