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 His
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 known 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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