Genuine attention to the Word of God is always joined with prayer to the God of the Word.
Psalm 119.10 demonstrates a total engagement with God. David seeks him with the whole heart - with thoroughness and intensity. In approaching God, we must come in conscious, deliberate, entire dependence on Christ, aware of both the grace and glory God to whom we come.
We also see a singleminded pursuit of God: David seeks the Giver over the gifts, the Benefactor before the benefits, the Guide and not only guidance. We need God as creatures to be sustained, as sinners to be saved, and as servants to be sanctified. We need him always, but there are times when our sense of need is heightened by particular circumstances. It is God himself we need.
Finally, there is a humble request to God. Character does not purchase communion with God, but communion with God precedes and produces godly character. The more we know of God, the greater desire we will have for him, and the greater our holy fear of offending him. David therefore pleads with God, recognising that he is prone to wander the moment he might be without God's presence. His desire is that he might live a life governed by the Word of God, neither deliberately transgressing nor ignorantly wandering, but upright from beginning to end, inwardly and outwardly, righteous in principle and in practice. For this, we do not need all the answers all the time, but rather light for obedience step by step. |
