True Confidence

Mem
Oh, how I love your law!
    I meditate on it all day long.
Your commands are always with me
    and make me wiser than my enemies.
I have more insight than all my teachers,
    for I meditate on your statutes.
I have more understanding than the elders,
    for I obey your precepts.
I have kept my feet from every evil path
    so that I might obey your word.
I have not departed from your laws,
    for you yourself have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
    sweeter than honey to my mouth!
I gain understanding from your precepts;
    therefore I hate every wrong path.

Psalm 119:97-104

In Australian culture, confidence is often mistaken for arrogance. If the Psalmist sounds arrogant in these verses, it is simply because he is confident. Where does his confidence come from? Well, the Word of God and importantly his knowledge of them.

The Scriptures we are told (one verse later in fact) are a lamp unto our feet. Let’s consider that metaphor.

Think about that time you have had to do something in the dark. It’s hard to feel confident when you can’t see, isn't it? When you aren’t sure where things are. It causes you to go slowly, fearfully.

To have no confidence in right, wrong or truth is to be fumbling around in the dark. There can be no confidence because there is no true knowledge.

But of course, the Scriptures are a light. They make the way clearer. They reveal the truth about our surroundings, giving us more confidence in our path, its obstacles and the final destination.

But only if we know it! We must switch the light on. We must know them well. Do you?

For Today:

• Do you know the Bible well?
• How could you grow in your knowledge of the Scriptures this year?
• What does that look like this week?

Pray: Praise the Father who speaks and gives us the Scriptures. Give thanks for Jesus who is the Word and walked in confidence of the truth. Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others know the Scriptures and follow them confidently.