Psalm 119:125

Psalm 119:125 “I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand Your statutes.”

David is asking for discernment so he may understand. Even though the statutes of God are explicit laws, there is more to understanding them than what the intellect can offer. Our intellect gives us one type of understanding, our spiritual life and insight give us another. The Word of God is alive and active; God lives within His Word. To be properly understood, it takes the Spirit of God. David was being oppressed by arrogant men, and he wanted to know the godly way to deal with them. 

In John 16:13, Jesus says, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears.” The Spirit of God guides us into all truth. Our intellect does not necessarily guide truthfully. Our intellect is biased. It has preconceived ideas, and when we depend on it wholly, it can lead us astray. The Spirit of God, however, has no bias. He does not speak on His own; He only speaks what He hears the Father tell Him.

To pray for discernment is to ask God to take away any bias we may already have. It is to open our mind to the pure unadulterated Word of God. It is to hear what the Holy Spirit hears. However, to be able to discern, we must have a standard. Discernment is impossible without a norm. 

Jesus, the Word, is the norm by which we compare or discern. Everything must be measured by who Jesus is. This applies to understanding that statutes of God or discerning the spirit of another person. Discernment is that of comparing what we see in others and what we read in the Bible to who we know Jesus to be. 

Since Jesus is the standard for all discernment, we need to spend time in His presence. If we fail to pray and read the Word daily. We lose a sense of who He is and what He is like. Hence, we lose the ability to discern because we have no norm.
 

Now let me encourage you to take some time to meditate on this verse; as you do, ask God to guide you into all truth.  Continued