It has been said that a great oak is only a little nut that held its ground. The temptation to fall away and backslide usually begins with our hearts and eyes. The psalmist clearly experienced a battle within himself. He wrote, ‘Turn my heart towards your statutes and not towards selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things’ (vv.36–37a).
So often, backsliding begins by setting our hearts on what’s in it for us, or allowing our eyes to wander onto ‘worthless things’ (v.37). Turn your heart and eyes to God’s word and you can stand firm. As The Message puts it, ‘Divert my eyes from toys and trinkets’ (v.37).
God’s word is the place to find delight (v.35) and be enabled to persevere (vv.37,40). This is because God’s ‘laws are good’ (v.39). The psalmist prays, ‘Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end’ (v.33). Jesus said, ‘Whoever stands firm to the end will be saved’ (Matthew 24:13).
Martin Luther said, ‘I live as though Jesus Christ had been crucified yesterday, had risen this morning and was coming again tomorrow.’
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