“Establish my footsteps in Your word”
[Psalms 119:129-136]
I think it is impossible to walk one path faithfully to the end without the grace of God. The reason is because without God's grace, we are more likely to fall into this or that path of delusion than to keep walking faithfully on one path. Our steps need some solidity. We need the solidity to walk one path faithfully. In walking the path of Golgotha that the Lord walked, that narrow path, we must establish our footsteps more and more firmly. Therefore, we must not be deceived by the wide path that unfolds before us.
If we look at Psalms 119:133, the psalmist is praying to God like this: “Establish my footsteps in Your word, And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.” Today, I would like to think about two things under the heading “Establish my footsteps in Your word” based on Psalms 119:129-136: (1) Why should we establish our footsteps firmly in the Lord’s word? (2) How can we establish our footsteps firmly in the Lord’s word?
First, why should we establish our footsteps firmly in the Lord’s word?
There are two reasons:
(1) The reason why we must establish our footsteps firmly in the Lord’s word is so that sin would not control us.
When does sin claim us? When we don’t put the word of the Lord in our hearts, sin claims us. Look at Psalms 119:11 – “Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.” In this time of breaking the Lord’s commands, we see in ourselves the phenomenon that we don’t care about the word of God. The result of this phenomenon is sinning. The reason we have no choice but to sin is because we don't put the word of God in our hearts, and letting our old sinful nature to claim our hearts rather than His word to claim our hearts. We should not let this happen. We should no longer let sin claim us. Rather, we must put the word of God in our hearts, and we must make it to assert us. Because we love the commandments of the Lord more and more, we must keep them. Therefore, we must establish our footsteps firmly in the word of the Lord.
(2) The reason why we must establish our footsteps firmly in the Lord’s word is to save us from oppression of man.
Look at Psalms 119:134 – “Redeem me from the oppression of man, That I may keep Your precepts.” The pressure that comes upon us as we keep the word of God is a good test for us to know whether we are standing firmly on His word or not. If we don’t stand firmly on the word of God, we will give up His word due to oppression, and we will sin against God because we compromise with the world. However, if we stand firmly on the word of God, the oppression on us will be a great opportunity for us to stand firmly on His word. This is God's salvation. Of course, salvation is delivered from the pressure, but it is also God's salvation to stand firmly on the word of the Lord because of the oppression.
Second, how can we establish our footsteps in the Lord’s word?
Psalms 119:129-136 teaches us three things:
(1) In order to establish our footsteps firmly in the Lord’s word, we must be the simple.
Look at Psalms 119:130 – “The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” Here, “the simple” refers to a believer who isn’t double-minded in front of God and wants to honor only God with single-minded (Mt. 11:25; Ps. 27:4) (Park). There is understanding when the word of God is unfolded to such person. And when there is understanding, we can establish our steps firmly in the word of the Lord.
(2) In order to establish our footsteps firmly in the Lord’s word, we must open our mouth wide and pant.
Look at Psalms 119:131 – “I opened my mouth wide and panted, For I longed for Your commandments.” The psalmist longed for the Lord’s commandments knowing that he would die if it wasn’t His commandments as if a person didn’t breathe air, he would die (Park). That is why we must long for the word of the Lord. We have to open our mouths and pant for His word. We need to know a little bit that we will die without eating the Lord’s word. So, in order to live, we must long for the Lord’s word. We must have a sense of survival crisis and long for God's Word.
(3) In order to establish our footsteps firmly in the Lord’s word, we must observe the Lord’s wonderful word.
Look at Psalms 119:129 – “Your testimonies are wonderful; Therefore my soul observes them.” Because the psalmist was experiencing the wonders of God's testimonies, he kept the commandments of the Lord. He set his footsteps firmly on the words of the Lord. How about us? If we are experiencing the wonders of the Lord’s word, we will be more and more obedient and striving to keep it. However, if we aren’t experiencing the wonders of His word, we will neglect to keep it. We will not even try to learn the words of the Lord like the psalmist (v. 135). As a result, we will make tears in the eyes of those who keep God's commandments because we don’t keep them (v. 136). We shouldn’t do that anymore. We must experience the wonders of God's word. By obeying His word, we must experience the grace of God deeper (v. 132). Therefore, we must set our footsteps firmly in the word of the Lord.
We must establish our footsteps firmly in the word of the Lord. In order for no sin to take control of us, we must set our footsteps firmly in His word. Also, in order to save from the oppression of those who break God's word, we must establish our footsteps firmly in the word of the Lord. In order to do that, we have to be the simple. We must long for the word of the Lord with an attitude of honoring only the Lord with single-minded. And we must open our mouths and eat the word of God in order to live. I hope and pray that all of us who are moving forward by keeping the wonderful word of God and establishing our footsteps firmly in the word of the Lord.
Desiring to stand firmly in the word of the Lord in my footstep toward heaven,
James Kim
(As I hope and pray for building His house on the Rock)