Going Deeper With God

Photo Credit: Adam J. Wester

Dear Praying Friends,

Imagine a young musician sitting before a master teacher. The student does not ask for applause, a stage, or recognition. He simply says, “Teach me. Show me how this is done. Bend my fingers correctly. Train my ear. Correct my posture.”

He knows something important: if he wants to go deeper in his craft, he must submit himself to the one who has already mastered it. Depth never happens accidentally. It requires instruction, correction, and reshaping.

Psalm 119:33–40 is the prayer of someone who wants to go deeper with God. The psalmist is not content with shallow familiarity. He longs for inward transformation. This kind of life is not achieved by human striving but received through divine empowerment.

This is the Hebrew letter “He” stanza of Psalm 119 (NIV):

Teach me, LORD, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! In your righteousness preserve my life.

The psalmist’s desire is revealed by the requests he makes to the LORD. These petitions rise from deep within his heart as he seeks to go deeper with his God. Notice the verbs: teach me, give me, direct me, turn me, preserve me, fulfill Your promise, and take away my disgrace.

As we reflect on these earnest pleas, may they resonate in our own hearts and produce the same outcomes.

First, he says, “Teach me, LORD, the way of your decrees.” It is not enough to know the Bible academically. We must be taught the very heartbeat of God. The outcome is perseverance, “that I may follow it to the end.” 

Depth produces endurance.

Next he writes, “Give me understanding.” He is not merely asking for intellectual insight but for a deeper grasp of God’s will and purposes — a clearer view of the heart of God. The result is wholehearted obedience. 

He desires a heart that is unmixed and undivided.

He also prays, “Direct me in the path of your commands.” The word “direct” carries the nuance of pressure, even the bending of a bow. At times, God applies pressure in our lives to keep us aligned with His purposes. As we walk with Him, we discover something beautiful: obedience becomes delight.

Then, he makes a double plea: “Turn my heart toward your statutes” and “Turn my eyes away from worthless things.” Here we see the battle of desire and attention. There is a turning toward what is good and a turning away from what is empty. As we spend time with God, sinful impulses, selfish ambition, and hollow pursuits lose their grip, while love for Christ and the desire to please Him steadily increase.

He continues, “Preserve my life according to your word.” He recognizes that his future rests in God’s hands and that God’s word will sustain him through difficulty. 

Spiritual depth rests on divine preservation.

Then he requests, “Fulfill your promise to your servant.” We are not told which promise he has in mind, but we know that God keeps His word. Whether it is the promise of eternal life, peace, or Christ’s return, we can rest confidently in His faithfulness.

Finally, he pleads, “Take away the disgrace I dread.” We are not told what he fears, and perhaps that is intentional. 

Each of us carries things we dread — memories from the past, hidden weaknesses, or failures we fear may define us. Like the psalmist, we do not want our lives to end in disgrace. We long to live in reverent fear of our LORD and Savior, sustained by His righteousness and preserved by His grace.

Going deeper with God begins the same way for us that it did for the psalmist — with humble, dependent prayer. 

Teach me. Bend me. Turn me. Preserve me. 

And in answering those prayers, God faithfully leads His children into greater depth with Himself. May it be so as we pray today for our prodigals and for revival.

Warmly in Christ’s name,

Bryan and Rachel