God-given Internal Direction

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1 Text: Psalm 119:33-37 Intro: God-given Internal Direction Have you ever paid much attention to your prayers? I mean, analyzing their content? I would venture to say that the majority of them have to do with either: Making your life, or someone you care about, much more pleasant. Two common big ones are: Money, Health, And all the stuff related to them, which is enormous. But, The Bible gives us a category that is far superior. It fits well into the agenda of the Lord s Prayer where we re instructed to pray: Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Matthew 6:10 So, how does that prayer get answered? How does God s will get done on earth compatible with that in Heaven? I. Getting God s Will Done Well, first of all, you have to know the will of God before you can do it. So, here are a few references you might want to jot down. Each of them mentions the will of God, so you don t have to guess about them:

2 To begin with, God wants all of us to make it. He never designed Hell for Humanity; it was originally constructed for the grand Purveyor of rebellion and his comrade demons. That Heaven made provisions to save the whole human race, was made perfectly clear from what Peter said: He is patient with you, not willing anyone should perish, but everyone come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 Gratitude is a big thing with a God who s so generous: Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God s will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:18 Morality is a non-negotiable: It is God s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God. I Thessalonians 4:3-5 Being kind, respectful and loving Not only please God, but leaves no room for people to find fault with you and your faith: It is God s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor. 1 Peter 2:15-17

3 In the next passage, Paul urges a good grasp on God s will and what it entails: Understand what the Lord s will is: Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:17-20 So, Being sober, Staying filled with the Spirit. Encouraging others by singing spiritual songs together. And letting the LORD know how thankful you are these shows you know your stuff when it comes to bringing God s will to earth! Lastly, Remember, you can t do it for just a while; it must be to the end of the road: You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. Hebrews 10:36 Ill. It was 1968 at the Olympic Games, in Mexico. The final marathon event was in progress. The stadium was packed and you could feel the excitement and tension in the air. The crowd finally erupts in applause as the first runner, an Ethiopian, crosses the finish line and takes the gold! However, way back on the track, another contestant, John Stephens Akwhari, from Tanzania has fallen with a serious leg injury. The officials attempt to persuade him to retire, but he refuses.

4 Head throbbing, muscles aching, Akwhari painstakingly hobbles the remaining 12 agonizing kilometers to the finish line. It s an hour after the winner won only a few thousand remained in the crowd, most had gone home. Finally he collapses over the finish line, providing one of the most heroic efforts of Olympic history. Afterward, asked by a reporter why he had not just dropped out, Akwhari answered: My country did not send me to start the race. They sent me to finish. So, If an Olympian could have that much spunk to finish a mere foot-race; how much more should each of us be determined to win the Crown of Life? That said, Since doing God s will is so important, I now want to turn our attention towards a battery of prayers intended on helping us get the job done. They are Biblical prayers that is, prayers recorded in the Bible. They are God-approved prayers seeing that they are Scripture. And they are prayers that God loves to answer, because they are prayers He Himself has given. Moreover, The very fact that they are given to us to pray, implies that the result of praying them is something we could never produce ourselves, otherwise, we would not need to ask, we could simply make it happen ourselves.

5 What I m talking about is a set of 5 requests made by the Psalmist they deal with asking God for help: In recognizing His will. In receiving motivation to do His will. In rejecting the lure of money competing with His will. And in resisting the appeal of idolatry which violates His will. In a word they are an urgent request for Divine assistance in Divine living! II. The Request For Divine Help What s obvious is, we need no such help to do wrong it comes naturally. However, the holy life, now that s another story at best it s an all-out, on-going, up-hill effort! Therefore, Of all the things we should be praying for, our very own sainthood should be at the top of the list; and that s exactly what the Psalmist does: Teach me, LORD, the way of Your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep Your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of Your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward Your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to Your word. Psalm 119:33-37 Now notice, These 5 verses use causative verbs, that is, verbs which would cause the things prayed for to happen namely that God would make them occur!

6 Here s what the pray-er is pleading with the LORD to do: Teach me (v. 33). Give me (v. 34). Direct me (v. 35). Turn me (v. 36, 37). The implication is I can t do this myself. Yes, Your Word is there. Yes, the requirements are clear. Yes, I can read them, But I have neither the insight, strength nor desire to keep them on my own. It will only happen if you intervene and give me what I lack. After all, The printed page is of no use without inward understanding. Scripture explains this: God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. I Corinthians 2:10,14 For example: It makes no sense that blood soaked up by the earth 2,000 years ago can purge the guilty conscience and clear the sin-record of a repenting murder incarcerated in Statesville here in the 21th Century it makes no logical sense, yet, it s true. But, This is nothing new.

7 Ill. For Celsus, a 2nd-century Greek philosopher mockingly wrote the following about the crucifixion: If Christ had been thrown down a cliff or pushed into a pit, or strangled with a rope then they would speak of a cliff of life, or a pit of resurrection, or a rope of immortality. Here, Celsus makes fun of the Christian view of the cross being glorious. Furthermore, he couldn t make sense out of why the so-called Son of God would allow Himself be killed that way in the first place. However, As Paul noted: the natural mind doesn t comprehend the things of God. He says: The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. I Corinthians 1:18,21 Meaning, You ve got to have personal, God-given, understanding in order to be saved and to live out that saved-life. Therefore, Psalmist prays for that kind of understanding and guidance. Have you done that? Are you doing that now? Well, since it s in the Bible and one of its key authors felt it necessary to pray, maybe you should also.

8 So, Let s take a look at what its content. III. What To Pray The first request is to be taught: Teach me, LORD, the way of Your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Psalm 119:33 Have you ever wanted to learn something that you just couldn t figure out? Ill. Five year old, Lynne Hanson, expresses this well. During the summer before kindergarten, she says: I couldn t wait for school to begin. I wanted to read so badly. My brother and sister could read, and my mom and dad told me that when I began kindergarten I would begin to learn to read too. You can imagine my disappointment when the first day of school ended and no one even talked about how to read. The Psalmist, Is saying: God, Just show me how You want me to do things and I ll do them and not quit. Notice, he doesn t say, Tell me what you want first, and then I ll decide whether or not I want to do it. You will never get to know God s will if that s your approach. The commitment to obey has to come first.

9 Jesus, Lays out this order when He said: If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God. John 7:17 The easiest way to get to know God is to want to please Him. You don t have that desire? Ask Him to give it to you. Ask Him to show you how much better His way is than everything else. James puts it simply: Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8 Secondly, The Psalmist prayed: Give me understanding, so that I may keep Your law and obey it with all my heart. Psalm 119:34 Notice this man doesn t pretend to know. Do you just assume you re living how God wants? Isn t that a bit arrogant? Why not ask Him to take you deeper; to help you excel? Look at the Psalmist s anticipated emotional response All In! Getting closer to God gets you wanting to get closer to God! You don t get any feeling that the author thinks God is a downer. No just the opposite! Thirdly he prays Direct me in the path of Your commands, for there I find delight. Psalm 119:35 Who doesn t want to feel elated?

10 Who doesn t like the discharge of a good dose of dopamine? Nobody s better at releasing it than Jesus! True, there are: A lot of hurtles to overcome. Scores of unending tests to endure. And plenty of ordinary days to live. But in those moments when God comes near, they can t be matched! Ask, Ask, Ask the Spirit to give you delight in knowing, loving and obeying His word this is the inheritance of every child of Heaven. Then Fourthly, The man of God asks: Turn my heart toward Your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Psalm 119:36 Here we find the common draw of money. The author knows himself. He doesn t pretend that he isn t tempted toward greed. You and I have the same lure dangling before us it can look mighty appealing, but cold cash makes for a cold heart and a frozen relationship between us and the Father. After all, This was the culprit which lead Judas astray! It was this madness that got him to sell Jesus, yes even his own soul, for a bag of silver, which later he pitched the love of money will drive you crazy! But, Good news.the LORD allows us to ask Him to turn our hearts!

11 To change what we love. To alter our affections. To cause us to count dear the precious Word that He has given. King David expresses the positive heart-change from loving commodities to loving commands: They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them Your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward! Psalm 19:10-11 Listen, You don t have to be trapped in the obsession of things. Here is a prayer you can keep on praying until you re completely free! And lastly, Our mentor pleads for one more intervention: Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to Your word. Psalm 119:37 Do you realize how many times your eyes have gotten you into trouble? Do you understand that many temptations would never exist if you didn t see them? And remember, you can never unsee what is seen. John warns, the passion of the eyes is one of the 3 big snares of the soul. Eve got sucked in this way. Satan attempted to get to Jesus visually with a grandiose offer of power. Therefore,

12 The Psalmist recognized his tremendous vulnerability to the seductive dangers of the eyes. And recognizing the terrible risk, he doesn t try to handle this on his own, instead he humbly asked for supernatural heavenly help to break the spell and look elsewhere at the glorious promises of God s word. Remember, What you love, you ll love seeing! Meaning, to pray for righteous sight is to pray to love the right thing that is, To not get obsessed with that which is worthless! Or to burst the bands of visual addiction you re already trapped in! In Conclusion This timely lesson reminds us to not try and live for Christ on our own sweat and toil. Instead, be honest: With Him, With ourselves and With the Truth, And boldly ask Heaven for the motivation and energy to live saintly each and every day, all day for the rest of our lives! Anything less equals inevitable failure.