Has your child ever explained an angry outburst by declaring with clinched fists and red face:

"I just wanna do what I wanna do!" ?

Mine has.

It's a funny image and declaration coming from a four year old who hilariously thinks that they understand enough of thier world to make all the choices, all of the decisions.

Ice cream for breakfast? Yes!

Play in traffic? Adventourous!

Swing a heavy toy in a crowd of friends? Why not!

Stay up late and watch scary shows on TV? Freedom!!

As adults we can grin at this lunacy. It's not that the child is trying to make all of the bad decisions, it's that they just don't understand what their freedom is going to cost them.

But just because we are all grown up doesn't mean we don't also want what we want when we want it. Deep down, we can convince ourselves that we deserve to be free. 

The problem is, we often haveee a very worldly view of freedom. 

Why God’s Word does not confine us, but sets us free

The world has a very clear idea of freedom.

Freedom means doing what you want, following your heart, throwing off restraints. Freedom means no one gets to tell you what to do.

The freedom the world promises does not always deliver what it advertises.

Doing whatever we want can leave us enslaved to appetites we cannot control. Following our hearts can lead us into confusion, regret, and pain. Throwing off restraint can feel freeing for a moment, only to leave us more bound than before.

Sin often promises a wide-open life, but it leads us into a smaller one.

Psalm 119 gives us a different picture of freedom.

The psalmist says:

“I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts.”
Psalm 119:45

That is a surprising sentence.

He doen't say, “I shall walk in a wide place, for I have finally escaped God’s commands.”

Nor does he say, “I shall walk in a wide place, for no one tells me what to do.”

He says he walks in freedom because he has sought God’s precepts.

In other words, God’s Word is not the fence keeping him from joy. God’s Word is the path that leads him into freedom.

When Life Feels Hemmed In

Psalm 119:41–48 is the testimony of a man under pressure.

He is being taunted. He is facing opposition. He is under criticism because of his devotion to God and His Word.

Life feels narrow. Confined. Pressurized.

We know something of that feeling.

Pressure can come from circumstances we did not choose.
Pressure can come from people who misunderstand us.
Pressure can come from responsibilities that feel too heavy.
Pressure can come from grief, conflict, temptation, criticism, or fear.

Sometimes pressure makes life feel like the walls are closing in.

And when that happens, we are tempted to believe that God’s commands make the room even smaller.

Maybe obedience feels like one more pressure.
Maybe Scripture feels like one more demand.
Maybe faithfulness feels like one more burden.

But the psalmist sees it differently.

He is under pressure, but he is not imprisoned. He is hemmed in outwardly, but inwardly he is learning to walk in a wide place.

How?

“I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts.”

The False Freedom of Self-Rule

One of the great lies of sin is that obedience to God will make life smaller.

Sin says, “You would be free if you could just do what you want.”

But Jesus tells us the truth.

Sin does not make us free. Sin enslaves us.

We can see this everywhere.

A person says, “I am free to be angry,” and soon anger controls the whole room.
A person says, “I am free to speak my mind,” and soon their words wound everyone around them.
A person says, “I am free to follow my desires,” and soon those desires become demands.
A person says, “I am free to ignore God,” and soon life becomes smaller, colder, and heavier.

The freedom of self-rule is not as free as it sounds.

Sin promises space but produces slavery.

Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.

God’s Word gives commands, but those commands lead to life.

That is why the psalmist can speak of obedience as a wide place.

He has learned that God’s precepts are not the enemy of freedom.

They are the way into it.

This post is part of the Walking In The Word Series