July 9 - Busyness

Read Psalm 119:33-40
Context: continuation
h He
33 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees;
then I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word. [b]
38 Fulfill your promise to your servant,
so that you may be feared.
39 Take away the disgrace I dread,
for your laws are good.
40 How I long for your precepts!
Preserve my life in your righteousness.(NIV)

taken from www.biblegateway.com

This stanza could stand alone as a prayer! If you remember from last week, the author has been writing eight verses that start with one letter of the Hebrew alphabet. While he has been talking to God in each of the stanzas up to this point, he shifts and dedicates this one to a prayerful request.

In your prayer time today, include these lines. Verses 36 and 37 really seem to hit home in our era. We have so many distractions that, while they may be worthwhile, take us away from God's word. Can you take time today to 'turn your eyes away' and spend time reading your Bible?

Even as I type that, I am coming up with excuses for why I'm too busy. HA! Why procrastinate in my reading when I can put off cleaning the bathroom for one more day?