Understand… Do you? Can you? How…..??
In reflecting on the next section of Psalm 119 I keep coming back to this one phrase from verse 73. “..give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.”
How is it that we come to ‘understand’? I can think of only these two ways…
Logic.
Experience.
When God issues a command, sometimes I fully understand why.
He says ‘don’t murder’ and I understand that if I murder, I have overstepped my own choices and enforced my will over another person, I am choosing FOR them…. to die, even if they choose to live.
That is wrong. It is not my choice. And wrong on many other levels.
God has said lots of ‘do’s and ‘do not’s that I understand with the logic that He has created in us.
Other things He has said, I have come to understand the same way Eve did. I found out for myself. Experience is a good teacher. I could list hundreds of lessons I’ve learned the hard way.
From all those hard lessons, I want most to learn and remember one thing… When God says something, there is a very good reason for it. I don’t have to understand it with my logic. I don’t have to experience it to know for sure. I can just take Him at His Word.
The Message puts that phrase very well. “… breathe Your wisdom over me so I can understand You”
He has done that for me time and time again. Given me His wisdom. “I can see now, GOD, that your decisions are right.” (vs.75)
He is right every single time about every single thing.
Logic or no logic.
Experience or no experience.
Lord, Help me not to choose to experience. Especially those things that Your directions intend for me to avoid. Help me to learn from Eve’s mistake and not to make the same ones. I want to simply trust, simply obey. Forgive me for depending on my own logic. It is so flawed.
“May my heart be without blame as I follow your orders. Then I won't be put to shame.”(vs.80)
