Psalm 101:1

Steadfast love, justice, and music! What a wonderful package to unwrap this morning!

Psalm 101:2

I must ponder and take great care about the way that I walk. How can I do this in a rush? How can i do this if I do not rise before the demands of the day overtake me and the cares of this world absorb my attention? I must arise in time and devote the time to knowing what to do. By taking this time, I will save much time that will otherwise be spent flailing and failing, faltering and floundering. It is the blameless heart I seek, the heart that, in integrity, seeks not its own ends but those purposes of God for which it was awakened. Then, I begin where I am, in my own house, within the confines of my closest and dearest relationships, among those I have neither need, desire, nor ability to impress, to walk with integrity of heart. So, the psalmist tracks the beginning of successful person's day – Begin with God, continue with family, and branch out from there. Then, in verse 3, he reminds himself not to be drawn away by setting any vile thing before him. It is a good reminder that even the blameless heart can be distracted and diverted by the temporal temptations of decadent beauty.

Psalm 109:16

Psalm 109 is harsh. It is the song of a king who vows to recompense those who walk over others and persecute the poor, who disregard God and disrespect their neighbors. We are tempered by grace from acting harshly. We are called by Jesus toabsorb and resist injustice at the same time. But we must not grow numb to the indignation that the psalmist expressed. We ought to cringe with such indignation and it ought to begin with those remnants of wicked motives within our own hearts and lives. Let us be so disgusted with that within ourselves that degrades and destroys that we set out to purge our own hearts regularly of their creeping decay that we might be singular in our love, sincere in our devotion to God, and simple in our service to humanity.

Psalm 119:130

May Your Words unfold to me today.

"The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple." 

Verse 133

"Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me."

Psalm 119:133

"Let no iniquity get dominion over me."

This is the prayer of any person who fears addiction to anything. It is the cry of anyone who knows the danger and potential of anything gaining that sort of dominion. What might it be? How might it disguise itself? What attraction might it offer?

More important is how we might resist and a prayer of resistance and remedy is offered, "Keep steady my steps according to your promise."

What promise? It is the promise to keep our steps steady. NIV translates it, "Direct my footsteps according to Your Word." The NLV renders it, "Guide my steps by your word," and The Message, "Steady my steps with your Word of promise."

At verse 140, he says, "Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it."

These promises have indeed been well-tried. Some, we ourselves have tried. Some we have not, but others have. The results are that they work and ….

Today can be a day of triumph and victory!