Prayer and duty

Psalm 119 is full of instruction about the word of God. It makes clear to us that it contains the commandments of God which come to us with the authority of our creator. We are told in Psalm 119 v 4, "Thou hast commanded us to keep Thy precepts diligently." The commandments of God are not a recommendation from God as to how we should live which we can take or leave. They are the commandments of God our maker and creator which are to be obeyed. We should submit our will to God's commands and with all the heart obey them.

All who truly repent and believe on Christ are forgiven their disobedience of God's commands. It results in them now out of love for God having the desire to obey the God of their salvation. The believer now wants to comprehensively obey God's commands in every area of life. The problem is that in and of ourselves we miserably fail to obey God's commands.

So, what are we then to do as believers in Christ? We are to prayerfully ask God by the Holy Spirit to help us obey His commands, "O that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes !" Do you really imagine that as a believer God will not help you to obey Him as you prayerfully ask Him to?

All believers in Christ with God's help should seek to comprehensively and continually obey the commandments of God their Maker and Saviour. We are to do this because there is a sense of shame in a believer when we disobey the God of our salvation:

"Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Thy commandments" (Psalm 119 v 6)