Order My Steps

By Alexandra Copeland

The Psalmist prayed to God in Psalm 119:133(KJV), “Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” This is a powerful prayer, and it conveys the Will of the Father. He wants our lives to be ordered according to His Word, so that He can bless and protect us. The simplicity of Psalm 119:133 also tells us very plainly what can happen if our steps are not ordered in God’s Word. We can fall into the enemy’s trap, where iniquity obtains such a stronghold on our lives that it has dominion over us. This is a serious problem, because the only thing that should ever have dominion in our lives is the love of God.  

We live in a world where we are so bombarded with messages and information that it is very easy to become overcome by evil. Negative ideas can slowly wiggle their way into our thought-life. This is when they can potentially become entrenched habit patterns that are very challenging to break. God tells us in Proverbs 4:23(NLT), “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” To guard is to watch over and look after. We are to monitor very closely what goes into and what comes out of our hearts. This requires us to have discernment regarding what’s helpful and nourishing to our souls, and what is going to be harmful and diminishing to our souls.

The Word of God gives us the knowledge and wisdom to be able to discern properly.  2Peter 1:3(NLT) tells us, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.”  As Christians, our whole approach must be to hold up everything we face in life to the scrutiny of God’s Word. The question, “What would Jesus do?” should be on frequent repeat in the situations and circumstances we face. 

We should be constantly motivated to find out what God says about any matter, because His Word is the definitive authority. Jesus Christ told us in Matthew 7:7(NKJV), “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” God doesn’t want us to be ignorant about anything. He’s provided a solution to every problem in His Word. 

Jesus Christ has also told us in Matthew 6:33 to seek God and His righteousness first. He’s telling us that seeking God should always be our primary step, but many of us don’t do this. We look to other people first. We look to them to do for us what only God can do, and this can add to our troubles and make them more severe. 

The psalmist who wrote Psalm 119 understood the importance of being guided by the wisdom and knowledge of God’s Word. When the Word is our guide, we won’t be overcome by evil. We will not be made a slave to sin. 

We’ve all known people that have strongholds of sin in their lives. They struggle with habits, addictions, and behaviors that wrap around their lives like heavy chains, holding them down. None of us are perfect.  Romans 3:23 tells us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  All of us that are living in this earth have sinned, and will continue to sin in one way or another. This does not mean that we let sin rule over us, that we just fall down and let it win. God tells us walk in the victory Jesus Christ extends.  

Sin is disobedience to God. It’s rebellion against His Will. It is designed by the devil to enslave people so that he can take over their wills. Jesus Christ has already taken care of the sin issue on the Cross of Calvary. Galatians 5:1(NLT) “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law.” Jesus Christ broke the chains of sin by what he accomplished on the cross, but many believers are still trapped by sin. They tell themselves that they won’t continue to engage in sinful actions and behaviors, but end up doing it any way. We often find that sin is on repeat in our lives, because that’s part of its enslavement. Again, the answer to the sin issue is Jesus Christ. 

Paul, the Apostle, said in Romans 7:21-25(NLT) “I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.”

God knows our human condition, and how we can become trapped by the enslavement of sin. Our flesh craves and desires pleasures, and the enemy tricks us by tempting us with temporary pleasures, but the pain we will endure after is never worth it. In Matthew 11:28-30, our Master Jesus invites us to surrender our burdens of every kind to him, because the Lord desires all of us. Romans 8:26 tells us the Holy Spirit that indwells us will help our weaknesses. So we shouldn’t hold anything back from the Lord, but surrender to him totally. He’s our burden-bearer, and he can help us walk in the freedom that he alone offers. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.