Psalm 119:101

I am now ready to take in hand the next verse in the octave of Psalm 119 entitled Mem.

Psalms 119:101  I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.

That the psalmist refrained his feet from every evil way suggests that he was speaking about the direction or way he chose to go in his life, since we proceed in this or that direction with our feet.  In order to avoid choosing the wrong direction, he refrained his feet. 

Refrain – To hold back, restrain (a person or thing) from something, esp. some act or course of action.

The idea of having to hold back or restrain a person from something suggests that the person has an urge or desire toward that something. Hence, it takes willpower to stay away from it. The psalmist maintained a strict self-control over his thoughts, words, desires, passions, and actions so that he stayed away from every evil way, whether that way was a way of thinking, a way of speaking, a way of feeling, a way of acting, a way of reacting, or even a way of worshipping. Any form of worship that is not according to God’s revealed will in His word is evil. Witness Cain who brought an offering to the Lord that was not according to His will. God pronounced that incorrect mode of worship as sin and evil. 

Genesis 4:5  But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.

1 John 3:12  Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

The reason the psalmist refrained his feet from every evil way was that I might keep thy word. He restrained himself from things he desired to do just so he could be obedient to the Scriptures. He did not stay away from those things just to be healthy, or to be admired for his self-discipline, or even to gain an additional reward. He did it simply to be obedient. For the man who loves the Lord, keeping God’s word is his top priority and is itself a reward.  If you truly want to keep the word of God, that itself becomes a powerful incentive to refrain from everything evil. 

But to keep the word of God, one must refrain his feet from every evil way. No sin, no matter how small it may seem to be, can be tolerated.  The least evil if allowed to remain unchecked will eventually spread and corrupt everything else.  As the Scripture hath said:

Galatians 5:9  A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

King Josiah is an excellent example of someone who refrained his feet from every evil way that he might keep the word of God

2 Kings 23:24  Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

Hezekiah cleansed his kingdom of idols for the express purpose of being able to “perform the words of the law which were written in the book.”  That is exactly what today’s verse is all about.

On the other hand, we read of the people that moved into Israel after the Israelites had been taken captive by the Assyrians.  These new settlers tried to mingle the fear of the Lord with their service to pagan gods.  It did not work.  Their fear of God was only in word.  It was empty lip service. They had no real fear of God at all.  They just served other gods and called themselves fearing the Lord, much as many people do today who say they are Christians but do not truly follow Christ.

2 Kings 17:33  They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.

34  Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel….

You cannot serve sin and the Lord together.  You serve one or the other.  It is an either/or proposition.  You cannot serve both.

Romans 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Matthew 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

You can’t love the world and love the Lord at the same time.

1 John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Therefore, if you would serve the Lord by keeping His word – and that is the only way you can serve Him – then you must be able to say with the psalmist, I have refrained my feet from every evil way.