A Word in Season: Back to God's Ways (Psalm 119:59)

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In Psalm 119 and verse 59, the psalmist writes, I thought about my ways and turned my feet to your testimonies.

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That psalm is a good reminder to us, that verse tells us how we might consider our lives and the kind of responses that we must make to the things that we find in them.

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The first thing you'll find there is reflection. I thought about my ways. I considered the pattern of my life.

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I considered how I'm going and where I'm going. I thought about where I am, where I want to be, and how

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I'm going to get there. I thought about the manner of my thoughts and my words and my deeds.

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I made a careful assessment of the whole pattern and tenor of my existence on this earth.

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I reflected. I thought about my ways. And then I turned my feet.

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There's action. And the sense is I turned my feet back. It seems that the psalmist, upon reflection, discovered that there were certain things in his life that were not as they ought to be.

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There were certain attitudes that needed to be corrected, certain behaviours that needed to be brought back in line with the word of God.

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The whole pattern of things, although it may have had much health, still had some elements that needed to be corrected.

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And so he was turning his feet back. He wanted to ensure that he was no longer going in the direction that he had realised was wrong, but he wanted to get into the direction that he knew now was right.

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So there was reflection and there was action, but there was also direction.

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What was the standard by which this man of God assessed his existence? What was the rule by which he measured his thoughts and words and deeds?

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How did he know that he was going wrong? Where did he find that out? And by what means did he then turn his feet back into a right way?

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How did he know it was right? I thought about my ways, he said, and I turned my feet back to your testimonies.

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That is the rule and the guide of a believer's life. God has spoken in his word.

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God has made himself known in order that we may know him and honour him and glorify him above all things.

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And it is that question then, that issue, that helps us to make a proper reflection. Are my behaviours, are my beliefs, are these things reflective of the

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God whom I claim to serve? And if they are not, then I need to get them right.

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I need to turn back to the testimonies of God. These are the words that guide me into God's ways.

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Now this is a help to us, first of all, to discern whether or not we're Christians at all. Do I believe this

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God? Not a God of my own imagination, but the God of the word. Have I come to him through Jesus Christ to trust in him to save me from my sins?

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The inevitable, the invariable consequence of that, whatever our starting point may be, is that we will then walk in the ways of the

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Lord. Whoever loves him keeps his commandments. And so, by reflecting upon our own state and condition in relation to God and his word, we may come to know whether or not we are believers.

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And then we can work out whether or not we are healthy believers. Are we growing in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ?

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Are we advancing in godliness? When the word of God exposes particular sin in us, when it shows us where we are falling short, where it reveals where we're going astray, do we then, guided by God's truth, turn our feet back to his testimonies, depending on his grace, in order to enable us to do so?

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This then is the path of the righteous man. He doesn't just go on assuming that all is always well with him.

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But there is reflection, there is action, and there is direction. I thought about my ways.

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Have you done that yet today? Will you do it for what comes up today? And then will you take action?

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Will you turn your feet back into right paths? And will you always heed direction, that both the standard of your assessment and the rule of your obedience will be the testimonies of the

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Most High God whose word is given that we may have life and that we may walk in the ways of righteousness?