Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes;
And I will keep it to the end. Psalm 119.33
What stands out to
you from this verse? Take a moment to look at it.
Here's what stands
out to me.
First: the way of your statutes. It would make a big
difference if the way of was left out.
Then, the request is about learning the particular statutes of God. But leaving
that phrase in points to something about all of the statutes. There is a way about them. There is a certain way that the statutes look at life. That's
what the psalmist wants to learn. And that makes a difference when you realize
that there isn't a verse for every issue of life. There are plenty of times
when you need to draw conclusions from the way
of God's statutes. This is an important skill as we deal with those
particulars of life that the Bible does not directly address with a verse.
Here’s the other
thing that stands out to me: the word teach. The
psalmist could have written something like I
want to learn…, but he didn't.
The question to ask at this point is, 'What difference does this make?' The
difference has to do with who bears the burden. Is it on me and my ability to
learn or is it on God and His ability to teach? The psalmist wrote his request
in the way that he did because he understood his own limitations, his own
weakness. He did not depend on himself and his ability in order to really get
what was going on when it came to the way of
your statutes. But he understood the power of His God. He knew that His
God is the God of grace, grace that could overcome his limitations. And because
of that he knew that He is the God who can teach. And that's where he put his
hope.