Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live
and keep your word. Psalms 119:17
Well, this is
interesting. How shall we understand the first part of this sentence? It sounds
like something that a prosperity Gospel preacher would teach. 'This is what
Christians need to pray for! Ask God to give you more and more of the good
things of this life. Ask Him boldly! After all, look at this verse.' Really?
Well, it is what the psalmist wrote. So,
I guess that we need to take it at face value. The psalmist is asking God to
overwhelm him with good things
But let's not forget
the second part of the sentence.
This is what
explains why our psalmist friend is asking God for all of those good things. He
wants to be able to keep what God has written in His Word. Now, to 'keep' God's
Word does include obeying the commands. But it's important to see that it also
includes embracing the promises. We honor God by doing both because He wants us
to do both. And this is why our psalmist friend asks to be blessed with much.
So, the psalmist
asks for great blessings so that he will be able to do a great job of keeping
the Word. We should imitate him and ask for whatever
we need to keep the Word.