Enjoying God’s Will || Psalm 40:8 || Weekend Wind-Down #25

Welcome to the twenty-fifth week of “Weekend Wind-Down.” This series is where we take the verse of the day, look at the face value interpretation, check the background and context of the verse, do a deeper dive on the focus scripture, and figure out what we can walk away with. 

Today’s verse is Psalm 40:8, which says this: 

8 I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart. 

Background

If you haven’t heard of a Psalm before, it’s a piece of poetry that conveys praise, worship, and confession to God. The collection of Psalms breaks down into five books. Psalm 40 comes from the first book, similar to Genesis. As Genesis talks about how humanity got created, fell into sin, and received a promise of redemption, these psalms discuss humanity as blessed, fallen, and redeemed by God.

Deep Dive

Our focus verse shows Jesus’ attitude about obeying and serving God. We hear about it more clearly in John 4:34, which says this: 

34 Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.

Jesus is talking about his spiritual nourishment here. This feeling came from doing God’s will and helping bring salvation to the woman at the well. We must recognize that spiritual nourishment is more than attending church, Bible study, and praying. It also includes what we give out to God.

How can this look? Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 3:3:

3 Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stones, but on human hearts. 

Paul is sharing some Old Testament imagery here. (See Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 11:19, and Ezekiel 36:26) We must remember that we don’t take credit for our conversation. We made the decision, sure, but the work is from the Holy Spirit. Our conversation results from the Holy Spirit in our hearts, giving us new power to live for him. 

What should we take away from this?

Take-Home Point

It’s the core message about what it means to be a Christian. I enjoy doing what God calls me to because his plans are in my heart. We see Jesus portraying this image throughout his ministry. He shared the Gospel, healed people, forgave people of their sins, and more. Yet, and we need to hear this too, Jesus got angry when he saw injustice. Jesus got anxious when it was time to do what God sent him. Jesus was sad when his best friend died. Being a Christian doesn’t mean we must always be happy. We can feel our emotions as God created them to be. How we react to our emotions will show our heart posture as a Christian. It’s remembering that when Jesus was angry, he stood up for what was right. It’s remembering that when Jesus was anxious, to the point of sweating blood, he talked to God. It’s remembering that when he wept, the community that cared about him surrounded him. 

Psalm 37:30-31 says this: 

30 The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong. 

31 They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path. 

The Psalm 37 passage discusses what it means to do God’s will. A core element of that is making God’s law their own. For the Psalmist’s audience, it’s following what the Torah taught them. The Torah is the first five books in our Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. There were 613 laws at that point. In my opinion, since Jesus came to fulfill the law, it’s following God’s moral law. Jesus shared this: Love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love each other as he loved us. Parts of the Torah can be ways to fulfill God’s moral law. It’s not a black-or-white mindset when it comes to the laws of the Bible, but it’s an understanding that God’s law is excellent and ever-present. There are many examples of Jesus quoting Old Testament law scriptures to share with the Pharisees and the various audiences about what it means to live a godly life. According to our Psalm 37 passage, the godly offers good counsel and teaches right from wrong. The godly, meaning those who understand, comprehend, and live out God’s laws, are the ones who can offer good counsel and teach what’s right and wrong. It’s not from their perspective, although personal testimony is vital, but from how they saw God move in their lives and situations. 

Concerning quoting the Old Testament, Paul does that in the 2 Corinthians passage I mentioned earlier. Paul says we are “a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you.” We are a walking and talking story from God showing the good works that he has brought to our lives among the community. Our letter is written with the Holy Spirit and gets written on our hearts. The Holy Spirit is helping us write and share our testimony through the different things God calls us to do and the situations where God’s glory can shine. It’s not on us. We cannot take credit for this. We can decide to follow God and accept him as our Lord and Savior, but the credit for the work and results from following God must go to God. The change comes from God’s spirit changing our heart posture and being reborn into life. It’s the new spiritual nourishment that brings us the energy. 

In the John 4 passage I referenced, Jesus talks about his spiritual nourishment. This verse comes after the story of the Samaritan woman at the well and the conservation that brought her to salvation. It recognizes that introducing someone to God as their Lord and Savior is more than going to church or Bible study. It’s more than praying and worshiping. It’s a balance of life. We can become nourished not only by what we take in but also by what we give to God. What are we offering as far as our time? What are we offering as far as our resources? What are we offering as far as our gifts? Jesus felt spiritually full after his encounter with the woman at the well. The thing with being full is that you will get empty again. Then, we do something else and continue the cycle. It may be leading a Bible study for you, talking with a coworker about your Bible Study, and inviting them to join, which can lead to great conversation and lead them to church. They get that same spiritual nourishment that you have, and then you double down on it. You take meals to people who are homebound. You visit people in the hospital or prison and pray with them. You participate in social justice movements with them to stand up for what’s right. This goal is the work that Jesus is talking about. 

I want to add this entire passage to our discussion because it’ll hit home with most of us. It’s Romans 7:21-25, and I want you to hear what Paul said here. I would even encourage you to read it with you, the reader, being the “I” voice instead of Paul. Here’s what it says: 

21 I have discovered this principle of life – that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 

22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 

23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 

24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 

25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: in my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. 

Paul found this out: “When I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.” How many of you can connect with this? I know I can. No one, or HOPEFULLY no one, gets up thinking, “I am only going to do what is wrong.” We end up doing the wrong thing or saying the wrong thing unintentionally. My go-to example of this lately has been: “I know what I need to do to take care of myself, but I’m going to do what’s easier and more comfortable.” The more accessible and comfortable things are wrong when caring for me. There are extenuating circumstances to this that I am not comfortable sharing with you right now, but the mindset is still there. Now, I recognize God’s law and try to live it out with all my heart. In my circumstance, it would be the verse that talks about “taking care of my temple for the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthian 3:16-17) I know I should care for the needs that would make me healthier physically, mentally, and spiritually, but yet “there’s another power within me that is at war with my mind.” For me, it’s the fear of change and the unknown. If I take better care of myself, then what could happen? You would think that it could only be positive things, but in my mind, it’s the possibility that negative things could happen.

The fear of doubt in caring for the temple God created me to do makes me yearn to do what is more comfortable and less scary. It’s easy to get down on ourselves in these moments. It’s been easy to get down on myself and criticize myself for my circumstances, especially feeling there’s no hope to overcome this. When Paul was in these moments, he looked to Jesus: the same Jesus that can overcome death, hell, and the grave. Paul remembers how he was made free by what Jesus did: paying the sinner’s price in our place. We should do the same thing. I should do the same thing. It can be challenging, especially for me with my control issues. Yet, Jesus can overcome our sins and get us on a path to victory. 

Thank you for joining me for this Weekend Wind-Down as we explored how to follow God’s will through the teachings of the Psalms, Gospel of John, and the Apostle Paul. Stay tuned for the next reflection. Let me close out with prayer. 

Father God, we thank you for the works of your Son, who showed us how to live a godly life and to do it with joy. Help us to live as Jesus taught us and as you called us. When we stay focused on our sins and knock ourselves down because we get stuck in our sins, please help us to remember the victory and overcoming your son is for us. Please help us to live so that the Holy Spirit can work miracles. We love you, Lord. It’s in your name, we pray. Amen.