The Way of Faithfulness - Psalm 119:30 (3 Min Read)
I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me. - Psalm 119:30
In this life, which has for itself eternal weight, men and women must make a choice. They must choose whether they will follow the truth, or be smitten by lies and then live in and with their decision. Against many common modern conceptions, there is no neutrality. Neutrality is a delusion - a lie men tell themselves to avoid the glaring reality of a transcendent God who requires more of them than they care to admit. Neutrality is the comfort cover that men pull up to their necks to reassure themselves that no one really knows the answer, and that life is nothing more than opinions and good wishes. However, you dear saint, know better than this. Our Lord reminds us that if we are not with Him, then we are against Him (Matthew 12:30). By these few words, the myth of neutrality is dispelled. Here, the psalmist is showing us a duty we have as Christians: we must continually choose the way of faithfulness. Remember the Apostle Peter, who after denying our Lord three times, is restored and chooses to follow Christ once again (John 21:15-17). Whatever the temptation may be, whatever the seducers may say, we must flee temptations and lusts and pursue holiness (Hebrews 12:14). Wherever we may find forks in the road where one path is of obedience and faithfulness, and the other is some fleeting pleasure against Christ, a choice must be made. Anytime a choice exists and one way challenges your affection for Him, or sets up idols in your heart, the choice is simple: the way of faithfulness.
This choice, however, exists only for the saint who is daily setting the law of God before his eyes; steadily contemplating the law of God, mulling it over in the mind, allowing the eyes never to wander from it, meditating upon it night after night. This is the saint for whom the choice exists. Those who care nothing for the law do not have a choice, because their heart is tethered to nothing but the whims of their emotions, or the cries of the culture. The assailings of the evil one are light, for the one who does not set God’s rules before him, because he is an easy prey - it takes very little to persuade and corral him. But for them that set God’s law before their eyes, the attacks become more vigorous and violent, yes, but this is because you have become a steadfast soldier. You are no longer easily moved from your position on the rock, for you have chosen to serve Christ. If you would choose the way of faithfulness, this happens not by accident, but by the intentional setting of God’s rules before you. They become your aim, your focus, the road to walk in, the model to follow, the standard for living. Set the ordinances of God before your eyes, and choose the way of faithfulness, and your sweet Savior will receive you with open arms!
S.D.G.
