Reverence For You

Making my way through Psalm 119 I was brought to a halt at verse 38, "Establish Your Word to your servant, As that which produces reverence for You."

Produces ...
                Blessings for me?
                              Answers for me?
                                          Comfort for me?    No.

Establish Your Word which produces REVERENCE FOR YOU..

Certainly our great, multitasking God does provide blessings, instruction, comfort, correction, and much more through His inerrant and living Word; but if we come to it with these as our primary goals we have missed the joy of getting such precious revelation. God's goal in establishing His Word in our lives is first reverence and glory for Himself. Our awareness of His glory produces obedience, and it is our faithful obedience that makes the Word of God a deep well of blessing and guidance.

How can we retrain our brains to approach The Scripture as a conduit for a heart of honor and worship? Back up with me to Psalm 119:37, Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways. Did you see it? We must turn our eyes from looking at vanity and be revived to the ways of our Father God. We learn from the book of Ecclesiastes that this world is full of vain and fleeting things masquerading as matters of dire importance (or, at the very least, seasonal importance). For me even teaching or writing about God's Word can be a source of vanity. I am sometimes guilty of reading or hearing God's Word only as a means to my next teaching; how productive do you think that is? :-) Our families, homes, jobs, friends, churches, and things become opportunities for vanity rather than tools for worship and service, because we neglect the glory of the Giver of these gifts.

Often we feel as if God is unwilling to share with us the truth we need to hear as if He is playing a game with us. However, if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that our ears are only open to the "truth" that we want to hear - the one that seems easy - rather than the Truth of God.  Our eyes are focused in the wrong direction. Instead, may our hearts be like that of Job, an answer-less man who declared, I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Job 42:5

God in Heaven, give us more of You.