Following the ancient ways

 Psalm 119:49–56(ESV): 

Zayin

 49  Remember your word to your servant, 

in which you have made me hope. 

 50  This is my comfort in my affliction, 

that your promise gives me life. 

 51  The insolent utterly deride me, 

but I do not turn away from your law. 

 52  When I think of your rules from of old, 

I take comfort, O Lord. 

 53  Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, 

who forsake your law. 

 54  Your statutes have been my songs 

in the house of my sojourning. 

 55  I remember your name in the night, O Lord, 

and keep your law. 

 56  This blessing has fallen to me, 

that I have kept your precepts. 

God’s Word contains ancient assurances that have stood the test of time, giving security and something dependable to trust in. No other rules or laws are that reliable. Acts are rewritten and updated, laws contested and changed throughout the world and throughout the ages. Yet there is one set of statutes that you can live by that have never been adjusted and that will never be changed. The Law of God has never altered. His commandments about loving Him and loving others, that Jesus also taught, finds it’s source in the Old Testament which was written thousands of years ago, and has never been updated or changed. You can still live by this guidance, it has been tried and tested through thousands of generations, all across the world. The wisest man that ever lived, Solomon recommended it, and no other regulations or rules can lead to life like it does. The Law of God has been followed across nations, cultures and generations, and has been shown to bring life, peace, comfort and strength to those who follow it. What other law does that?! 

How aggravating when people come against it, using persuasive words and delicious temptations to defile and devalue the Word of God (v53). They abandon God’s rules and forget the songs, and how inviting it can seem for you to do the same. To choose a different path of life, different songs to sing, different ‘new’ rules to follow. Yet, can these new influences and desires really bring comfort, strength, or joy? Is it not the ‘rules from of old’ that bring consistent comfort, security, hope and joy? The ancient way that has been tested through the generations, through thousands of years that has led to providing a hope and future for nations and millions of people, surely it makes sense to follow that way rather than anything temporal and untested?

Instead of being tempted to follow the ways of others, of bending with cultural norms, remember God’s Word. Do not allow the persuasive or inviting ways of others sway you, but stand firm with the Word of God that has remained steadfast since the beginning of time. Read, listen to and apply Scripture to your life as it has been giving people freedom and life from ancient days, and it can do the same for you. No other way will provide peace, comfort or joy like God’s Word does.

Psalm 119:56-64 (ESV): 

Heth

 57  The Lord is my portion; 

I promise to keep your words. 

 58  I entreat your favour with all my heart; 

be gracious to me according to your promise. 

 59  When I think on my ways, 

I turn my feet to your testimonies; 

 60  I hasten and do not delay 

to keep your commandments. 

 61  Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, 

I do not forget your law. 

 62  At midnight I rise to praise you, 

because of your righteous rules. 

 63  I am a companion of all who fear you, 

of those who keep your precepts. 

 64  The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; 

teach me your statutes! 

How committed are you to keeping God’s Word? Do you ‘think on my ways’, to ensure that you are heading in the right direction? This writer takes time to reflect on their behaviour and choices, and is honest enough to admit that they ‘turn my feet to your testimonies’. It is good to consider the direction you are going in often. Then it is as easy as changing the angle of your feet to re-align with God’s ways. Slightly adjusting your path to ensure that you don’t wander off-track and become far from God is easier than carrying on, and finding yourself lost with a lot of ground to cover. 

God’s Word is a marvellous guide, are you making sure you follow it, adjusting your direction as you go? Why not take a few moments to think upon your ways (v59). Consider - are your thoughts and your feet aligned to the path God wants you to tread? It is easy to get lost or take a wrong turn when you are not checking the directions, so grab hold of the Word of God and ask the Lord to lead you.

Which way are you walking?

 Psalm 1:1–6 (ESV): 

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 

2  but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 

3  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 

4  The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 

5  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 

6  for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

In this Psalm God promises that however you choose to live your life there will be consequences; He will bless, provide for, sustain and strengthen the way of the righteous. He will not support, promote, or be present with those that take no interest in following Him, take part in evil or mock others. 

Which way are you walking?

Are you living life, ‘in the counsel of the wicked’ or delighting In God’s words? These are the two ways you can walk through life. You either choose to live as a righteous person who actively follows God, or you follow your own desires and are influenced by others - this what David refers to as, 'the way of the wicked'. If you are not someone who loves God’s word, considers it and applies it to life, then we see from this psalm that you are considered as going 'the way of the wicked'. Not because you are not a nice person, but because you have not made knowing God and living His way important in your life. Therefore your decisions and actions are not God-centred, but self-centred and this can end up in all sorts of chaos and disruption. If you’re reading this today and you know that you are not dedicating your life to God but others things, then know that God sees it and He does not want you to continue living this way. That's why psalms like this were written - to show that there is another way of life available. A life where you can live alongside God knowing His blessing and becoming righteous. Would you like to walk into that way of life?

The life lived with God is described as, ‘a tree planted by streams of water’. Well nourished, strong, secure, patiently growing over time, and will ‘in its season’ bear fruit. A righteous life following God will one day be shown for what it is. The patient endurance and dedicated application of God’s word to life will be seen one day as good and profitable, of use and beautiful. A tree slowly growing by a stream may seem like a long boring existence as it takes years to grow and develop, but it will grow. It always has nourishment, it will not grow fast and weak, but slow and strong. Take comfort today if you are walking this way, the way of faith. You may not see the benefit straight away, or even recognise that you are growing or changing much, but one day your dedication and love for God will be seen as good and fruitful. If you keep going, settling by the stream, absorbing God's words, nourished by His Holy Spirit, then you will grow into a strong, beautiful, fruitful tree.

How different to the image of the, ‘chaff that the wind drives away.’ This is the result and expectation of the way of the wicked that do not follow God. They are like worthless husks, the leftovers of threshing that have no use and are not even thrown away, but left to the will of the wind that takes them wherever it wants. Those that live life without acknowledging God are like that. One day their prosperity and apparent success will be shown for what it is; temporal, ungrounded, rubbish. A life not founded on God is not founded on anything substantial as its values can change like the direction of the wind. A life like that can be whisked away in a moment. A tree by a stream has deep roots that keep it grounded and secure when the wind or even storms come, chaff has no such security. Dependency on God is a strength that nothing else in the world can match. 

Which way are you walking?

The Way

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. *2*In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? *3*And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. *4*And you know the way to where I am going.” *5*Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” *6*Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:1–6.

Jesus is ‘the way’. 

The way. This implies there is only one way, a particular one. There are not a multitude of ways or directions one can go, just one, in order to reach God. That way is Jesus. Jesus is the direction, the path to follow, the way to travel. It is like he is a giant signpost revealing the direction to travel in, and he models and demonstrates that way throughout his existence.

So, if Jesus is 'the way' -Where is he going?

Jesus is showing us the way to the Father - the way to be restored to God. Sin, wrongdoing, our own selfishness have all resulted in a broken relationship between us and God. Jesus came to reveal that there is a way in which that relationship can be restored, and that there are not lots of solutions; only one. There are no other routes to reconciliation with God. 

Only one person could have created the way for us to find the path to relationship again, and that is God’s own son, Jesus. Before him there was no pathway or free access to God. Jesus created an avenue for us to follow because only he could. He, as the perfect, faultless, sin-free, holy lamb of God sacrificed himself on the altar of sin so that all sin can finally be atoned for for all time. No-one else could have done that - only the set apart sinless son of God could. We cannot get in favour with God any other way. No matter how good you try to be, how generous and kind and self-sacrificial you are - it is still not enough. No amount of 'niceness' makes up for all the wrong. 

Sin deserves death - that's the only way to completely get rid of it, so that is what Jesus did. He took all sin upon himself and killed it. That was the only way. That is the only path to obliterating sin from our lives, by killing it. We have to do nothing more than accept that Jesus has done that for us. That is why he is 'the way' because he removed the barrier of sin between us and God, and now provides a pathway to Him. Jesus became the way out and the way to something else. 

If you follow Jesus today, then he will take you through forgiveness, past guilt and shame, and show you the Father. The more you get to know Jesus, the more you will know God. You can have access to heaven and a relationship with God that you don’t deserve, because Jesus has made a path to Him. 

This is the way made known to us (v4). Are you following it? Or are you going in your own direction? Any other way will not lead to God. So, if it doesn’t lead to God, where is it going? You can decide today which path you want to follow. 

Jesus showed us what going his was was like. It was not easy, but it did result in a loving, dependent relationship with the Father. Will you follow his way? 

Are you following the forerunner?

Jesus is our forerunner (Hebrews 6:20).
This idea has stuck out for me this week.
When the text of Hebrews was written, a forerunner was someone who went out ahead of the army on a reconnaissance mission. They encountered the unknown territory and checked out the people of the land (much like Joshua and Caleb did in the Old Testament). Forerunners spied out the enemy and went ahead of their army. What a vulnerable position - they had to, without the protection of others, to gather information. They had to navigate unknown territory by themselves then give advice for the rest of the army to follow.

Jesus is our forerunner.

Jesus has done the same for us. He has gone ahead and he has made a path for us to follow. Jesus entered the fray. He didn’t back away, in fact, he surged ahead. He went first, that we might follow. Before Jesus, we couldn’t get entrance to the kingdom of God - there was even a physical veil separating the presence of God from humanity.
So Jesus went as a forerunner, ‘on our behalf’. He had no selfish motive, it was purely to enable and invite us onto new ground. To allow us the access to God that we have lost through our sins. When Jesus died, the veil was torn, and a new path was made. Access to God is now available, You can now have a part in HIs kingdom because of your forerunner.

Jesus knew the way, he knew what he needed to do. He demonstrated what a relationship with God was like and showed a new way. He went ahead to a gruesome death because he was opening the veil for us. He has gone ahead in order to show you the way to go, as hard as it might be - are you following his way?
He is willing and able to lead you in this life as he’s already gone ahead and lived it. Now Jesus invites you to follow him. Will you trust him to lead you?
Are you willing to follow the forerunner?