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WHAT DOES HE WANT?
Having therefore established God’s existence (v.1-6), the logical question that follows is: What does He want?
Five times within five verses (v. 7-11), Psalm 19 touts the Bible as both God’s gift to humanity and the medium through which He makes His will known to us. We can infer thusly that God desires for us to read and adhere to His Word (John 14:23-24) – and come to know Him better by it.
For believers and non-believers alike, this can be easier said than done.
For non-believers, what the Bible teaches – without proper guidance from the Holy Spirit (John 14:26) to discern it, or a heart and mind willing to receive it – can sometimes be difficult to understand. God’s motives and rationale are not always clear. Many of His instructions seem to defy human logic because they require an act of faith – not reason. And, taken outside the context of faith in a loving and beneficent Heavenly Father, such edicts come across as counterintuitive – if not irrational.
For believers, the disconnect has less to do with understanding God’s Word so much as it does following through on it. The average Christian understands (on an intellectual level at any rate) that the Bible contains every instruction mankind needs in order to live in harmony with God and according to His purposes. Unfortunately, for many, such casual acknowledgement is as far as it goes. Reading God’s Word and actually doing what it says – especially the parts one finds difficult or happens to disagree with – are two decidedly different things. (James 1:23-24) And that is the point at which many Christians content themselves to believe in God without actually following Him.
In either case, both the believer and the non-believer alike are missing out on something far greater and more valuable than all the riches and delights this world has to offer. (v.10) As atheist-turned-apologist C. S. Lewis explains it, “God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.” It can only be found in Him – and His Word.
Having therefore established God’s existence (v.1-6), the logical question that follows is: What does He want?
Five times within five verses (v. 7-11), Psalm 19 touts the Bible as both God’s gift to humanity and the medium through which He makes His will known to us. We can infer thusly that God desires for us to read and adhere to His Word (John 14:23-24) – and come to know Him better by it.
For believers and non-believers alike, this can be easier said than done.
For non-believers, what the Bible teaches – without proper guidance from the Holy Spirit (John 14:26) to discern it, or a heart and mind willing to receive it – can sometimes be difficult to understand. God’s motives and rationale are not always clear. Many of His instructions seem to defy human logic because they require an act of faith – not reason. And, taken outside the context of faith in a loving and beneficent Heavenly Father, such edicts come across as counterintuitive – if not irrational.
For believers, the disconnect has less to do with understanding God’s Word so much as it does following through on it. The average Christian understands (on an intellectual level at any rate) that the Bible contains every instruction mankind needs in order to live in harmony with God and according to His purposes. Unfortunately, for many, such casual acknowledgement is as far as it goes. Reading God’s Word and actually doing what it says – especially the parts one finds difficult or happens to disagree with – are two decidedly different things. (James 1:23-24) And that is the point at which many Christians content themselves to believe in God without actually following Him.
In either case, both the believer and the non-believer alike are missing out on something far greater and more valuable than all the riches and delights this world has to offer. (v.10) As atheist-turned-apologist C. S. Lewis explains it, “God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.” It can only be found in Him – and His Word.
About this Plan
Some of the toughest questions life throws at us are often some of the simplest to answer Scripturally. This short devotional will examine three such “meaning of life” questions – Is there a God? What does He want? How do we respond? – through the lens of one of the Bible's smallest passages, Psalm 19.
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