God Smiles When I Obey Wholeheartedly

In review of Psalm 119:33-34 it says, “Just tell me what to do and I will do it, Lord. As long as I live I’ll wholeheartedly obey” (TLB).

Bottom Line:

Learn what I to do, then live it out wholeheartedly.

What this means to me:

I should learn what the Lord wants and live it out wholeheartedly.

Psalm 139 is a repetitive meditation on the beauty of God's Word and how it helps me to stay pure and grow in faith. Verse 33-35, says, “Teach me your decrees, O Lord; I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding and I will obey. I will learn to put them into practice with all my heart. Help me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness will be found.”

So I think that God smiles when I obey him wholeheartedly. That means doing whatever God asks me without reservation or hesitation. I shouldn’t procrastinate and say, “I’ll pray about it.” You should do it without delay. Every parent knows that delayed obedience is really disobedience.

Contrary to popular belief, God doesn’t owe me an explanation or reason for everything he asks me to do. Understanding can wait, but obedience can’t. Instant obedience will teach me more about God than a lifetime of Bible discussions. In fact, I may never understand some commands until I obey them first. Obedience unlocks understanding.

I know that very often I try to offer God only partial obedience. I want to pick and choose the commands I’ll obey. Mentally I make a list of the commands I like and then obey those while ignoring the ones I think are unreasonable, difficult, expensive, or unpopular. “I’ll read my Bible, but I won’t forgive the person who hurt me.” Yet partial obedience is disobedience.

Wholehearted obedience is done joyfully, with enthusiasm. The Bible says, “Obey him gladly” (Psalm 100:2 TLB).

This is the attitude of David: “Just tell me what to do and I will do it, Lord. As long as I live I’ll wholeheartedly obey” (Psalm 119:33-34 TLB).

James, writing to Christians, says God is pleased not only by what I believe, but also by what I do (see James 2:24).

God’s Word is clear that I can’t earn my salvation. It comes only by grace, not by my effort. But as a child of God I can bring pleasure to your heavenly Father through obedience. Any act of obedience is also an act of worship.

Why is obedience pleasing to God? Because it demonstrates that I really love him. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments” (John 14:15 GNT)