PLEASE KEEP ME FROM MY DECEITFUL WAYS

Proclamation:

“Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me and teach me Your law.  I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on Your laws.”  Psalm 119:29-30 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  This is the fourth part, Daleth, of this twenty-two part psalm.  David is continuing his conversation with The Lord God and here requests that The Lord God keep him from his deceitful ways.  David has made a commitment to walk God’s way and he knows that he will need God’s help in order to do that.

Application:

We may read The Word of God on our own but we need His help in order to understand what we read. (Psalm 119:27)  If we truly want to walk God’s way, we will need to pray and ask Him for His help.  The more that we try to do things God’s way, the more we can expect to be attacked and tempted.  We need His strength so that we don’t grow weary. (Psalm 119:28)

TEACH ME YOUR WAY LORD AND GIVE ME AN UNDIVIDED HEART

Proclamation:

“Teach me Your way, Lord, that I may rely on Your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.  I will praise You, Lord my God, with all my heart, I will glorify Your name forever.”  Psalm 86:11-12 (NIV)

Explanation:

This psalm was written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  This psalm is another one of the many prayers which David spoke to The Lord when he was in distress. (Psalm 86:1 and 6-7)  He acknowledged who The Lord God was and how great His deeds were. (Psalm 86:8-10)  Then he asked God to teach him and show him the way.  He had been blessed with knowledge before, but he wanted more instruction. (Psalm 25:4)  One cannot truly love The Lord with a heart that is divided between the love of God and the love of the world.  A unified and undivided heart is a gift from the Lord so that His people would love and fear Him. (Jeremiah 32:39)  He wanted to praise God with his whole heart and with all that was within him. (Psalm 103:1)

Application:

The only way for us to walk God’s way is for Him to show us the way. (Psalm 119:105)  He must teach us, lead us, and guide us in order for us to walk His way.  Only with the single-mindedness of a single-hearted loyalty to The Lord God can we truly love Him with all of our heart, mind and soul. (Deuteronomy 11:13 and Joshua 22:5)  Jesus, The Christ, said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)  We cannot love Him if we do not follow His Holy Word.  We cannot love Him if we confess a sin and then continue to repeat that sin.  That is proof that we love the sin more than we love Him. (John 3:19)  Our lifestyle is a reflection of our beliefs.  Believers are not perfect, but we follow God’s way.  If you continually follow the sinful path, you are not walking God’s way.  You must turn from your wicked sinful ways and seek Him if you want The Lord God to hear and answer your prayers. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

TEACH ME TO WALK IN YOUR WAY LORD

Proclamation:

"Teach me Your way, Lord, that I may rely on Your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.  I will praise You, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever." Psalms 86:11-12 (NIV)

Explanation:

This psalm is one of six prayers recorded in The Bible Book of Psalms, (Psalms 17, 51, 86, 90, 102, and 142)  This Psalm is one of David's prayers.  It includes a petition, adoration, thanksgiving, but it omits the confession of any specific sin.  It is a personal prayer, not an intercessory prayer for others.  David wants God to help him do that which is right.  He wants God to hear him, protect him, save him, and have mercy on him.  He also wants The Lord to "teach" him to walk in God's way.

Application:

All too often we try to do things on our own.  We don’t pray before we begin an activity and we don’t ask The Lord to help us with whatever it is.  Just because we think that something is the right thing to do does not mean that it is what The Lord would have us to do.  We need to pray and ask God to teach us His way.  We should not assume that we know what He wants us to do or that we know how He wants it done.  We cannot walk with God without His help.  In fact, we should ask The Lord to help us and guide us as we go through all of our daily activities for without Him we could do nothing.