“My soul cleaves to the dust;
Revive me according to Your word.
I have told of my ways, and You have answered me;
Teach me Your statutes.
Make me understand the way of Your precepts,
So I will meditate on Your wonders.
My soul weeps because of grief;
Strengthen me according to Your word.
Remove the false way from me,
And graciously grant me Your law.
I have chosen the faithful way;
I have placed Your ordinances before me.
I cling to Your testimonies;
O Lord, do not put me to shame!
I shall run the way of Your commandments,
For You will enlarge my heart.” (Psalm 119:25-32 NASB1995)
What does that feel like if our souls cleave to the dust, but we are followers of Christ? It sounds to me like depression. And it could have been brought on by some type of sin or misstep of some nature. So the need for revival could be of a spiritual nature involving repentance. Or it could be a need for restoration and renewal in a mental or emotional state where someone has been brought low and needs to be lifted up, encouraged, and restored.
And if we say that we have told the Lord of our ways, and we want him to teach us his statutes, that could be a confession of sin, and of a desire for renewal in the Spirit, or it could be that we have just called out to God in our difficult circumstances and prayed for guidance and direction in how to move forward and in what to do next. Perhaps we made some wrong choices, which were not sinful, but we need to make better choices in the future.
Either way, we are seeking the Lord for guidance and direction in knowing what to do next, in having a better understanding of what his word teaches us, so that we might make better choices in the future, and to not repeat the same mistakes (or bad or unwise choices). Regardless of the circumstances, we are seeking the counsel of the Lord, and of his word, to guide us and to direct us in the way in which he would have us to go, in order to please him.
But we need to be students of the Scriptures who study them in their correct biblical context, under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, who are seeking to know the will of God for our lives, so that we might do the will of God. We need to be in the Word of God every day seeking his will and purpose for our lives and to know truth so that we can obey the truth. And then we need to be putting the Word of God into daily practice in our lives.
So, if our souls weep because of grief, it could be grief over the loss of a loved one, or it could be grief over the loss of income and not knowing where we will get our next meal, or how we will pay our bills. Or it could be because we were judged falsely and treated badly by others. Or it could be because of sin. But whatever it is, we need the Lord Jesus to give us strength, according to his word, so that we might continue to walk in him.
And for him to remove any false way from us could be about repentance and spiritual renewal, or this could be for him to show us any false ways that we are believing, and to show us the truth, in opposition to the lies we have believed, so that we now follow the truth and not the lies. I know that I grew up believing some lies, and the Lord had to show me the lies I was believing and to reveal to me the truth so I would reject the lies and follow the truth.
But the bottom line here in it all is that this is about a desire to follow the ways of the Lord, and the teachings of the Scriptures, and to do the will of God, and to not go a wrong direction. And so we want to be shown, of the Lord, anything that we have been believing wrong or doing wrong (things we are not already aware of) so that we will no longer head the wrong direction, but now we will be going in the right way, which is the way of God.
As a result of all of this, our hearts and minds will change, we will grow closer to the Lord in our walks of obedience to him, in surrender to his will, and he may call us to a specific ministry we would never have considered previously. And we will be better prepared to answer “Yes, Lord,” and to go with God, because we have a closer more intimate relationship with him, and because we have a better understanding of his will and purpose for our lives.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12]
Lead Me Gently Home, Father
By Will L. Thompson, 1879
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
When life’s toils are ended,
And parting days have come,
Sin no more shall tempt me,
Ne’er from Thee I’ll roam,
If Thou’ll only lead me, Father,
Lead me gently home.
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
In life’s darkest hours, Father,
When life’s troubles come,
Keep my feet from wand’ring,
Lest from Thee I roam,
Lest I fall upon the wayside,
Lead me gently home.
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My Soul Weeps
An Original Work / July 21, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love