I will keep your statutes

                                                                  Psalm 119:145-152

 

November 4, 2022

 

Qoph

With my whole heart, I cry; answer me, O Lord!  I will keep your statutes.  I call to you; save me, that I may observe your testimonies. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your word.  My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.  Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O Lord, according to your justice give me life.  They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; they are far from your law.  But you are near, O Lord and all your commandments are true.
Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever.

My wonderful wife has for years prayed the Psalms back to the Lord, and now many ways too many years later I find myself putting much of the Psalms to prayer.  Once more I slept for a little over an hour and woke with my blood pressure on the high side, feeling as if I could not breathe.  This has become very common and as I read the first paragraph, highlighted in yellow, it is my heart's desire.  My problem is that I need to understand the  fullness of  what the Psalmist has  said.  Do I seek the Lord with my whole heart, only God knows the answer, but that is the desire of my heart.  Anyone who has read the “Back Porch” knows that I have a zeal for God’s word, but how to abide, to not depend on self, but to do as Jesus and look to the Father for all things.

I understand I am a mess, that my flesh wants you to thank higher of me than both God and I know to be true.  But this I can state with full assurance, all God’s promises and Commandments are true.  The Lord has made sure you and I understand God’s testimonies are forever.

My whole heart cries to the Lord, who knows all about me and loves me beyond my understanding, My cry is to teach me how to pray and to abide in Jesus.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice