I’ve heard it said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Jesus himself preached to the crowds about the broad road that leads to destruction.

But the psalmist opens the gate to an inviting path headed in a superb direction:

I run in the path of your commands, for you have broadened my understanding. Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end.

The longer we follow the path of the Lord’s commands, the more expansive a life opens before us. The going involves hardship—always uphill—but the footing gets firmer as we root ourselves, day after day, in the decrees found in the Scriptures.

This particular trail looks narrow and rocky at the start, but widens into green pastures alongside peaceful waters. The path of the Lord’s commands stretches ready for you and me, if we decide to start walking.

Psalm 119:32-33 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Lili Popper