There are some decisions that have an outsized impact on your life. Decisions like who to date, when to marry, whether or not to move for that job, what career to pursue…
And the quality of your decision making affects the quality of your life. If you make better decisions, you will have a better life. That’s not to say life will be easy or that you can avoid pain or hardship. There will be so much in life that isn’t up to you and that you won’t get to decide. However, as far as the decisions in life that do belong to you, if you make better decisions you’ll have a better life.
So, how can you make better decisions when the stakes are high? The key is to gain God’s perspective. If you knew what God knew and could see what God sees, you would make better decisions.
God has given us an incredible gift to help us gain His perspective - the Bible. This collection of 66 books tells you all about God’s perspective on life. What leads to human flourishing? What does he love? What does he hate? What kind of life leads to reward? What kind of life leads to regret? It’s all in there.
It makes sense then to say that you need to engage with the Bible to get God’s perspective and make better decisions. Here are 5 insights from Psalm 119 on how you can do that.
1. Read His Word daily.
“I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.”
- Psalm 119:146 (NIV)
“Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.”
- Psalm 119:164 (NIV)
You will notice the Psalmist doesn’t use the language of “reading” in these verses. That’s because most people couldn’t read in the time this was written. However, you still see here the urgency of the Psalmist to interact daily with God’s word.
You and I have the luxury of technology and easy access to read the Bible. So, how can we engage daily with God’s word and with prayer? A common routine is to engage first thing in the morning and last thing at night. In the morning, offer your day to God, and at night, you offer your thanks and your cares to the Lord.
When you engage with the Word consistently, you gain God’s perspective on all of life. It works its way into your mind and heart. Try this out by committing to read or listen to Psalm 119 each day this week.
2. Meditate on His Word constantly.
“Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.”
- Psalm 199:97 (NIV)
“My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.”
- Psalm 119:148 (NIV)
When you think of meditating, you probably think of the Eastern form of meditation - clearing your mind of all thought. However, meditation in the Bible always means turning over an idea in your mind, considering it from a thousand different angles, imagining yourself in the story, and thinking what it was like from a character’s perspective or from God’s perspective.
If you engage with God’s Word in the morning but then forget about it for the rest of the day, it will lack that transformative power that you are longing for. However, when you meditate on the Bible, you will see the Word become relevant to the decisions you are making in real time.
If you don’t meditate on God’s Word your experience of the stories will seem wooden and flat. You’ll often forget what you read as soon as you are done reading. You might be checking off the box that says “Read God’s Word.” But you’ll be missing out on unleashing the power of the Word in your life.
3. Delight in His Word fully.
How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
- Psalm 199:103 (NIV)
“For I delight in your commands because I love them.”
- Psalm 119:47 (NIV)
To the writer of Psalm 119, God’s word is an invaluable treasure. It is something to delight in, and he experiences an almost visceral delight in God’s Word.
It may be difficult for you to imagine delighting in God’s Word. It may feel like a chore more than a treasure. Or maybe it is something you respect, revere, and find it important, but you wouldn’t say you “delight” in it.
According to the Psalmist God’s word is sweeter than honey. And when you get just a taste of it you experience spontaneous delight! I didn’t understand this as a young man. The commands felt like they were keeping me from something. With a bit of age and perspective, I see now that God’s commands were protecting me from me. God’s commands give me the deepest desires of my heart. I delight in God’s commands because they keep me married, they give me the family I’ve longed for, it keeps me from disaster, it gives me self-control, it keeps me walking with my God, and reminds me of the power of God.
When God’s word becomes sweeter to you than honey, then you’ll long for it and crave it. Then you’ll gain God’s perspective. You’ll know and treasure what God thinks about your decisions.
4. Memorize His Word diligently.
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
- Psalm 119:11 (NIV)
Memorizing things is increasingly difficult because we have outsourced our memory to our phones. We don’t have to remember almost anything, so we have lost our ability to memorize.
However it can be done with a little bit of dedication and a bit of training. Here’s a resource for you on how to memorize books of the Bible.
When Scripture is not just on a page but it’s hidden in your heart, you can instinctively make decisions according to God’s perspective. You have access to God’s way of thinking because it is in you.Ever been frustrated by sin. Ever been frustrated that you keep doing what you don’t want to do? Try memorizing Scripture.
5. Obey His Word gladly.
“Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them.”
- Psalm 119:129 (NIV)
“I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly.”
- Psalm 119:167 (NIV)
It’s been said that obedience means without delay, without discussion, and without disgust. It makes no sense to seek out God’s perspective by reading, meditating, delighting, and memorizing His Word but then NOT do what it says!
It makes sense to obey - to obey because the Creator of the world who made you, who loves you, who wants you to be blessed has given you his Word. It makes sense to obey because obedience leads to blessing. It makes sense to obey because if you don’t, then you are flirting with disaster.
I’m reminded of how Jesus who obeyed God perfectly in everything. He perfectly followed the Will and Word of God and obeyed the letter and the Spirit of the Law. And it wasn’t easy. It sometimes was unbelievably difficult or painful or humiliating. But it led to blessing for Jesus and blessing for us.
His perfect obedience led him to the cross and then to the tomb. But it also led to an empty tomb and a risen Savior.
Jesus has gone before us to demonstrate that when you obey God’s Word, no matter the cost, you discover blessing.
What decision are you facing today that you need God’s perspective?
Are you dealing with a relationship, or loneliness, or a major decision about your job or your life? If you follow in the footsteps of Jesus and obey God’s Word gladly, I can’t promise you it will be easy or painless. No one can promise that. But I can say that if you act in faith, if you trust God enough to obey him, like Jesus, you’ll discover blessing.
If you knew what God knew and you could see what God sees, you would make better decisions. Thankfully, He gives His perspective through His Word. I hope you grow in your love for the Word of God!
[Thank you for reading! If you are looking for a church in Boston or churches in Boston please consider giving Renewal Church a try!]
