Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

The Two Basics Of The Christian Life

PSALM 119:170 – Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word.

THEME OF THE DAY. THE TWO BASICS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. Today’s scripture is short but loaded with instruction. The Psalmist who wrote it is a model for living out the Christian life. He offers us two basic truths that are to mark our walk with the Lord. Yes, they are basic and nothing new, but in the living out of the Christian life, we don’t need anything complex, the world does that, and we don’t need something new, God’s ways of old are God’s ways for today. And the Psalmist practices the two basics of the Christian life – prayer and the Word. Let’s work through these encouraging reminders of the Christian life.

First, the Psalmist is a praying person – Let my plea come before you. The whole of Psalm 119 is prayer. It is a wonderful and intimate dialogue between a child of God and God. Please take time soon and read the entire Psalm in one sitting. It will do two things – warm your heart and then cause you to ask, “Do I know God like this?” But back to lesson number one; the Psalmist is a praying person. We know we are to be also. Are we? Not mealtime or nighttime praying people, but those type of believers who set aside regular prayer time to be with God; to bare their souls; to seek His face. Prayer is one of the most accurate measurements of our spiritual health. Practice it. Develop it. Enjoy it.

Next, the Psalmist is a desperately praying person – Let my plea come before you. He isn’t just offering vain words in prayer or rattling off a wish list for God to grant. He is hurting, hence the word “plea”. When we plead for something it is either out of intense desire or intense pain. The Psalmist wants deliverance. He needs help and instead of miring himself in a pit of self-pity or complaining, he goes to God. Want to know how to pray? Want to learn how to pray? God will teach us but not when life is easy, but in the refining fires of suffering and affliction. In those places we really learn to pray. We learn the type of prayer the Psalmist models – pleading prayer.

So, the Psalmist gives us the first example to follow in the Christian life – be a praying person; prayer that is relational and pleading, but he also gives us the second truth about the Christian life – reliance upon God’s Word – deliver me according to Your Word. Now don’t stop reading. Don’t be tempted to say, “I read this far in today’s nugget to come across something I already know? I know the Christian life is about prayer and the Word. This isn’t new.” Okay. Let me ask a personal question – have your worried about something lately that led to anxiety? Then what you know about the Christian life is not being lived out in your Christian life. Do we realize Jesus calls worry and anxiety sins? Read Matthew 6: 25-34 and do so slowly. Even though we know the Christian life is according to the Word, we need constant reminders of this truth. We easily let our Christian lives be lived “according to circumstances” and not according to God’s Word. Not the Psalmist. He gave himself over to reliance upon God’s Word and so always must we in all situations and circumstances.

Friends don’t let the devil, the world, and our own understanding cause us to forget the basic and simple Christian life. It is grounded on two basic practices – seeking the Lord in prayer and living in reliance upon His Word. Keep it simple. God did and does.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to see, believe, and rely upon Your Word and its sufficiency for my life”

QUOTE: “God’s Word is sufficient for all of life – to save, to comfort, to direct, and to protect. Trust it.”