Teach me, O Lord to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness. Psalm 119:33-40 NIV
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105 NIV
Churches, ministry organizations and even businesses often have a vision statement- a guiding phrase to help keep their main idea at the forefront whenever decisions need to be made. We too can benefit from clear vision. We need to keep our focus on God, and on his word, if we want to have godly vision in our lives. Psalm 119 is a study of God’s directives for our lives and his promises. God’s instructions require our obedience to his word, and his promises require our faith – both in his ability and in his timing to fulfill those promises.
Throughout many Old Testament books, the combination of heart and eyes are used to describe how we make decisions. The heart represented our inner being, and the eyes represented outside influences. Solomon in Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 says he acquired everything his eyes saw and everything his heart desired, and found it was all meaningless. Psalm 119:36-37 presents a better way. The Psalmist prays, “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.” The Psalmist is giving us an example of how to pray for help, for direction, for using God’s word to guide decisions that need to be made.
Psalm 119:33-40 is a prayer for direction, for knowing and understanding God’s will, for protection, for a desire to love and understand God’s word on a deeper level. Read through Psalm 119:33-40 slowly, watch for words that are repeated. Repetition is used to emphasize an idea. Look for the requests the Psalmist makes of God. Are these requests you could make for yourself as well? Notice the different words used for God’s word. Pray this section of Psalm 119 for yourself. What type of vision for your future spiritual growth do you see in this section of Psalm 119? Join me in praying for this to become a vision statement in your life and mine, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path,” Psalm 119:105.
By Grace Hunter
