Psalm 119:137-144

There are three influences in all of our lives: the influence of God, the influence of others and the influence of our own heart.  In a perfect world the people around us and our own hearts would all be seeking the exact same thing as God.  Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world – yet.  God is bringing the history of this world to a place where we will enjoy the absolutely perfect presence of God forever in the company of the redeemed and righteous from all the nations of the world; but until that time we face a far different reality.  God never changes His righteousness is a constant from history to eternity.  However our hearts are constantly in flux and in one minute we can be seeking God’s face and in the next minute turning away from Him.  The people around us also suffer from this same inconsistent way of living.  Some of them will encourage us some of the time but very often they will hinder us in our walk with the Lord.

GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS IS ETERNAL: The Lord is righteous in all that He does and in all that He has said.  All of His commandments are holy and just.  His rules are always the very best thing for all of mankind to follow.  He cannot be anything but righteous and faithful.  What He has said is perfect and holy and He will always be this way.  There is no changing with God.  He has always been this way and will continue to be perfectly righteous for all of eternity.  In a world where we can count of very little from one day to the next, it should be a great comfort for us to be able to look to the Lord and know that He will always be the same.  There are fewer and fewer standards in the world that surrounds us as people feel that they are entitled to determine right from wrong based on their own feelings or beliefs.  God stands in sharp contrast to this relativistic world and sets the standard for true and false and right and wrong that will stand the test of time and will remain for all of time and eternity.


MAN’S REBELLIOUSNESS IS CONTINUAL: While we can count on God to be righteous we can also count on man to be rebellious.  We must recognize that if we are going to strive to seek out the Lord and follow His righteous standard; we will always face opposition.  All of mankind, including ourselves, is naturally rebellious against the righteousness of God.  Due to God’s grace the psalmist affirms that He loves God and His rules; however, he also recognizes that he has a need for God to hold Him solid in that commitment.  We are constantly surrounded by enemies of righteousness and if we are not careful we will be influenced by them and begin to stray from the Word of the Lord.  When we are in the midst of troublesome times it is easy for us to forget the Lord and His righteousness and focus on the fluctuating opinions of the evil men who surround us.  We must be prepared to live in this reality and respond accordingly by ignoring the influences from within and without of our heart so we can follow the righteousness of God.

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