Verse of the Day 4/29

Psalm 119:10-11With my whole heart I seek you;

    let me not wander from your commandments!
¹¹ I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.   English Standard Version (ESV)

I've mentioned before that I try to read a Psalm every day.  When it comes to Psalm 119 I change gears.  It is not just because it is so long (176 verses), but there is so much there that I don't want to read it in one sitting, I'd rather camp out there for a while, so I end up reading 16 verses a day.  At some point I may back that down to 8 verses.

Many of us in the business world and in our personal lives may become inundated at times with emails that we must attend to.  The problem is that it can take so much time to go through them that all too often, (and my wife will attest to this about me) we tend to skim through them looking for important points.  How many important points and appointments do we miss due to skimming?

Billy Graham writes, "Hide the Word of God in your heart! A little portion well digested is of greater value to the soul than a lengthy portion scanned hurriedly. Do not be discouraged because you cannot understand it all. Go on reading. As you read, the Holy Spirit will enlighten the passages for you. Reading the Bible has a purifying effect upon the heart and mind. "

What is necessary is a seeking attitude.  We should be trying to "mine" the scriptures instead of skimming over it.  As we do we will store up the treasures in the reserves of our heart where they will be when we need to draw upon them.   We are so prone to wander, especially our minds as we are skimming.  It's good to have reading plans  that keep us in the word, but we, but I need to take time to slow down and dig deeper on a regular basis.  May it keep our hearts from wandering.

Verse 10 offers a prayer "not  to wander".  We'll finish with a couple of stanzas from "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" where we see those words.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you,
    I attentively watch how you've done it.
I relish everything you've told me of life,
    I won't forget a word of it.  Psalm 119:16 (The Message)

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Psalm 119:9-16The Message (MSG)

^9-16 How can a young person live a clean life?
    By carefully reading the map of your Word.
I'm single-minded in pursuit of you;
    don't let me miss the road signs you've posted.
I've banked your promises in the vault of my heart
    so I won't sin myself bankrupt.
Be blessed, God;
    train me in your ways of wise living.
I'll transfer to my lips
    all the counsel that comes from your mouth;
I delight far more in what you tell me about living
    than in gathering a pile of riches.
I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you,
    I attentively watch how you've done it.
I relish everything you've told me of life,
    I won't forget a word of it.