Psalm 119:67

Psalm 119:67

Now I obey Your Word

We have already discovered that the writer of the Psalm had suffered on several fronts. In verse 25, he talks about being laid low in the dust. In verse 28, his soul is weary with sorrow, and he asks for strength. There are also hints that the arrogant have troubled him (see v69) and that he has had to endure the taunts of the wicked. 

To go astray, in Biblical terms, is to walk away from the Lord, to follow temptation, to have our eyes turned and to look away from the Lord our God. Israel “went astray” when the people listened to the pagan gods of their neighbours and entered into idolatrous relationships with them. The lure of other gods is a pandemic around us at this time, there are so many to choose from that many make the mistake of putting all gods in the same basket and picking and choosing whatever appeals the most. Even many Christians pick and choose their beliefs according to their own world view and whatever suits their lifestyle and individual core values.  That is why a psalm like this is so important, it calls us to trust God implicitly and to put our faith wholly in His Word and in His laws rather that pick and mix our own variations. 

The psalmist is very clear, his afflictions led him astray, he chose to ignore the Word of God and he headed off in the wrong direction. Now he has had a change of heart, he sees that God’s way is the best way, that His commands can be trusted, and so he has consciously chosen to obey God’s Word. It has to be a conscious choice, we are not robots, God made us as creatures who can chooses. He does not want automatons; He desires followers who choose His ways and who then walk in them. 

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