When I attended Bible School, I had a pretty regular morning discipline of reading the Word, prayer and worship alone in my closet. Literally. I had observed ministers, teachers, individuals and others set an example that I attempted to incorporate into my life or even lifestyle.
One such practice was specifically choosing passages of scripture and declaring or quoting it to myself. Proclaiming it if you will, over the day. One scripture that I had been introduced to was Psalm 37:23(a), “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord…” Now I will readily admit that at times I had become rote in my declarations, but nonetheless I put to ‘practice’ the Word. My concept of practice being similar to Mr. Webster’s definition of, ‘ repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency.’ I truly wanted to become proficient in His Word, His proverbial and literal Eternal Love Letter to us! My understanding was the more I knew His Word the more I could become acquainted with Him.
This one particular morning I was parroting my routine, due to the early morning or who knows. But, the Holy Spirit prompted me to not just parrot the scripture that I had believed I had a level of knowledge of, rather dig deeper. In His soft prompting He urged me to look up the rest of the scripture. Not a deep, “NOAH, I WANT YOU TO BUILD AN ARK!”
I received a simple strong inquisitive nudging to finish the rest of the verse. As I retrieved my Bible from beside me I searched through the Psalms. Even today I remember my response. I suppose I was quoting the Word, basically asking the Lord to order my steps, but the next part of the verse stated in KJV, “and he delights in his way.” Wow! I said to the Lord, “ he delights in his way!?” Does that mean I delight in the fact that you are leading my way, or you are delighting in the fact that my way is led, or I am delighting that my way is led by You? Couldn’t a ‘yes’ be correct to any of these questions?
Now to clarify the point, the King James Version had not capitalized the first ‘he.’
But truly, how many of us believe that our steps are really ordered of the Lord?
In Barne’s Notes on the Bible he projects, ‘And he delighteth in his way – In his course of life; and, therefore, he blesses him. The general idea is that he is the object of the divine favor, and is under the care of God.’
What if we consciously, even deliberately focused on the point that our steps are ordered of the Lord? Many of us know and understand the biblical truth that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthian 5:21)
The Righteousness of God, the condition acceptable to God. Not because of us, but because He made Him to be sin for us! Is that only when we feel like it, having done some good work, noble deed or really walked in love? No, we are the righteousness of God in Christ because of Him.
Could it be so hard to believe that our steps are ordered of the Lord? I believe three byproducts would ensue from this continual line of thought. One being just being aware that my steps are ordered of the Lord, that He has a part in everything I’m involved in. The second would be to walk circumspectly: as in watchful, discreet and well considered. And the litmus test of that well considered walk would be delighting in your way. Thirdly, as we are more aware, or conscious of our steps being ordered by the Lord we would keep a heightened look out for God opportunities along our path. People to witness to, pray for and be a blessing to strategically placed along our path.
So let’s examine our Savior’s life and see how far off I am. Jesus told them, “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. (John 5:19-20)