Morning Light – September 6th, 2016: Participating in Your Own Breakthrough

Morning Light – September 6th, 2016
Today: [Psalm 119 Continued] Participating in Your Own Breakthrough. This portion of Psalm 119 finds the writer surrounded by difficulty and looking for a way out. He doesn’t wallow in self-pity. He doesn’t immerse himself in unbelief. He doesn’t seek out the counsels of the uninformed. Instead he deploys a strategy of proactive handling of the word of God that tears down the walls of adversity and redefines his life from breakdown to breakthrough.
[Psa 119:121-151 KJV] 121 AIN. I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors. 122 Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me. 123 Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness. 124 Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes. 125 I [am] thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies. 126 [It is] time for [thee], LORD, to work: [for] they have made void thy law. 127 Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. 128 Therefore I esteem all [thy] precepts [concerning] all [things to be] right; [and] I hate every false way. 129 PE. Thy testimonies [are] wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them. 130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. 131 I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.
The writer states from an Old Testament perspective that he has done judgment and justice. From that position he asks God to deliver him from his oppressors. What about the New Testament believer? What can we do to position ourselves to receive deliverance from the hand of God? Are we to judge others? Jesus said in Matt. 7:1 to “judge not that you be not judged…” So that isn’t a direction we want to go. What is judgment from a New Testament perspective? Isaiah said the following about the work of Jesus on the cross:
[Isa 53:6 KJV] 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Paul put it this way to the Christians in Rome:
[Rom 3:10 KJV] 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
If we are not righteous in ourselves then on what basis do we even come to God much less look to Him for answers in our lives? Paul taught the Corinthians the following about righteousness:
[1Co 1:30 KJV] 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
Our righteousness is not in adherence to the law or fidelity to a religious system. Our righteousness is wrapped up in a person – in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you are oppressed you come to God and He hears you and acts in your life not on the basis of who you are but upon the basis of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.
What about your oppressors? What about those who are bent on making your life difficult or spurning your wishes or neglecting you in some way? Can we ask God to judge them as the writer of Psalm 119 does? Jesus gave specific instructions:
[Mar 11:25 KJV] 25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Does that mean that God will never intervene? Certainly He will. His Spirit will not always strive with man. He will deliver you – but only in the context of the universality of His grace. He will not release to your life the mercy you are unwilling to extend or see extended to others.
132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. 133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. 134 Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts. 135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes. 136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law. 137 TZADDI. Righteous [art] thou, O LORD, and upright [are] thy judgments. 138 Thy testimonies [that] thou hast commanded [are] righteous and very faithful. 139 My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words. 140 Thy word [is] very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it. 141 I [am] small and despised: [yet] do not I forget thy precepts. 142 Thy righteousness [is] an everlasting righteousness, and thy law [is] the truth.
When verse 133 says “order My steps in the word…” what is being said? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. In other words, the faith that the word inspires directs the circumstance that unfolds in your life. This is what we refer to when we say the narrative of the word drives the experience of your life. You are where your attention takes you. The world maintains a very consistent narrative seeking to shape your life and keep you bound as a resource they can spend to their own advantage. You do realize for instance that your attention span is being sold as a commodity by every media outlet you expose yourself to? Your attention is the stock and trade of every television station, website and radio program you watch, surf or listen to. Slaves are bought and sold. Let us be bondslaves of Christ. Let us put our attention upon who Jesus is in our life and the narrative that the scriptures direct as the outcome for our circumstances. Colossians 3 puts it this way:
[Col 3:2 KJV] 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
This is more than an exhortation to piety. It is a key to breakthrough. You are where your attention takes you. When the narrative that dominates your mind is that of the word your life becomes a little bit of heaven to go to heaven in. When you give in to the narrative of fear, greed, suspicion and vanity – those then become the things that shape your life and determine what happens next for you. Then we wonder what is wrong. By controlling the narrative we yield ourselves to we influence far more than we know what our immediate future looks like.
[Phl 4:8 KJV] 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.
143 Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: [yet] thy commandments [are] my delights. 144 The righteousness of thy testimonies [is] everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live. 145 KOPH. I cried with [my] whole heart; hear me, O LORD: I will keep thy statutes. 146 I cried unto thee; save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies. 147 I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word. 148 Mine eyes prevent the [night] watches, that I might meditate in thy word. 149 Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness: O LORD, quicken me according to thy judgment. 150 They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from thy law. 151 Thou [art] near, O LORD; and all thy commandments [are] truth.
What do you do when troubles take hold of your life? Waiting for relief can be a futile exercise. The kingdom doesn’t come with observation. You must do something. Let the word of God be your delight. Go find your prayer closet. Declare God’s word over your life and your loved ones as a strategy for spiritual warfare. Learn to keep your own counsel. Learn not to put your business on the street to every person who has an opinion about what you should or should not have done. Go find someone with a greater anointing than you have. Connect with those who are experiencing greater favor from God than you are experiencing and those walking in breakthrough that you desire to experience. Forsake the company of all the do-nothings who have decided there isn’t anything to do but complain. In due course if you hold fast to these strategies you will see the relief you are longing for.