Written by Becky Perkins

Recently, while reading through Psalm 119, the longest Psalm in the book of Psalms, verses 25 – 40 became one of those treasured moments.  I was not feeling like reading that morning.  It was in the middle of VBS preparations, actually 2 weeks prior to VBS, and I was quite busy.  I was in the midst of several trainings for VBS and attempting to get all communications out to leaders.  We had 15 new adults serving in VBS this year and 3 adults who had never experienced a VBS in their life.  Not having VBS for 2 years due to Covid, it really was like starting all over again.  I was not spending the time I should have in God’s Word and prayer to prepare for such a big event.  I read through these verses and thought, God I really am not getting what I need today from these verses. Verse 25 says the person writing this Psalm felt low in the dust and was asking for God to preserve his life.  Then with a prompting from the Holy Spirit, I wrote down all of the action words in those verse.  And this is what I found, much like a hidden treasure.

Help me recount my ways, teach me your decrees (verse 26), help me understand your teaching help me meditate on your wonders (verse 27).  So, I followed his instructions and recounted my way, how I had been acting, what I had been saying, how I had represented Christ on a day by day basis.  Taking a daily assessment of myself and my heart.  I had to ask for him to help me understand what he was saying to me.  I admitted my soul was weary and I needed strength from his Word (verse 28), I needed help to stay from deceitful ways and I wanted to choose the way of truth (verse 29 and 30). I soon found this Psalm passage to bring me to my knees in prayer of forgiveness and to look for what only he could do through me. 

It is very easy to be swallowed up in the ways of the world around us, the things we see, hear and experience.  All we have to do is walk out the door each day, and the culture hits us in the face.   If we do not have the Word of God foremost in our mind, we will be thinking wrong thoughts, have wrong motivations, speak unkindly to others, and a lot of other things that are not as Christ.  We need to take an inventory of the heart and mind to be sure we are following the precepts and instructions of the Lord, daily.  Meditating on the Psalms is a great way to stay in check with our heart and God’s heart.   Verse 2 says, “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free”.  I hope I run more often to the Word of God so that my heart is free of shame, guilt, and unloving feelings and thoughts.