First of all… take some time and read Psalm 119. It is wonderful. And I say this as someone who is rather ambivalent about poetry generally speaking. But I took over a page and a half of notes during today’s reading. So good.

Anyway, the fourth section — verse 29 — has this gem: “Keep me from lying to myself”. The context is a man who is overcome with grief and is looking for solace and encouragement. It would be easy to find such solace in tv, drugs, movies, food, pornography, alcohol, or some other activity that lies somewhere on the spectrum of USELESS<->DESTRUCTIVE. But despite having other options available to him then (and many more today), he wants God to protect him from lying to himself. He recognizes that while these things might provide a temporary distraction, whatever source of grief that is causing the problem will still exist after the distraction is gone.

No, what we need — as the author goes on to say — is the privilege of knowing God’s instructions. Because the JOY of the LORD is our strength. He will sustain us. Indeed, in verse 143 the Psalmist says as much when he states, “as pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands.”

So if you have been tempted to lie to yourself about the usefulness of temporary solutions, know that there is lasting joy in the knowledge of the Lord which can sustain your through anything.