“Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me,” Psalm 119:133.
I read these words as part of my daily Bible reading just four days ago. They appealed to me as words worthy of further consideration by us all. I had just been asked by Rev Jonathan Creane to speak at tonight’s prayer meeting, so I thought them worthy of some thought tonight.
I see four thoughts here which I will briefly set before you.
I. A HOLY LIFE IS AN ORDERLY LIFE.
* The word ‘order’ carries a very broad meaning.
Prepare, Establish, Stablish, Direct, are just some of the English words used to translate the Hebrew word employed by the Holy Spirit. It is first seen in Genesis 41:32.
There it appears as ‘established’. It refers to the certainty of what was revealed to Pharaoh in his dreams.
* We need a sure-footedness that is given of God.
“Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip,” 2 Samuel 22:37. “Hold up my goings in thy paths, [that] my footsteps slip not.” Psalm 17:5. How different with the wicked. “To me [belongeth] vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in [due] time: for the day of their calamity [is] at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste,” Deuteronomy 32:35. He Who keeps our feet makes the feet of the wicked to slide!
* Where we place our feet, where we walk is important.
We need the blessing of the Lord upon our feet as well as our heads and hearts!
II. THE CHRISTIAN WALK IS A STEP AT A TIME.
We are but babes. As a baby walks at the first - one step at a time!
We cannot plan or determine the path ahead. “Sajid Javid, the new English Health Minister, vows ‘no going back’ when lockdown restrictions are lifted.” That is an arrogant, defiant foolish announcement.
III. THE BIBLE IS THE PATH IN WHICH WE SHOULD WALK.
“Order my steps in thy word.” Here is the path we should follow, the map we must consult.
* How important it is to read the Bible.
* How important it is to believe and obey the Bible.
* How important it is to make the Bible the only authority in our lives!
* The Lord will never lead us contrary to His Word!
* That is important for us to remember in these days of the spouting of ‘self-appointed’ spokesmen and spokeswomen who claim to represent God!
IV. SUCH A PATH IS ONE OF VICTORY.
“Let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” Here is victory over EVERY sin!John says: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin,” 1 John 1:7.
* Here is the duty of all believers. “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof,” Romans 6:12.
* The words of our text tell us how this may be achieved. Walking in the truth of God keeps us under the blood of Christ, the sin-defeating blood of the Lamb.
* We have an assurance of victory. “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber,” Psalms 121:3. “He will keep the feet of his saints,” 1 Samuel 2:9.
“Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous [sins]; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression,” Psalm 19:13.