A Look at Psalm 119:17

Psalm 119:17 “Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your Word.”
 

Here David is asking God to do good to him so that he may live. All life comes from God, and because of that we are to live in obedience to His Word. God’s Word, whether it is spoken or written, is the very source of our life.
 

To obey the Word of God is to do more than simply believe that it is the infallible Word of God. The word “obey” is a verb. Verbs demand action. To obey the Word of God means we must live what it says. That is the action that must follow belief. We cannot simply believe in prayer without having a prayer life. You may believe that there is such a thing called prayer, but to believe in it we must do it. The same is true of tithing; we cannot believe in it without doing it.
 

The goodness is in the doing, not just in the believing. We can believe all we want in prayer, but until we do pray, no good comes from it. To say with David, “Do good to your servant,” we must be willing to do the Word of God. Life comes when we do (obey/practice) the Word of God.
 

Matthew 5:7 says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Blessed are those who practice having mercy on others; through that, they receive mercy. This is one example of how the good that comes from through obedience brings life. Mercy is life. Mercy is our salvation. God, through mercy, gave us grace. We are saved through grace. To continue to receive life (mercy) from God, we must have mercy on others. 

Let me encourage you to take some time to pray over this verse, meditating on it. As you do, ask God to show you areas where you can do His Word, so that, through this, He will bring life to you.

Continued