Psalm 119:1-8

 "I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws."

Psalm 119:7 (NIV)

Our sin nature blossoms as we reach our teen age years. We get tired of people telling us what to do. Our parents, our teachers, our pastors, our older siblings - it seems that everywhere we turn someone is telling us what to do, and we get sick of it. 

The truth is that people are actually telling us less than when we were little kids but it doesn’t seem that way. This rebellious attitude, if left unchecked, will take a teenager into a world of hurt, and places of hardship. How much worse will our lives be, if we nurture a rebellious attitude towards God’s laws? 

Our Lord Jesus had the attitude described in this verse. He wanted to learn God’s Laws. He praised His Father for the commands that had been given through Moses. Our Lord knew that the purpose of these commands was to bless those who followed them. 

We can use our mouths to thank God for His Word, but do our hearts line up with our mouths? As we read the Law of Moses, do our hearts fill with love and thankfulness for the grace of God in His provision of commands that show us the way to live in harmony with Him? May each of us do what Jesus did; may we learn God’s Laws, and praise Him for them as we learn them.

Psalm 119

א Aleph

¹ Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
    who walk according to the law of the Lord.
² Blessed are those who keep his statutes
    and seek him with all their heart—
³ they do no wrong
    but follow his ways.
⁴ You have laid down precepts
    that are to be fully obeyed.
⁵ Oh, that my ways were steadfast
    in obeying your decrees!
⁶ Then I would not be put to shame
    when I consider all your commands.
⁷ I will praise you with an upright heart
    as I learn your righteous laws.
⁸ I will obey your decrees;
    do not utterly forsake me.