Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.
Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
Psalm 119: 33-39
“Don’t pray for the mountain to move grab a shovel.” I have heard sayings like this my whole life. Worst off I have not only heard saying such as this but I have thought them. I always see my prayer life being minimized in my life when I am full of self reliance. Many times in my Christian life I have not seen my utter need of God for everything good in my life.
The Psalmist here, through inspiration of God, declares his need for God to work in all areas of personal growth in his life. I guess the term “personal growth” gives the connotation that it will be accomplished personally and not through someone else’s power. I easily admit my dependance on God in the things I want to do however I do not not give Him His rightful place in molding me into what I should become.
The Psalmist asked God to “teach me” – I rely on the plethora of books on my kindle.
The Psalmist asked God to “give me understanding” – I find my understanding through a stack of commentaries.
The Psalmist asked God to “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments” – I act as if I have walked all those paths.
The Psalmist asked God to “Incline my heart unto thy testimonies” – I rely upon emotion and feeling.
The Psalmist asked God to ” Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity” - I rely upon the accountability of men.
The Psalmist asked God to “Stablish thy word unto thy servant” – I rely upon repetition.
The Psalmist asked God to “Turn away my reproach which I fear”- I am not smart enough to be afraid of anything.
I need God to forgive me from not recognizing my need of Him in my “personal growth”. He loves me and I need Him to lead me. To put it into a bad illustration (that is what youth pastors do – we mess up Theology for the cause of sports illustrations) God is not only the coach he is the trainer. He desires to be involved in the deepest part of my life. I have wrongfully ignored His ability to help me with all that I am vain fully attempted on my own.
