The Word Lives

Psalm 119 blows me away. Every time I read it, my heart screams a resounding "YES!" to the Psalmist's words. It's the longest Psalm yet I find that I often lose myself in it, enthralled with the truth and life that is found within. Though I struggle much with prayer these verses quickly turn into heartfelt cries to God. Verses woven into beautiful prayers.
"Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law." vs.18
"Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law!" vs.29
"Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to selfish gain! Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things and give me life in your ways." vs.34-37
"Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise." vs.41
"This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life." vs.50
"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good; teach me your statutes." vs.67-68
"It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes." vs.71
And the verses go on....and on....and on....I LOVE IT!
I know so many Christians struggle with reading the Word. And I know that those who do read regularly struggle with finding the Life that is locked away in the pages. I've always been a reader, so reading the Bible is not hard for me. However, I often struggle immensely with finding the life that is in this Living Word. It's so easy just to read, so easy just to go through the motions and expect God to slap me on the side of the head with a great revelation. Well, guess what, He can do that, but most often He chooses not to.
Why you ask? Because He yearns for us to interact with HIM. If He just poured revelation on us every time we simply read a sentence where would our seeking be? He desires us to pursue Him in prayer, to open our hearts to Him so that His Spirit can teach us and transform us. The Word exists for this very purpose, that when we read it, we have the opportunity to encounter the Living God! How amazing is that! Ahhhhh yet so many times we read His words with the indifference of a psychology text book.
Father, forgive us. Forgive us for not striving hard to seek you, forgive us for giving up when Your Word seems to difficult for us. Forgive us for storing knowledge in our heads but keeping our hearts far from you.
We are living in a barren land. So thirsty are we, chasing mirages of truth only to find dry sand. If only we'd see that we stand on a dry river bed and that beneath our feet, beneath this sand lies a stream of Living Water. But we must dig, we must toil, we must sweat to reach it. It won't be easy, in fact, we will often times be tempted to give up hope. But the promise remains and the strength to endure is within us. The journey is hard and the afflictions are many, but oh to taste this sweet Living Water! Oh the joy of seeing that precious trickle when we finally break through. Then seeing that trickle become a stream....that stream, a river....that river, a flood. And through a lifetime of labor, we find ourselves bathing and drinking in an Ocean of Living Water. All of this in the midst of a dry and barren land. And other, thirsty, wandering souls will stumble upon our oasis and drink deeply, giving them the strength they need to dig their own well. More and more people will come, being refreshed and revived. More and more people will dig and discover Living Water. And soon, this dry and thirsty land will be no more. Soon, the trees of abundance shall return bearing fruit. The land will be transformed from a once barren desert to a Garden so beautiful, so breathtakingly glorious, to use words would only degrade its beauty. We wait for this day with eager longing and expectation.

That my friends, is why we read the Word, that is why we toil and wrestle.

"This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life."

I couldn't have said it better......

From today's morning reading of C.H. Spurgeon.

"Behold, he prayeth."
-- Acts 9:11

Prayers are instantly noticed in heaven. The moment Saul began to pray
the Lord heard him. Here is comfort for the distressed but praying
soul. Oftentimes a poor broken-hearted one bends his knee, but can only
utter his wailing in the language of sighs and tears; yet that groan
has made all the harps of heaven thrill with music; that tear has been
caught by God and treasured in the lachrymatory of heaven. "Thou
puttest my tears into thy bottle," implies that they are caught as they
flow. The suppliant, whose fears prevent his words, will be well
understood by the Most High. He may only look up with misty eye; but
"prayer is the falling of a tear." Tears are the diamonds of heaven;
sighs are a part of the music of Jehovah's court, and are numbered with
"the sublimest strains that reach the majesty on high." Think not that
your prayer, however weak or trembling, will be unregarded. Jacob's
ladder is lofty, but our prayers shall lean upon the Angel of the
covenant and so climb its starry rounds. Our God not only hears prayer
but also loves to hear it. "He forgetteth not the cry of the humble."
True, he regards not high looks and lofty words; he cares not for the
pomp and pageantry of kings; he listens not to the swell of martial
music; he regards not the triumph and pride of man; but wherever there
is a heart big with sorrow, or a lip quivering with agony, or a deep
groan, or a penitential sigh, the heart of Jehovah is open; he marks it
down in the registry of his memory; he puts our prayers, like rose
leaves, between the pages of his book of remembrance, and when the
volume is opened at last, there shall be a precious fragrance springing
up therefrom.

"Faith asks no signal from the skies,
To show that prayers accepted rise,
Our Priest is in his holy place,
And answers from the throne of grace."

Sometimes groaning is exactly what we need to do.