Daily Worship

Give me understanding that I may live!

Albert Bogle November 03, 2025 4 2
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Psalm 119: 137-144 (NIV)

137 You are righteous, Lord,
    and your laws are right.
138 The statutes you have laid down are righteous;
    they are fully trustworthy.
139 My zeal wears me out,
    for my enemies ignore your words.
140 Your promises have been thoroughly tested,
    and your servant loves them.
141 Though I am lowly and despised,
    I do not forget your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is everlasting
    and your law is true.
143 Trouble and distress have come upon me,
    but your commands give me delight.
144 Your statutes are always righteous;
    give me understanding that I may live.

The understanding, the insight, is often expressed in a song. The psalmist understands that there are no easy answers to the complexity of life. Yet somehow he realises that the right way to live is to be found in the moral precepts laid down in the ten commandments. This section of the psalm is summarised by Jesus when he said ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God and all will be added to you.’

Two thousand years later Karen Lafferty, a hippy singer songwriter in the 1970s struggling to make sense of her life and her finances found in the words of Jesus inspiration to begin to live God’s way. Her song has become an inspiration, an anthem for many who have found a new understanding of their life by learning to put God’s law at the centre of the way they order their everyday living. You can have a listen to Karen reflecting on how the song Seek Ye First was written in this YouTube video.

 

Prayer:

 

Lord,
If only my zeal for you could wear me out,
It’s the zeal for other things that leaves me exhausted
Too many things compete in my life for attention
The school run
The constant demands of work
The housework
The garden
The bills
Time spent with family
The unexpected demands of family life
Elderly parents
And then there is your demands
To put you first
Tell me how do I do that?

Silence! wait! consider!

“If only you’d acknowledge my presence
On the school run
In the daily demands of work
Things would feel and seem different
I’m there at your side
Just stop and acknowledge me
All the other things will happen
Lift your head and look at me
You will have a new understanding.
When someone looks to me 
It’s been known for them to walk on water”