DATE POSTED Tuesday, 2022-12-20
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Psalm 119:171-175
TRANSLATION: Good News Translation (GNT)

BIBLE TEXT: ¹⁷¹ I will always praise you, because you teach me your laws.
¹⁷² I will sing about your law, because your commands are just.
¹⁷³ Always be ready to help me, because I follow your commands.
¹⁷⁴ How I long for your saving help, O Lord! I find happiness in your law.
¹⁷⁵ Give me life, so that I may praise you; may your instructions help me.

APPLICATION: It seems like our society has become so self-centered and fixed on making their own rules, in lieu of those made by God and/or our national leaders. When this happens, we become very vocal about how God and/or our country failed in presenting the ‘right’ rules, especially the ‘politically correct’ rules for us! This mindset is not only destroying morals and devastating our peace on earth, but it provides free reign for those with criminal minds. But doesn’t this concept also leak into our churches? I know, not your church, right? Friends, I’m not here today as God, so I will not condemn your church, nor mine, but I do want to share what the Word of God says, for I am convinced that if we have a desire and a sincere love for God’s Word, and have the desire to obey it, then our world would be a much better place in which to live. Should this desire exist, then I believe that God will richly bless the child who learns from saints such as David, that falls deeply in love with the commands of God and are willing to obey them, without trying to correct God or suggest changes to Him. In our Pslam, I was overjoyed to see how David explained what contributed to him being a servant who is blessed in every way by God’s Word! Notice:
–> Because of all that he learned, understood and obeyed, from the laws of God, David’s heart overflowed in praise to his Maker. I believe this means that David found repeatedly that God’s laws were especially designed for blessing him in whatever he did. When this happens, of course it results in personal praise to our God. When this happens, of course it results in cooperate worship when gathered with other likeminded children of God. When this happens, it results in our churches (our congregations) worshipping from an overflowing heart that has already been blessed tremendously throughout the week? Try applying this personally without pointing fingers at those around you at church.
–> Because of God’s law, as laid out for us in His Word, David was incented to sing from his humble heart to His all-powerful and almighty God! Can you imagine him saying to God ‘You thought of me, when You added that piece to Your law! I can’t imagine the mess I would have made of things if I followed my own inclination’. Isn’t that just the opposite in our world today? We have to eliminate and restart rules and regulations by using our own words, neutral gender terms and worldly innuendos. After all God’s law was intended for those of old who knew no better. Dear friends, it’s because of our attitudes towards the things of God, that we have allowed such deterioration in our society today. From a solely personal perspective, what is it that prompts a song in your heart, my friend? I hope that it’s not just because the Worship Leader chose your favorite hymn. Otherwise, what will incent you to sing while out in the field, or driving down the street, or when you are facing challenging times? What will happen when that Worship Leader is absent from church? I believe our praise to our God is a very personal thing. First of all, it must come from a heart filled with praise, and the only way for that to truly happen, is through our personal relationship with Jesus. Read His Word. Fall in love with Him over and over again. Realizing His love for you, will incent you to open up and share your love for Him. That will occur as you worship! As we learn to worship Him personally and privately, then it will become natural for us to immerse ourselves into cooperate worship to the one true and living God. Practice it when all alone. Then be intentional at praising your God while at church.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: With God’s Word as an integral part of our daily lives, we will find ourselves naturally praising God for His many blessings and even for His laws as instituted for our protection and to act as our guardrails in life. He did it all for us!

PRAYER: Precious Lord, You are more than anything we could ever understand. We look at man’s laws every day, and we find so many flaws. Yet, as we read Your Word and are reminded of Your commands and Your laws, it is easy to see that You had us on Your mind all along. This excites us and gives us reason to worship You in every part of our lives. David set the example for us, and as we were reminded in today’s Scripture, David celebrated Your laws as it became obvious to him that it was all for His own good, and He was blessed beyond measure even in the tough times of life. Please Lord, help us to stay focused on You. Help us to make it a priority to read Your Word every day and look for the blessings that You have promised to those who love, honor and obey You. No doubt the world will look on and snub us as ‘Jesus freaks’ but help us to instead stay focused on the end goal – to be blessed of You as we await the day that we will unite around Your throne in heaven. Thank You, Jesus! Thank You Father for loving us so much! May that love be evident in our lives when we seek to honor and obey Your Word. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog might indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!