Psalm 119 - 5 - He - A Cry for Help

"(He) Teach me Your decrees, O LORD;
I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding and I will obey Your instructions;
I will put them into practice with all my heart.
Make me walk along the path of Your commands,
for that is where my happiness is found.
Give me an eagerness for Your laws
rather than a love for money!
Turn my eyes from worthless things,
and give me life through Your Word.
Reassure me of Your promise,
made to those who fear You.
Help me abandon my shameful ways;
for Your regulations are good.
I long to obey Your commandments!
Renew my life with Your goodness." 
(Psalm 119: 33-40)  

Dear friend,

Notes from "He":

• we may desire to keep God's righteous laws, but that does not remove sin (or desiring sin) from our lives;
• following God is a lifelong struggle, a war that we cannot win without constant Help;
• we can ask God for help for all aspects of our lives:
• teaching us His Word and His righteous ways
• understanding His instructions
• walking in obedience
• having an eagerness for God's laws, and not a love for money
• enabling us to pursue (turn our eyes toward) righteous things, rather than worthless ones
• reassuring us of His promise to guide, care for, and protect those who fear Him
• abandoning our shameful ways
• renewing our lives

There is comfort in this stanza. I am not the only one who struggles with sin, and with sinful desires. Rather, I am like the Psalmist, and like Paul, who despaired of the sin versus righteousness battle. God's Word invites me to call out to Him: I cannot do it alone, and He is waiting for me to ask Him for help. There is no aspect of my life in which the Lord Jesus will not work or reign, if I but cry out to Him.

"And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life--that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin." (Romans 7: 18-25--but chapter 8 should be read with this to put it in context)

Heavenly Father, We thank You for Your Word! We are not unique in our unrighteousness, nor in our desire to rule our own lives and to live for ourselves. Will You help us to desire You, to turn our eyes from the things of this world, to You, Your Word, and Your righteous ways. We cannot do this without You!