Student Devotionals
Psalm 119:9-11
Keep Pure by God's Word
Hello everyone! This is Michael Towson with National School Project, here with another devotional for you today.
There is so much tragedy in the air right now, and it’s all happening because people are looking for some way out to escape from life’s biggest problems. You can hardly blame them for it, in a sense! We probably would all love to have a decrease in the pain that we are experiencing during Coronavirus. But it’s unfortunate that people have been turning to destructive behaviors as a way to cope. There have been problems with drunkenness and drug use. Pornographic web-traffic has been skyrocketing. As a matter of fact, some reports are indicating that, in certain countries, there may have been a spike as much as 80% increase in porn use at certain points in the pandemic.
These things are simply ruining peoples’ lives! Families and marriages are coming apart. People are even dying from their poor choices.
Even Christians that want to do the right thing are finding themselves being tempted. They’re being tempted by these ever-so subtle sins that nobody would find out about. They think, “maybe it wouldn’t be that big a deal… maybe just this once.” They’re looking for some kind of relief, even if it’s just a few hours, from the pain that they are in.
Deep down, they know they shouldn’t do it, but they’re wondering, “Am I going to cave?” Maybe you’re even feeling that way today!
So, how is a Christian supposed to stand up under the wave of temptation that we’re facing during a season like this? One of the answers that I have found to that is in Psalm 119:9-11. Here is what the Psalmist says:
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
So, there we have it! If you want to keep your life pure in the midst of life’s most difficult situations, the way to do it is to store up God’s Word in your heart.
Now, is this being overly simplistic? No, it’s not, especially considering the way that the psalmist is talking about storing God’s Word. He’s not talking about simply collecting data. He’s not memorizing information for the sake of having it, like trivia. Instead, he is talking about seeking the Lord with his whole heart and being. Loving God is brought into the act of storing the Word in his heart.
This psalm could just as well have been penned by Jesus. Jesus loved to teach on the importance of the Word. In John chapter fifteen, Jesus tells his disciples that if they want to bear any kind of spiritual fruit in their lives, they need to abide in him. And what does he mean by “abiding?” He means keeping Jesus’ teaching in their hearts and obeying them.
So, it’s the same idea in Psalms! We keep God’s Word in our hearts, we obey it, and that’s how we love Him. That’s how we keep our way pure. That’s how we bear spiritual fruit in our lives!
What we’re learning from this is that there is a really simple answer for how to fight temptation and a real threat if we don’t take God’s Word seriously about this. If we don’t store up the Bible in our hearts, we have nothing to stand on to fight off temptation. Some people may think that they can get by for a while on their own willpower, but we probably know from our own experiences that willpower by itself just doesn’t cut it.
We need something more. We need to look at the victorious tone that we see in Psalm 119 where this psalmist is so confident that he will be able to keep his way pure by keeping God’s Word in his heart!
Go with me on a little thought experiment. Imagine that you spent four hours every day this week reading the Bible. What do you think would happen to you? Would it cause any change at all to happen in your life? I think you would probably be willing to say, “Yes!” How could it not have an impact?
I mean, think about it… any time that we obsess over something, it is going to change how we live. That’s true whether you can’t stop thinking about the delicious meal you are going to have this coming Friday or if you’re someone who obsesses about the holidays and can’t stop thinking about Christmas. When you obsess over something, it begins to dictate what you do with your life.
Maybe you’ve heard the expression, “Garbage in, garbage out.” It’s very true! So, think about how people tend to fill their minds. They’re not spending four hours per day reading God’s Word, but they might be spending four hours per day watching television filled with swearing, sexual innuendo, and characters that constantly live their lives as if God isn’t real. I’m not saying that we should never watch television, but doesn’t it seem obvious that this would have an impact on us?
Wouldn’t you expect that if you watched a show full of racy material that it might make you begin to have racy thoughts in your own mind? If you’re constantly listening to people say that God isn’t real, wouldn’t you expect to start feeling some doubt? Whereas, if you’re constantly filling your mind with what’s in God’s Word, wouldn’t you begin thinking about things that are holy? Wouldn’t you constantly be thinking about God and loving Him?
This is just “cause and effect.” It’s not rocket science.
So, am I telling you here that you need to carve out four hours per day to read the Bible? Actually... maybe! Wouldn’t that be a great experiment for one week? That could be one of the best things you’ve ever done! But I know that is hard for some people and I don’t want to get overly legalistic here. Rather than having me tell you to do something, let me ask you a different question, “What do you want?”
Do you want to keep your life pure? Do you want to have your mind set on God? Do you really believe that you are going to get joy if you’re thinking about God a lot? Maybe it’s worth it this week to start cutting some other things out and emphasize spending time in Scripture. Maybe you need to sense that urgency that says, “If I’m not in Scripture, then I’m going to lose!” Maybe you can begin to read Scripture as if your life depended on it.
Here are two quick ideas for how you might apply that this week:
(1) Spend an hour reading through Proverbs. Just read through it straight… carve out that time! Proverbs has great wisdom, especially if you are struggling with sexual sin during this time.
(2) Spend an hour reading through Matthew. Matthew will take you into “The Sermon on the Mount.” You’ll be amazed as you look again at what Jesus taught His Kingdom will be like.
I hope that you are encouraged by this! Our staff is praying for you. We want you to be victorious over sin! Let’s be a light to others during this time and acknowledge that if we want to win… if we want to live the holy life God asks of us… we need to be in His Word! God bless you. I hope you have a great week!