Kristi Pennington

I have a tradition that is incredibly meaningful that takes place on October 23. This has been a tradition now for eleven years – the practice of reading Psalm 119 in its entirety at one sitting.

What makes this date so significant is that it’s the anniversary date of my mother’s death.

Mother would have been 91 this year. That is hard to believe! One of the most precious gifts God has given me was the gift of being with her when she took her last breath. We knew her time here with us was drawing close. God orchestrated her last days to coincide with a trip to see her that I’d had planned for months. Daddy cared for her at home during her journey with Alzheimer disease.

Their home felt like sacred ground during those last days of her life. Her piano was close to her bedroom. She played beautifully and made sure my sister, Kimberly, and I also knew how to play. So, I spent a lot of time playing and singing from our favorite music book, The Baptist Hymnal, the last two weeks of her life.

On her last morning with us I spent my personal time with Jesus in her room. I heard Jesus whisper, “Read out loud”. So I walked in her room around her bed as I audibly read and prayed through this long Psalm. I had no idea of God’s plan. She took her last breath after I read the last verse, 176.

Each year since, this year was no exception, I read Psalm 119.

I always ask the Holy Spirit to highlight the verse He desires me to meditate upon. This year the word “ropes” jumped off the page.

The visual of ropes had been on my mind for at least a month. I even saw, and picked up three different pieces of a tattered rope during a hike in the Colorado Mountains just weeks before…What was going on with the “ropes”?

Have you ever felt bound by ropes?

I have . . . and, it’s been quite recent. Sometimes our enemy uses circumstances and people within the circumstances to try and bind us. How does one get unbound by such strength that at times seems almost unbearable?

We cling to the precepts found in God’s word. So, it ended up being no surprise when this verse, “Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget your law”, v. 61.

Yes, a month ago when I read this, I literally laughed out loud!! I knew God had some, things to show me that morning.

What happens when we don’t forget what God says through His word?

We can walk in freedom!  “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts”, v. 45. The ropes that bind us are taken off through the power of Almighty God and obedience to the commands found in His Word!

With this freedom, we can walk in hope! We can expect God to work! We recall how He’s been faithful over and over to us and all the faithful ones who trusted in His Word. We know He will show up again in our lives.

“Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope”, v. 49.

How do we know God will act?

We know He will act because He works from a place of love. “In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth,” v. 88.

From this place of love, God acts. How then do we live?

We have the privilege of obeying the ways “prescribed” by Him which leads to daily freedom, daily hope, daily renewal, daily joy, daily peace, daily experiencing being held by Love as we live in Him abiding in His love and His Word.

I had revival with Jesus this year on the Anniversary of Mother’s death. I laughed, I cried, I rejoiced, and I received freedom. Truth really does set us free. No other truth but God’s Truth will do it.

May we moment by moment fix our eyes upon His Truth – with a heart that’s attached to Jesus – that chooses to leave all other ways except His.  

He is the Pearl of great price who gave His all for us. Wouldn’t we want to continue receiving all He has for us each day?

How will you choose today to receive freedom from any thing that binds you that is not of Him?