Psa 119 v1-24
Scripture:
[21]You rebuke the arrogant, who are accursed,
those who stray from your commands.
[22]Remove from me their scorn and contempt,
for I keep your statutes.
[23]Though rulers sit together and slander me,
your servant will meditate on your decrees.
[24]Your statutes are my delight;
they are my counselors.
Observation:
Versus 1-24 are all about obedience. Obedience with a righteous heart.
Application:
The world seems ever more filled with arrogant hateful people, including powerful rulers, who either don’t know the Lord or have strayed so far from him and his commands that they are totally lost. God will rebuke those people in his perfect timing.
This is not to say that we should turn a blind eye and sit passively to get walked on by unrighteous rulers disobedient to God’s word. We can and should push back with all the power of the Spirit living in us against the evil as it goes on around us.
It shouldn’t matter what the world thinks of us. What matters is what God thinks of us. That we are obedient to God and his commands, and that our obedience comes from a righteous heart. Obedience to God is far from being a chore. The more I follow the Lord and lock his commands deep in my heart, the more I delight in being more like Jesus and less like me, and the more my heart brakes when I disobey.
Prayer:
Lord I love you and desire to follow you and your commands with all my heart. Help me when I get fooled or confused into thinking that pleasing man is more important than obedience to you. Help me stay strong in this world where it seems evil is being called good and good is being called evil. Let me be a light shining to others, glorifying you in this dark world. In Jesus’ holy name I pray, amen.