A Wider Place

11. August 2009 by BruceSmith.

A Wider Place

I have had the opportunity to travel quite a bit this past summer.  Truthfully, it was the travel summer of a lifetime.  I was able to view places I have only dreamed of for many years.  I was afforded the opportunity to watch Wimbledon first hand, something I had dreamed about for thirty years.  After days of great tennis and seeing many tremendous matches I had the pleasure of seeing my experience widen further and watched the greatest player in the history of tennis play one of the most amazing finals in tennis history at Wimbledon.  I was right there at Center Court…and just behind and to the right of the Friends box! Wow, what a week, what a final.  

Then, as if that was not enough, I was afforded the opportunity to travel through parts of Italy.  How truly amazing it was, the architecture, the art, the food, the scenery…truly “other worldly”.  Around every turn there was another photo opp, another beautiful sight.  By the end of the trip I truly had “experience overload”.  Don’t get me wrong, I did not want it to end, but it was so overwhelming good that it was nearly exhausting.  Each time I experienced something wonderful, and thinking it could not get any better, the next turn would widen my view, enlarge my experience even more.  And having the blessing of sharing it all with a woman I care so much about was just indescribable.  Watching her process the sights of a land long on her dream list was joyous.  What a gift.

I have friends that traveled this summer as well, and many of them have shared their photos via facebook and other venues.  Two friends, on separate trips, took in the wonders of Alaska.  I am not a ship guy, so to speak, and have to deal with the reality of motion sickness even when riding in the back of a vehicle, but looking at the photos my friends took of the Alaskan tundra makes me hunger for such a trip.  Some day I hope to board a cruise ship, motion sickness and all, and take a similar trip to view the amazing wide open spaces of that magically frozen part of the world.  What was so striking about all of the photos was indeed the sheer vastness, the openness of that place.  It was endless beauty as far as the eye could see.

I had these travel experiences on the backdrop of my mind as I came to Psalm 119 recently.  I have read Psalm 119 before, and it has always intrigued me.  It is the longest chapter in the entire bible and its sole focus is on the vastness, the beauty, the splendor of God’s truth.  Each verse speaks of the riches of God’s laws.  

What struck me as refreshing, with my travel experiences on the backdrop of my mind, as I read Psalm 119 this time, were the following verses (44-48):

I will keep your law continually;

forever and ever, 

and I shall walk in a wide place,

for I have sought your precepts.

I will speak of your testimonies

before kings

and shall not be put to shame,

for I find my delight in your 

commandments,

which I love.

In a culture where the instructions of God are commonly devalued or even mocked, it is encouraging to know that those who have walked intimately with God, even those who have walked with Him in the courts of kings and power brokers, have experienced a delight that far exceeds anything else they know.  What the writer of this Psalm is proclaiming is that the truth of God is our foremost source of delight in this life.  Contrary to the message of our culture, it is the truth of God which leads us to wide open, expansive, and freeing places.  The view which casts genuine Christ followers as narrow, humdrum, and boring, is contrary to the testimony of scripture and contrary to the experience of those who know God intimately.

The walk of faith is one which leads us through many new vistas.  Around every turn, when walking with Christ, the truth illuminates our paths and allows us to see things we never could see without the light of God in our lives.  The backdrop for a life well lived is the truth of God revealed in the scriptures.  Indeed, as the Psalmist proclaims, we walk in wide and delightful places when we choose to follow Christ.  Generosity over greed, truth over falsehood, love over hate, compassion over neglect, purpose over apathy, faithfulness over broken trust, and hope over defeat.  The precepts of God shine like a spotlight upon the darkened seas of our time, pointing the way home for those who would follow.  The grace of God stands as a mountain of hope against the landscape of moral depravity and human failure.  

The British writer G.K. Chesterton had it right when he penned the following words, speaking of the truth of God and what it offers to those who embrace it:

This is the thrilling romance of Orthodoxy (truth).  People have fallen into a foolish habit of speaking of orthodoxy as something heavy, humdrum, and safe.  There was never anything so perilous or so exciting as orthodoxy.  It is sanity: and to be sane is more dramatic than to be mad (with the passions of this world).  Orthodoxy is the equilibrium of a man behind madly rushing horses, seeming to stoop this way and to sway that, yet in every attitude having the grace of statuary and the accuracy of arithmetic.

It is true.  The truths of God are more exciting, breathtaking, and expansive than any experience man has ever known.  His truth sets the soul awake for the first time, fully.  His precepts lead us to heights never seen or known.  His guidance is there that we might have the most glorious adventure we have ever known.

There is no height, nor depth, that compares to the matchless grace of God.  He is our source, He leads us to wide opens spaces of the soul.  May we seek Him and find Him, all He proclaims Himself to be.  His truth is the trip you have always longed for. He is your deepest need, greatest hope, and most complete dream.  The life you always longed for begins in a relationship with Him. The plan unfolds as you walk in His ways, and leave the confining boundaries of your own desires for your life.  His view for you is wider than you could ever imagine, and His dreams for you bigger than any you ever had.  

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

soulstormsite.com

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