More Precious.....

So, I haven't written in forever....I'm working on that. My plan to document my entire trip to France didn't work out to well, but life goes on, and I 'm back now.

With the summer finally over, and a new year already begun, I find myself more and more reflecting what the Lord has shown me just over the last 8 months. I think it was Monday when I reading in Ps. 119 and came upon the passage of verses that I had never really metitated on before. (I'm a huge fan of Ps. 119, so this was really cool to me:)

Starting with v. 65:
"Do good to your servant according to your word, O Lord.
Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in your commands.
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.
YOur are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.
Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart.
Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law. It was good for me
to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. The Law from your mouth is more
precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold."
Psalm 119:65-72

This passage may not at first glance seem like anything profound, but as I read over it and over it, I developed an understanding of what I feel David was trying to relate to us. I love David's heart, his is like one unwavering wind, a hero of one who hides nothing from the Lord, and trusts relentlessly in His precepts. Yet I was caught by this, David's overwhelming spirit of thanksgiving to the Lord for his affliction. Yes, his affliction, not the Lord's blessings on him, but the trials God put him through, because it was that very affliction that brought David to the realization of who is apart from his Maker. Yes, David was afflicted, but in and through that he learned the most valuable lesson in life: that it is God who is most satisfying..."It was good for me to be afflicted that I might learn your decrees." That is amazing statement to me..... I think to myself though, as I look back on my life this year, and knowing that the Lord has, indeed, taken me through the most trying times of trial and surrender, I can now see that if for nothing else, it was to show me, teach me, and move me into a place where God is more valuable than whatever was competing to be most valuable before. I realized a deeper meaning of "blessed," I found that Christ is "more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold." What an amazing outlook that David possessed in his lifetime and relationship with the Lord. My hope and prayer is that I would always offer a sacrifice of praise to the Only One who is forever worthy.......