SPIRITIUAL DIARY 1/7/2012 10:16:35 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Part
2 of Psalm 19
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm
19:7-14
Message of the
verses: “7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring
the soul; The testimony
of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the
heart; The commandment
of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD
are true; they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold,
yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the
honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there
is great reward. 12 Who
can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. 13 Also keep back
Your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be
blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. 14 Let the words of
my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my
rock and my Redeemer.”
The Word Before
Us—God the Instructor (vv. 7-11).
As
mentioned before David used the name Elohim
for God when he was talking about the universe that God created, but now when
David begins to write about the God of the Word he uses His covenant name Jehovah.
The God of creation is also the God of personal revelation to His
people.
When we look at the revelation of God in creation it is
wonderful, however it is limited when it comes to manifesting the attributes of
God and also His purposes for His creation.
We have to see that in His Word.
It was the Word of God that caused the creation to come into existence
but we know that the creation has been changed by sin. “19 For the anxious longing of the creation
waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility,
not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set
free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the
children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans
and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now (Romans
8:19-22).”
The Word of God was entrusted to the nation of Israel,
for we know that the entire Bible was written by those who are from the
children of Israel. “3 For I could wish
that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons,
and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple
service and the promises, 5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the
Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen
(Romans 9:3-5).”
In his introduction to this section Dr. Wiersbe writes
the following: “David recorded six
different names for God’s Word, six attributes of the Word, and six ministries
of the Word in the lives of those who receive it and obey it.”
Law of the Lord
(v. 7a): “7 The law of the LORD is
perfect, restoring the soul.”
It is interesting that the word translated “law” is
the Hebrew word torah and that word
means instruction, direction, and teaching.
We see that this main section we are in is named “God the Instructor,”
and this is from Dr. Wiersbe’s outline on Psalm 19. We know that languages change thus making it
necessary for different translations of the Bible to be made, but the Word of
God does not change. The Word of God is
inerrant in its original autograph.
Paul writes these words to Timothy, “16 All Scripture is
inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for
training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped
for every good work.” (2Ti.
3:16-17) The writer to the Hebrews
writes these words about the Word of God, “For the word of God is living and
active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the
division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the
thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
(Hebrews 4:12) Peter writes this
about the Word of God, “for you have been born again not of seed which is
perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of
God.” (1Pe. 1:23) The 119th Psalm is the longest
chapter in all of Scripture and if memory serves me correct there are 176
verses divided by thirteen verses in a section each beginning with a letter in
the Hebrew alphabet and there are only three verses that do not have some form
of a name for the Word of God. We see in
the following verses from this psalm that the word of God sustains life
(119:25, 37, 40, 88, 107, 149, 156, and 159).
Testimony of the
Lord (v. 7b): “The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes in this section the following, “The
Ten Commandments were know by this name (Testimony) (Ex. 25:21), and they are
the basis for God’s law. But all of the
Scriptures are God’s witness to us of who He is, what He has said and done, and
what He wants us to be and to do. The
witness God bears of Himself in the written Word is sure and reliable.”
The verses here speak of the greatest of the commandments
as spoken of by the Lord Jesus Christ:
34 But when the Pharisees heard
that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. 35
One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 “Teacher, which is
the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And He said to him, "’YOU SHALL
LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH
ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second
is like it, ’YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40 “On these two
commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:34-40) Out of these two verses flows the explanation
of the Ten Commandments and out of the rest of the Law flows the explanation of
the Ten Commandments. We see in the two
commandments that Jesus quoted, which are the greatest that we are to love the
Lord and we are to love our neighbor.
Now remember that Jesus explained who are neighbor is in the parable of
the Good Samaritan. Now look at the
cross and we will see that we have a vertical piece and a horizontal piece that
makes up the cross. This is a picture of
these two commandments, the vertical (loving the Lord) the horizontal (loving
your neighbor).
Statues of the
Lord (v. 8a): “8 The precepts of the
LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;”
These are God’s detail for the practical matters of
everyday life. When we look at the OT we
see some of the Laws that God gave them were about practical everyday things,
what they were to eat, and what they were to wear, and how they are to keep
themselves clean. We must remember that
one of the reasons for the Jews having these laws was so that they would be distinct
from the nations around them so that those nations would wonder why they were
this way and then ask them why, which would give them an opportunity to share
with them about the One True God.
God laid down certain basic laws and commandments, and
the statutes applied them to specific situations. We see in the NT that nine of the Ten
Commandments are repeated for believers today.
In our nations today there are laws passed that are a burden to us but
God’s laws and commandments bring us joy.
We will see more about this when looking at the 119th Psalm
later on.
Commandment of the
Lord (v. 8b): “The commandment of
the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.”
15 "See, I have set before you today life and
prosperity, and death and adversity; 16 in that I command you today to love the
LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His
statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD
your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.
17 "But if your heart turns away
and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve
them, 18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not
prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and
possess it. 19 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I
have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life
in order that you may live, you and your descendants, 20 by loving the LORD
your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your
life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD
swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.’” (Deu. 30:15-20) We see in this section of Scripture that the
commandment (that which is appointed) and how we respond to them is a matter of
life and death. This is as true today as
when this was written around 1500 B.C.
Psalm 19:8b says that the commandments of the Lord are
pure, and they enlighten the eyes. The
commandments that the Lord gives to us will help us live a pure life before the
Lord, and His commandments will open our eyes to see the wonderful truths that
are in God’s law so that the life we live will bring glory to the Lord. Dr. Wiersbe writes “We are strangers on this
earth, and the Word of God is the road map to guide us (Ps. 119:19). Like a traveler on the highway, if we
deliberately make a wrong turn, we go on a detour and fail to reach our destination.”
Fear the Lord (v.
9a): “The fear of the LORD is clean,
enduring forever.”
Dr. Wiersbe points out that this is an unusual word of
the Word of God, and yet this reminds us that we cannot learn the Word of God
unless we show reverence and respect for the God of the Word. “Pr 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning
of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” I think that a person has to have a fear of
God before he can come to salvation through Jesus Christ and His finished work
on the cross. Once we come to know the
Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord our fear of Him is reverence, like it
is suppose to be of a child with a parent.
Judgments of the
Lord (v. 9b): “The judgments of the
LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.”
This word translated “judgments” is a word that can
mean the decision of a judge; it can mean ordinances or verdicts. We can see in
the OT that the way that the Lord judged the nations and on peoples and also
the rewards that He gave to these nations and peoples will help us to
understand what it is that pleases the Lord.
Dr. Wiersbe writes, “Believers today are not under the Old Testament
law, but how those laws were applied helps us understand the righteousness of
God and our need for His grace.
“The way we treat the Bible is the way we treat the Lord,
so it isn’t difficult to determine if we are rightly related to God. Do we desire His Word because it’s precious
to us (v.12), even more than wealth (v.10) or tasty food (119:103) (1Pe.
2:2)? Do we find satisfaction in
‘feeding on’ God’s Word? (Matthew
4:4) Would we skip a meal to spend time
meditating on the Scriptures? Do we
attend church dinners but not church Bible studies? Furthermore, do we accept the warning of the
Word and act upon them? To know the
warning and not heed it is sin (James 4:17).
Do we enjoy the blessings of the Lord because we’ve obeyed His
will? To have an appetite for God’s Word
is a mark of a healthy Christian whose priorities are straight. The Lord has sent the Holy Spirit to teach us
His Word, and if we walk in the Spirit, we will learn and live the truth (John
14:26; 16:12-15; 1Cor. 2:9-10; 1John 2:20-29).
11 Moreover, by them Your
servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.” I believe that David is saying in this verse
that we will not only be rewarded in this life by keeping the Word of God, but
also in the next life. There is nothing
wrong with desiring rewards to be given to us at the Judgment Seat of Christ,
for having that desire means that we desire to do the work that God has given
us to do and has determined that word for us to do in eternity past: “10 For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would
walk in them (Eph. 2:10).
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I want to make
sure that the Word of God is something that I desire to understand and apply to
my life so that I can do the works that the Lord has called me to do each day
of my life.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Stay in the Word each day.
2. Continue to have the Word of God affect my life.
3. Continue to learn contentment.
1/7/2012 12:22:13 PM
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