ע Ayin121 I have done what is righteous and just;  do not leave me to my oppressors.  122 Ensure your servant’s well-being;  do not let the arrogant oppress me.  123 My eyes fail, looking for your salvation,  looking for your righteous promise.  124 Deal with your servant according to your love  and teach me your decrees.  125 I am your servant; give me discernment  that I may understand your statutes.  126 It is time for you to act, Lord;  your law is being broken. 127 Because I love your commands  more than gold, more than pure gold,  128 and because I consider all your precepts right,  I hate every wrong path. REFLECTIONSWritten by Dan WebsterThe Psalm writer’s experience is ever present here in Namibia. Have you experienced it too? He seems to be really trying to follow God’s word. But rather than salvation and joy and blessing, he’s experiencing oppression from people around him. And they’re the people who don’t care about God’s word! Have you experienced that? It’s seems so wrong! This Psalm made me ask myself, ‘How do I respond when that happens?’ I noticed the Psalm writer responded in two excellent ways. First, he doesn’t give up on God. He doesn’t look elsewhere for other solutions. How tempting is it to think, ‘Well Jesus’ way isn’t working. I’m still struggling. I’ll try the world’s way.” But the Psalm writer looks to God alone. He’s waiting on God. Even though his ‘eyes fail, looking for your salvation.’ He waits with confidence because God has made a ‘righteous promise.’ It’s a promise. So he waits on the Lord, begging him to deal with him ‘according to your love.’ For us, we’ve got an even better ‘righteous promise’ in Jesus, because he waiting on God to the extreme. We can be absolutely sure that God will deal with us according to his love. We’ve got every reason to wait on the Lord! The second thing I noticed is this: While he waits on the Lord, he wants God to teach him his decrees and to give him understanding and discernment. He loves God’s commands more than gold! When I’m waiting on God to change things for me, I’m usually not interested in this! I act like I have the right to be selfish because I’m struggling. Let us become like the Psalmist (and Jesus), turning away from ourselves to seek God’s ways.ABOUT THE AUTHORThis week our devotions are coming from our Mission Partners. Dan and his family are Mission Partners of St Barnabas serving as missionaries in Namibia where Dan teaches at a local Bible college. As you reflect on Psalm 119 please also take a moment to pray for Dan, his family and the Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary.