How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
    teach me your statutes!
With my lips I declare
    all the rules of your mouth.
In the way of your testimonies I delight
    as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts
    and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
    I will not forget your word.

Psalm 119:9-16

Our church has been going through some select psalms for bible study this summer. So far our pastor has chosen some of the best (and how could he not?) but I realized the day that we went through Psalm 119 that I have yet to do the Psalms for my poetry series. I feel rather silly about that, but I figure there is no better time to start than the present. Psalm 119 is one of my favorite psalms. Well, parts of it have always stood out to me. There is one verse that I always remember because it was a memory verse from My ABC Bible Verses, which my mom read to me as a child. But it is the above section that has always found a special place in my heart.

First, Psal 119 is an acrostic poem of 22 stanzas. Each stanza begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This one is beth. While we lose some of the poetic aspects of the poem since it has been translated into English, we don’t lose the meaning or all of the beauty. Much of Hebrew poetry and the psalms remind me of Eastern poetry, and especially certain Japanese poems. And while these are songs for worship, their reflective nature is quite similar.

The open verse encapsulates the whole stanza. The author asks a question: how can a young man keep his way pure? Answer: By guarding it according to your word. This idea is well enough on its own. What more is there to say? Indeed, much more! This psalm captures the life of a Christian in body, mind, and spirit. In the next verse, we learn that the general young man is each person, and we are the speaker or singer of this stanza. “With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!” From here, we focus on the various aspects of God’s word and what it means to guard it according to our life.

What is God’s word? It is His commandments, word, statutes, rules, testimonies, precepts, ways, statutes, and again word. In these few short verses, we see how God’s Word for our life comes in many forms. His Word commands, informs, establishes, instructs, enlightens, corrects, and guides. But in all these ways, they are one thing: the Word of God. I am led to remember this verse:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Yet there is more to this little passage. As I said, the opening verse is essentially the whole passage. But there is more within. What I love about this passage is that it is complete within itself. We ask how we might keep our way pure, and we know it is by guarding our life, protecting and conforming it, according to God’s commands, rules, statutes, testimonies, and word. But what does this look like? Well, even here this passage has the answer for us. In baptism, our whole life was made new by God. So we long to seek God with our whole life. We store it up as a treasure within us (Matt. 6:21, 13:44-46, 2 Cor. 4:7). But in our daily struggle with sin, we also recognize the need for God’s help. So we move from the intellectual to the spiritual. But in this spiritual and mindful pursuit, our actions are impacted “that we might not sin” against the Lord.

We praise the Lord — we bless Him! — for His Word is good. We ask that we might learn from Him. Then look at this reflective verse: “With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.” What a wonderful statement! Our words shall be His, for they are worth more than riches. We then move from the mind to what we then will say.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:14

We speak not of our own teachings or man’s but the Lord’s. Who’s testimonies or words do we delight in? The Lord’s. Then we go back to the mind melding with the spirit to meditate on His Word or precepts. We look not to the ways of others but we walk, now using our whole body, to follow where the Lord leads.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Psal, 119:105

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

And now the passage closes as it opens. But not only will we guard our life in God’s word we also will delight in His statutes and commands. We will not forget. So now our mind, body, and soul come together for this closing statement as we opened. But here is where my pastor introduced a challenge:

What about when you don’t want to?

This gives me pause, even now. Very often I don’t want to. I feel the stubbornness of my sin embattling me against God’s righteous commands. So what do we do? We try, we repent, and we ask God to help us in our struggle! (Mar. 9:24) And we walk in faith, keeping His Word ever before us so that, even in our struggle with sin, we might not forget His Word and sin against Him. We ask, as He taught us, that His will might be done among us. And in this, we have hope, joy, and peace.

Blessings to you and yours,

~Madelyn Rose Craig