WHAT WE SHOULD LIVE FOR

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

May my cry come before You, Lord; give me understanding according to Your word.

May my supplication come before You; deliver me according to Your promise.

May my lips overflow with praise, for You teach me Your decrees.

May my tongue sing of Your word, for all Your commands are righteous.

May Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts.

I long for Your salvation, Lord, and Your law gives me delight. Let me live that I may praise You, and may Your laws sustain me.

I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commands.

Psalm 119:169-176

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What are your aspirations in life?

Answers to this question might vary.

Some people will want to get an education and parlay that into a successful career where they are able to make enough money to have a comfortable retirement. Other people might strive to be the best in some skill they have whether that might be music or sports or any number of other talents. Still others might seek to have a family and raise children.

The world certainly offers us a lot to live for but are we living for the right things? It’s definitely something worth considering as we ponder the matter of what we should live for.

As the psalmist considered this, he made it clear as to what he aspired to do and what he wished to live for. Look at his words from this passage:

I long for Your salvation, Lord, and Your law gives me delight. Let me live that I may praise You, and may Your laws sustain me.

Note the psalmist didn’t wish for the Lord to sustain him in life so he could acquire wealth and success. He didn’t covet a relationship or a family nor did he desire to become the best psalmist that ever existed.

No, the psalmist wished to live solely so he could praise the Lord. It was as simple as that.

Think about it. Why were we created? It wasn’t so we could focus on ourselves. Rather, God created us to serve and worship Him and Him alone. He was to be our focal point, the One we seek to glorify and magnify, the One we seek to lift up before the world in honor and respect.

Ask yourself whether you have done that in your life and perhaps you will be convicted by the question as you realize how self centered you may have been. I get a sense the psalmist was feeling a little like this when he said the following:

I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commands.

The psalmist confessed his position before the Lord, knowing that He was His shepherd, the One who led him through life’s ups and downs. And he knew that this divine Shepherd would not rest while one of His sheep was lost. No, this Shepherd would look for His sheep with the hope that He would find them and return them to His flock.

The psalmist sought to be back in that flock, back in the place where he needed to be and reside. He wanted the Lord to sustain his life so he could in turn praise and worship Him. He yearned to be in communion with God so to attain instruction and understanding as well as deliverance and salvation.

He longed for praise to overflow from his lips and song delivered from his tongue. Truly, his heart was fixed on the matter of worshipping God.

As we conclude the study of the longest psalm in the Bible, my prayer is that you will find yourself like the psalmist, ready to shift your focus from yourself toward the Lord, asking Him to uphold and prolong your life, not so you can attain some level of success for you or your family, but rather so you can simply give Him all your glory, honor, and praise.

He deserves nothing less.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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