Taking My Life In My Own Hands

"Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law." Psalm 119:109

There are a number of fantastic verses in this next section and I encourage you to read all of Psalm 119:105-112. We are familiar with the first of these verses that is often quoted as "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Kind of a surprising lead-in to the verse I have selected. Our human tendencies are so strong that even though we know that He is the light that can lead us exactly where we should go and keep us from many of the snares and pitfalls of life we still are prone to take our lives in our own hands. Even though we know we shouldn't.

This phenomena most often gets us in all kinds of trouble, but nonetheless, we do just like the Psalmist says, and constantly too. Interesting that he begins the verse with the word 'though' Before he shares his weakness, he is getting ready to explain that he really knows better. This shows that he is sharing reflectively about how he objectively sees his in objectivity after the fact. This is a near perfect illustration of how we grow and mature spiritually. When we can learn from our own weakness and mistakes, there is indeed hope. Even this writer, who has such tremendous insight and deep resolve, struggles with the same issues as we do. That frankly is just a little encouraging.

So, what do we get from this as a life lesson? We are not going to be able to avoid our propensity for taking our lives in our own hands completely, all the time, when we should be trusting the Lord. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try harder or learn, it means that just understanding we can't be perfect and sinless, we can be real, and sin less and less. Just because I do not use the truth doesn't mean I can claim that I am ignorant or don't know it. If we practiced just that one truth it could end the majority of all our 'denial' about anything and everything.

This brings me to my closing point for us today. Let's be honest. We know how we are and how we can be. Since that is the case, shouldn't we see the big lesson here? It is in the last part of the verse. The Psalmist says he 'will not forget the law'. Seems to me that he is already confessing that he did, at least for a moment, or two. Here is my point. If we put the focus on remembering, we wouldn't have to worry about forgetting so much. Also, the more we remember His Word, the less often we will need to talk about how we won't forget it. Interesting huh?

Something to think about.
Pastor Fred

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