What are you Thinking?

Read Psalm 119:161-168.

Sin and Shin

A love affair occupies the mind.  It influences everything else we do and want to do.  Love fascinates the imagination as we think upon the object of our affection throughout the day.  Unashamedly, we let everyone know that this is the one for us.

The psalmist declared again and again his love for God and His Word.  He had given up every other spiritual pursuit as a false influence for life.  Indeed, he stood in awe of what God had to say.

Loving the LORD with all one's heart, produces two mind-changing outcomes mentioned in this twenty-first stanza.

1. Praise. (v.164)

"Seven times a day I praise you."  This is, of course, a hyperbole.  No one in love actually keeps score.  Expressions of affection are most often spontaneous and repeated.  The heart is eager to do so.  One in love with God sees His handiwork in every direction throughout the day.  It is an all-the-time thing.  The Apostle Paul wrote: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice." (Philippians 4:4)

2. Peace.  (v.165)

"Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble."  In every stanza of this psalm the writer has prayed for deliverance of some kind.  Dealing with sin and adversity is normal to daily human life.  He was not saying his outward circumstances were peaceful; it was his inward condition that benefited from his love of God.  Peace in the midst of a storm will not make sense to some, as it did not to the disciples on the boat with Jesus asleep.  But once we have presented our requests to the God of peace, the Apostle Paul wrote: "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7)