Psalm 119:33-40
33 Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end.
34 Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.
38 Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared.
39 Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good.
40 How I long for your precepts! In your righteousness preserve my life. [1]
____________
What my prayer is focusing on today is the request in verse 35. The psalmist is simply asking God to direct him to follow His commands. He had been praying for understanding, which we focused on yesterday. That is echoed again in today’s passage in verses 33-34. But in 35 he simply prays to be led and directed in the right way.
We pray the same thing from a negative perspective in the Lord ’s Prayer when we pray to be led not into temptation. We are praying that God would direct us away from the wrong path, and instead lead us on the right path.
But what is also interesting about verse 35 is what the psalmist say about the path of God’s commands. That is where he will find delight. True joy is found in walking in God’s ways and in keeping His word.
There’s this popular myth, well-accepted in our culture that doing the right thing, and especially the moral thing that God commands, is not fun. It’s more fun to be naughty. By pursuing righteousness and morality, we risk missing out on a lot of fun times. The psalmist disagrees. True delight is found in the path of God’s commands.
So my prayer today is that my feet would be directed on God’s path. I pray that God would turn my heart toward his law, that I would find in it the delight and joy of following Him.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
To subscribe to Abide Daily Devotion e-mail please click here
[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Ps 119:33–40). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Leave a Reply