Psalm 119 is like a mountain meadow, filled with beautiful flowers. Walking through it, we find ourselves surrounded by the author’s delight and joy in the statutes, testimonies, and commandments of God. And then we see it: a flower of a different kind. Not better, just different. Let’s take a look.

Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes,
And I shall keep it to the end.
Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;
Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
For I delight in it. Psalm 119:33-35

Throughout most of Psalm 119, the statutes, testimonies, and commands of God are the writer’s focus. Here we find a subtle and profoundly different awareness. It is the way of God’s statutes that he promises to keep, and the path of His commandments in which the psalmist will delight himself.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings to search them out (Proverbs 25:2). I think this is one of those hidden treasures that God would have us consider. The way and path speak of God’s process-orientation, the walk of faith to which we are called, and the following after Jesus Christ that positions us to become His disciples. As important as obedience is to God, He has a deeper place for us to travel with Him.

This reminds me of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.

Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 5:14

It is easier to just do what we are told, but that is not the fullness of God’s desire for our relationship with Him. He knows our weakness and seeks to walk with us in the tribulations that come with the journey.

Paul attests to the difficult way and treacherous path that leads to the kingdom of God: “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22).

Paul also shared his (and our) reliance on the Father and Holy Spirit for the journey.

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2Corinthians 3:5-6

Circling back to Psalm 119, we find that the writer also understood our abject dependency on God for effectual ministry.

Incline my heart to Your testimonies,
And not to covetousness.
Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,
And revive me in Your way. Psalm 119:36-37

If we, like the Psalmist, will keep to God’s way and delight in His path, He will stir up the desires of our hearts, protect us from carnal distractions, and empower us for the journey. How could we neglect so great a salvation as this?

God bless you with grace and courage for these things.

Humbly yours and forever His,

Rob