And so we have reached another hump day!
Judging by the stormy forecast, maybe I should have made the coffee a little stronger, oh well!
So yesterday I mentioned jumping into the Psalms for the week. As a musician, I love the idea that God has His own "song book". When talking about where to keep our thoughts so they stay on what is good, pure, praise worthy, etc, in an effort to keep our minds on the right path (Phil 4), a great place to do that is in the Psalms.
Psalm 119 asks a question on this very subject.
"How can a young person stay on the path of purity?"
And it gives the answer, "By living according to your word." Psalm 119:9 (NIV)
Good question, easy answer. Like Preacher Mike says, "it's easy - but it's hard!"
Let's read on to verse 10 and 11.
"I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you."
I'd like to suggest an exercise for us today. Verse 10, "I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." Try singing that, even now. The Psalms don't record the musical notes that went with them, I think part of that is simply so we can sing them any way we like. But sing that a few times.
"I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you"
Write it down, put it in your pocket and throughout today, let's just sing that one verse.
You don't have to worry about how you sound, just sing it aloud. There is power in the spoken (or sung) Word of God.
Let's move on, making the next couple of verses a prayer. Again, if you can, pray this out loud.
"Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees.
With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth.
I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word." - Psalm 119:12-16 (NIV)
Now, I'm not going to promise that by doing this, we are going to have an awesome hump day! But I can say that, by making this a habit, we will draw closer to God, get to know Him and be transformed by the renewal of our mind! (Romans 12:2)
Tomorrow, we'll check out some more of the Word of God to "hide in our hearts."
