Consistently and Continually

Yesterday I mentioned the word "overwhelmed", that I am overwhelmed by Psalm 119, and I told you that the word overwhelmed is not mentioned in Psalm 119.  Well, that is true in the New American Standard text.  However, I discovered yesterday afternoon, as I was reading the Psalm in a different translation (the New Living Translation) that the word does appear there.......Psalm 119:20 NLT reads this way, "I am overwhelmed continually with a desire for Your law."  Another verse jumped out at me as well during my reading.....Psalm 119:5, "Oh that my actions would consistently reflect Your principles."  And there's the root of my overwhelmedness (is that even a word??)......consistently and continually!  To continually be overwhelmed with a desire for God's Word.  To consistently reflect God's principles.  There's a challenge in the midst of a culture that has the exact opposite viewpoint!  Those two words (consistently, continually) strike right at the core of the issue, don't they?  To have a strong desire for God's Word and to be obedient to it, not some of the time or even most of the time, but consistently and continually!  Am I the only one who has this struggle?  Somehow I think not.  If you have thoughts on this topic you would like to share, please feel free to leave a comment.

Meanwhile, let's move forward through the Psalm.  Here's something else to think on.  Pam Gillaspie writes, "We often think about investing more money, but there is no commodity more valuable than our time.  You have probably heard it said that you can tell what is truly important to people by looking at their checkbooks and calendars.  My calendar just a few years back showed that I was busy, busy, busy trying to do things for God.  If there was a committee that I thought was important, I was on it.  Of course, I didn't think I was too busy!  I thought I was just being productive for the Kingdom.  It took wise people in my life to help me see that I was overbooked...and overbooked, even with "good" things that cut into pursuing God's best!  In my zeal, I was pursuing action more than God.  Funny, God doesn't need our overcharged ambition, even if it's Kingdom ambition.  He wants our whole heart focused on Him.  So that's my story of misguided investment to you. What's yours?"

Can you relate to her story?  I certainly can.....much the same could have been said of me, particularly in my years serving on staff in various churches.  Busy, busy, busy!  But was I productive?  Perhaps in the world's view.  But was I really pursuing God?  Go back to my thoughts at the beginning of this post.  Does being busy for God equate to continually and consistently pursuing Him and His Word?  Something to think about......

We began looking at the vav stanza yesterday.  Now that you have read it through, what have you observed?  Did you notice that we have the first mention of God's lovingkindness (verse 41; the Hebrew word is chesed which is sometimes translated as mercy).  We are also introduced to the concept of waiting on God.  Both these concepts will be revisited as we move forward.

Read the vav stanza (verses 41-48) again and answer these questions:

• What kind of people does the psalmist have in his life?
• Are there situations today where believers find reproach?  Will this likely increase or decrease as time passes?  (See 2 Timothy 3)
• What about you?  If, or when, people reproach you, how do you respond?
• BESIDE the Bible, what is the greatest delight or joy of your life?  Why?
• How does this compare to your love for, your delight in God's Word?

The psalmist is definitely an individual who delights in God's Word, who delights in God Himself.  If you have time, why not do some research into some biblical characters who delighted in God.  What do you learn about them and how can you apply it to your own life?  If you would like to share your findings, please leave a comment.

"When You said, 'Seek My face,' my heart said to You, 'Your face, O Lord, I shall seek."  (Psalm 24:8)