In Psalm 119, one of the great portions of Scripture that speaks about the Word of God, the Psalmist is very concerned about keeping the commandments of God. There is much in this Psalm, the longest Psalm and chapter in the entire Bible, for the Christian.

The second part of verse 10 says, “Do not let me wonder from Your Commandments” (NASB). All who have been Christians for any length of time know how “easy” it can be to wonder. To be clear, it is our fault when this happens. But the temptation is there. The Psalmist, who loves the Lord, knows that this is a possibility for him and is rightfully concerned about it. He prays to God to keep him. He knows that in himself alone he cannot keep himself. God, his loving Lord, must be the one who keeps him from leaving the Christian walk.

Let’s learn from this. We must depend on God to keep us from wondering away from Him. We must look to Him and pray for Him to keep us obedient to His commands.

There’s another lesson for us, too.

Notice what the Psalmist also says. Here is a slightly larger picture from verses 10 and 11:

With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You (NASB).

He is dependent. Take nothing away from this! Notice, too, that he is also acting. With all his heart he has “sought” God. He has “treasured” (or hid) God’s Word in His heart so he would not sin against Him.

Two thoughts.

One, to act in the Christian life while not depending on God is foolishness. What can we do without the One who sustains us?

Two, to “depend” on God without action is hypocrisy. If we depend on God, we also must obey Him.

Here’s an example. A Christian wants to grow in His love for hearing God’s Word. That’s a great desire. He is praying about this, wanting God to answer his prayer. What else does he need to do though? He needs to make time to hear preaching. He needs to focus as much as he can when hearing. He needs to prepare himself physically to be ready.  He needs to be willing to obey everything he hears that is from the Bible. He does these things in a dependent spirit, but he still needs to do them. There is dependence and there is action. Both go together. We couldn’t do anything without God. Action in the Christian life is done in a dependent spirit. And, if a Christian is depending on God, he will act.