Psalm 119:30 Course Corrected

Just do what the Voice tells you, even if you think she's wrong. Her ways are mysterious, but the Voice has a higher plan for you.

- Richard Powers, Orfeo, describing a GPS

Before the advent of GPS technology, we used road maps, printed on paper, folded accordion style. Whoever was in the passenger seat would open the unwieldy thing, turning it around in search of the part they needed, rattling it to get the creases out, refolding it to suit their purpose, desperately into submission.

This frantic activity usually took place while the driver was trying to steer the vehicle in what he hoped was the right direction.

I’m not sure whether being distracted by the GPS on my phone is any better or worse than the old way.

I could purchase a dedicated GPS device, like a Garmin, attached to the top of the dashboard or on the windshield by the rear view mirror. Or I could buy a newer car with one already built in, or with a cell phone holder on the dash.

Then the map and directions would poised in front of me in a more convenient, less distracting way.

But I have neither of those, so I tend to set my smart phone in the cup holder or on the little shelf in front of the speedometer, neither of which is conducive to distraction-free driving.

Maybe someday technology will advance to where the directions and map are implanted in our brains.

I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.

Psalm 119:30

Many people travel the 1 road of life while using their Bible in a less than efficient manner. They rely on whatever snippets of scripture they get from their preacher on Sunday or from the occasional input of a daily devotional.

When a decision arises, they may turn to the Bible, hoping the relevant advice will magically appear before them. Meanwhile, they're careening on through life, distracted and uncertain which way to go.

David mentions two things in this verse that he does to keep himself on track.

First, he has chosen the way of faithfulness. This is certainly much better than choosing on the spur of the moment whether to be guided by faithfulness to God or faithfulness to the desires and whims of the moment. You've got to make that choice from the beginning and make it once again every morning as you begin your day. Set your sights on the goal of faithfulness or you'll surely fail.

David, doesn't, though, begin every day with a renewed gumption to try to be faithful. That's a recipe for failure.

Instead, to translate verse 30 literally, he says, "your judgments I poised."

Through regular, habitual devotion to reading and meditating on God's Word, David had absorbed the Word into his heart. As a result, when situations arise in his daily life, the judgments and advice of God were right there in the forefront of his mind and his heart was already trained to lean toward those judgments rather than toward the selfish choice.

Like a GPS implanted in his brain, the Word guides him down the 1 road of life.