Woman Studying the Bible With a Hand on Her Heartby CBPepper
119:112Psalms 119:112
I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.
The verse expresses a deliberate, settled, wholehearted choice to incline, direct, devote, and set the heart to perform and obey God's statutes continually, always, through life to the end. It is not a momentary impulse but a fixed purpose of the inner life, maintained without wavering from the present decision all the way to the close of life. David exemplifies this devotion, having deliberately devoted his heart to obeying God's statutes continually and remaining faithful to the end.
To the obedient child of God, the commandments are a delight, and that delight finds expression in inclining the heart to perform God's statutes always even unto the end. Obedience is therefore not drudgery but joy, springing from love for the law and issuing in steadfast practice. The truly penitent make this same choice, valuing God's precepts above all things and desiring to serve Him wholeheartedly through to the end. Penitence turns the affections toward what God commands, so that keeping His statutes continually becomes the ruling desire of life.
Receiving God's Word in the heart leads to a life and course of action in harmony with its lessons, as hearers become doers of the Word. The inward reception directs the heart toward obedience, and that direction perseveres to the end in consistent doing. The whole psalm in which the verse stands exalts God's law, and God's Word is to rule life, define right and wrong, and take precedence over human counsel. Life is therefore to be ordered by Scripture rather than by human opinion, with the Word as the supreme standard for judgment and conduct.
This commitment belongs to those who remain obedient to God's law and receive the light He continues to give, even as others defy His commandments. While many turn aside, the faithful press on in obedience and walk in increasing light to the end. Contempt for God's law does not weaken their loyalty; seeing others disregard it deepens reverence for it and resolve to obey. Opposition thus strengthens rather than shakes devotion, confirming the heart more firmly in delight in the commandments and in purpose to keep them continually.
The verse expresses a deliberate, settled, wholehearted choice to incline, direct, devote, and set the heart to perform and obey God's statutes continually, always, through life to the end. It is not a momentary impulse but a fixed purpose of the inner life, maintained without wavering from the present decision all the way to the close of life. David exemplifies this devotion, having deliberately devoted his heart to obeying God's statutes continually and remaining faithful to the end.
To the obedient child of God, the commandments are a delight, and that delight finds expression in inclining the heart to perform God's statutes always even unto the end. Obedience is therefore not drudgery but joy, springing from love for the law and issuing in steadfast practice. The truly penitent make this same choice, valuing God's precepts above all things and desiring to serve Him wholeheartedly through to the end. Penitence turns the affections toward what God commands, so that keeping His statutes continually becomes the ruling desire of life.
Receiving God's Word in the heart leads to a life and course of action in harmony with its lessons, as hearers become doers of the Word. The inward reception directs the heart toward obedience, and that direction perseveres to the end in consistent doing. The whole psalm in which the verse stands exalts God's law, and God's Word is to rule life, define right and wrong, and take precedence over human counsel. Life is therefore to be ordered by Scripture rather than by human opinion, with the Word as the supreme standard for judgment and conduct.
This commitment belongs to those who remain obedient to God's law and receive the light He continues to give, even as others defy His commandments. While many turn aside, the faithful press on in obedience and walk in increasing light to the end. Contempt for God's law does not weaken their loyalty; seeing others disregard it deepens reverence for it and resolve to obey. Opposition thus strengthens rather than shakes devotion, confirming the heart more firmly in delight in the commandments and in purpose to keep them continually.