Everlasting Law

Psalm 119:145-152 

Qoph

 ¹⁴⁵ I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD,
       and I will obey your decrees. 
 ¹⁴⁶ I call out to you; save me
       and I will keep your statutes.
 ¹⁴⁷ I rise before dawn and cry for help;
       I have put my hope in your word.
 ¹⁴⁸ My eyes stay open through the watches of the night,
       that I may meditate on your promises.
 ¹⁴⁹ Hear my voice in accordance with your love;
       preserve my life, O LORD, according to your laws.
 ¹⁵⁰ Those who devise wicked schemes are near,
       but they are far from your law.
 ¹⁵¹ Yet you are near, O LORD,
       and all your commands are true.
 ¹⁵² Long ago I learned from your statutes
       that you established them to last forever.

God's laws are designed to last forever.

There are many good points in this passage, but the one that really stood out to me is the one found in verse 152. That point is the one I highlighted above in that the statutes (laws) of God were designed to be everlasting. The reason this point stood out from the rest is most likely because I have also been studying the book of Romans (which some of you probably are doing as well). I won't go into depth regarding Romans, but as many of you know, there are quite a few people who misuse that book of the Bible to say things that aren't true. The big one being that the Law of God was done away with at the cross. Verse 152 stands in direct contradiction to that argument.

If God's statutes were established to last forever, than why would He do away with them after a few thousand years, which are nothing compared with eternity? The closest illustration I can think of would be if those responsible for the Hoover Dam, a structure that was designed to last a very long time, were to suddenly decide that it should be destroyed. No doubt people would think that they were crazy. Yet, sadly, this is how many view God and His laws. To think that He would do away with something that was established to last forever is to think that He is impulsive at best.

I know this may be an oversimplification of the matter, but then again that may only be in contrast to people's tendency to over complicate things. God designed for His laws to last forever, and that is exactly how we should view them.

Time to Act

Psalm 119:121-128 

Ayin

 ¹²¹ I have done what is righteous and just;
       do not leave me to my oppressors. 
 ¹²² Ensure your servant's well-being;
       let not the arrogant oppress me.
 ¹²³ My eyes fail, looking for your salvation,
       looking for your righteous promise.
 ¹²⁴ Deal with your servant according to your love
       and teach me your decrees.
 ¹²⁵ I am your servant; give me discernment
       that I may understand your statutes.
 ¹²⁶ It is time for you to act, O LORD;
       your law is being broken.
 ¹²⁷ Because I love your commands
       more than gold, more than pure gold,
 ¹²⁸ and because I consider all your precepts right,
       I hate every wrong path.

We must know when to act and when we should leave the actions to God.

Even though I quoted the entire ayin section above, I will focus mainly on verse 126. The psalmist, as we can ascertain from reading the rest of the psalm, was a person who had a close relationship with God, and had very high esteem for His law. Even though much of Psalm 119 is devoted to talking about the psalmist's actions in regards to the law, such is not the case in verse 126. Here the psalmist states that it is time for God to act, not himself. That is an attitude that we all should spend more time developing.

Too many people have the mentality that they should be defenders of the faith. I did a simple word search for the word "defend" and found only one reference that talked about a human being defending the gospel. The rest were either God defending us or us defending other people.

What I get out of this is that we should spend less time thinking about how to defend God and His law from attackers, and spend more time thinking about how to proclaim His message to a dying world. God and His Word have stood the test of time well before we came on the scene. He is much better at defending such attacks than we could ever be. So with this in mind, let us remember that there are times when we should act and there are times when we should leave the actions to God.

More Intelligent

Psalm 119:97-104 

Mem

 ⁹⁷ Oh, how I love your law!
       I meditate on it all day long. 
 ⁹⁸ Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
       for they are ever with me.
 ⁹⁹ I have more insight than all my teachers,
       for I meditate on your statutes.
 ¹⁰⁰ I have more understanding than the elders,
       for I obey your precepts.
 ¹⁰¹ I have kept my feet from every evil path
       so that I might obey your word.
 ¹⁰² I have not departed from your laws,
       for you yourself have taught me.
 ¹⁰³ How sweet are your words to my taste,
       sweeter than honey to my mouth!
 ¹⁰⁴ I gain understanding from your precepts;
       therefore I hate every wrong path.

Attention students, obeying God's law makes you more intelligent.

Upon reading my previous statement, you may say, "Sure, obeying God's law can make me more intelligent regarding God's law, but I'm studying _________." My reply to that is that obedience to God's law makes you more intelligent in all fields, and here's why.

I operate off the concept that obeying His law makes a person more at peace. To truly obey His law is to come into close contact with Him and His character. To come in contact with His character means to have a greater sense of His love for us, and that gives us peace. Many researchers have discovered (and many of us know from personal experience) that emotional stress often inhibits memory function. So the stress reduction that comes from a close relationship with God enables to remember what we have studied. However, this psalm deals with more than simply an increase in academic knowledge.

This psalm deals with such intangibles as wisdom, insight, and understanding, which involve how we use the knowledge that we have. So not only will obeying God's law makes us more intelligent, but we will have greater wisdom, insight, and understanding, which as many of us have found is often a greater help than simply knowing facts and figures.

Have doubts that this works, try it out for yourself. Taste and see that the Lord is good, and you will not be disappointed.

Affliction

Psalm 119:65-72 

Teth

 ⁶⁵ Do good to your servant
       according to your word, O LORD. 
 ⁶⁶ Teach me knowledge and good judgment,
       for I believe in your commands.
 ⁶⁷ Before I was afflicted I went astray,
       but now I obey your word.
 ⁶⁸ You are good, and what you do is good;
       teach me your decrees.
 ⁶⁹ Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies,
       I keep your precepts with all my heart.
 ⁷⁰ Their hearts are callous and unfeeling,
       but I delight in your law.
 ⁷¹ It was good for me to be afflicted
       so that I might learn your decrees.
 ⁷² The law from your mouth is more precious to me
       than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

Strange as it may seem, affliction can be good for you.

The word "afflicted" is mentioned twice in this passage, and I was curious to see what it meant. I first looked it up in the dictionary, but still felt a little unsatisfied. I then decided to look the word up in the original Hebrew, and found additional meaning that was only alluded to in the dictionary. That additional meaning was the aspect of being humbled. So to put things together, "affliction" would mean something similar to "painful humbling".

In both occurrences of the word, it is mentioned in a positive sense because it was this affliction that led the psalmist to a greater appreciation of God's law. He states that he was "astray" before the affliction, sort of wandering away from God, but the affliction brought that wandering to an end.

I can't help but think that if he had not gone astray that the affliction would not have been necessary. So, the key here is that if we stay close to God, and do not go astray, this affliction can be avoided. We have two choices, we can humble [afflict] ourselves, or God can do it for us. However, if/when God does this we can rejoice because we know that the end result is a greater appreciation for His law and a closer relationship with Him.

Late Night Thanks

Psalm 119:57-64 

Heth

 ⁵⁷ You are my portion, O LORD;
       I have promised to obey your words. 
 ⁵⁸ I have sought your face with all my heart;
       be gracious to me according to your promise.
 ⁵⁹ I have considered my ways
       and have turned my steps to your statutes.
 ⁶⁰ I will hasten and not delay
       to obey your commands.
 ⁶¹ Though the wicked bind me with ropes,
       I will not forget your law.
 ⁶² At midnight I rise to give you thanks
       for your righteous laws.
 ⁶³ I am a friend to all who fear you,
       to all who follow your precepts.
 ⁶⁴ The earth is filled with your love, O LORD;
       teach me your decrees.

What do you think about when you wake up in the middle of the night?

As you may have guessed from the introduction, the verse I am focusing on in this section is verse 62. Here the psalmist states that he rises at midnight to thank God for his "righteous laws". I don't know about you, but when I wake up in the middle of the night, I generally am not thanking God for His laws. Recently, the main reason I wake up is that I am either too hot or too cold (our home is somewhat lacking in insulation, so the temperature can vary quite a bit), so I am thinking about how to warm up or cool down. I don't give thanks to God, but I probably should do that more often.

I say "more often" because recently I have made an effort to be more thankful. My wife and I pray together at night before we go to sleep, and about a week ago I decided that these prayers should be prayers of thanks. I can't speak for my wife, but I can say that this experiment is already paying off for me. I find myself more at peace when I go to sleep. Am I at the same point that the psalmist is? No, but hopefully if I continue to develop a thankful spirit, I will be.

Opposition

Psalm 119:49-56 

z Zayin

 ⁴⁹ Remember your word to your servant,
       for you have given me hope. 
 ⁵⁰ My comfort in my suffering is this:
       Your promise preserves my life.
 ⁵¹ The arrogant mock me without restraint,
       but I do not turn from your law.
 ⁵² I remember your ancient laws, O LORD,
       and I find comfort in them.
 ⁵³ Indignation grips me because of the wicked,
       who have forsaken your law.
 ⁵⁴ Your decrees are the theme of my song
       wherever I lodge.
 ⁵⁵ In the night I remember your name, O LORD,
       and I will keep your law.
 ⁵⁶ This has been my practice:
       I obey your precepts.

When keeping God's law, we will undoubtedly encounter people who think we should do otherwise.

The verse that stood out the most to me in this passage is verse 51, especially the "without restraint" part. There is few things more annoying to a law-breaker than one who consistently keeps the law. Such a person is a rebuke to their lawlessness, and because of that they will take those negative feelings and turn them upon the law-keeper. We shouldn't allow this unrestrained mocking to turn us from keeping the law. We need to find comfort in God's commands.

Lord, help me to stay true to You regardless of what other people say and do to me.

Confidence

Psalm 119:41-48 

w Waw

 ⁴¹ May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD,
       your salvation according to your promise; 
 ⁴² then I will answer the one who taunts me,
       for I trust in your word.
 ⁴³ Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth,
       for I have put my hope in your laws.
 ⁴⁴ I will always obey your law,
       for ever and ever.
 ⁴⁵ I will walk about in freedom,
       for I have sought out your precepts.
 ⁴⁶ I will speak of your statutes before kings
       and will not be put to shame,
 ⁴⁷ for I delight in your commands
       because I love them.
 ⁴⁸ I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love,
       and I meditate on your decrees.

Keeping the law gives us a confidence that we otherwise wouldn't have.

I want to focus on verses 45-47 in this section because it talks about a noticeable benefit of keeping God's, confidence. The psalmist here states that he "will walk about in freedom" because he seeks out God's precepts. He also states that he will speak of God's law before kings "and will not be put to shame." Doing what is right gives us a confidence, a boldness, that we otherwise wouldn't have. We can withstand a lot of criticism from others if we know that what they are saying is false. In my studying of the life of the apostle Paul, it is easy for me to see that he had this confidence, this boldness that stood in such a stark contrast to his accusers. He had that confidence because he knew what he believed and he knew that what he believed was right.

It is important to note what it states in the end of verse 47, "because I love them". If we are keeping God's law for any other reason than love, we will not have that confidence because that confidence does not come from fulfilling an obligation. Someone once told me that God = law = love. To think of it in any other way would be to have a legalistic, works-oriented religion.

Teach Me

Psalm 119:33-40 

He

 ³³ Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees;
       then I will keep them to the end. 
 ³⁴ Give me understanding, and I will keep your law
       and obey it with all my heart.
 ³⁵ Direct me in the path of your commands,
       for there I find delight.
 ³⁶ Turn my heart toward your statutes
       and not toward selfish gain.
 ³⁷ Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
       preserve my life according to your word. 
 ³⁸ Fulfill your promise to your servant,
       so that you may be feared.
  ³⁹ Take away the disgrace I dread, 
       for your laws are good.
 ⁴⁰ How I long for your precepts!
       Preserve my life in your righteousness.

Education is essential to keeping God's law.

It is interesting the phrases the psalmist uses in this psalm and how much they coincide with an education of one sort or another; phrases such as "teach me", "Give me understanding", "Direct me", etc. The temptation when it comes to the subject of God's law is to go to extremes. The one extreme being that we do absolutely nothing and the other to do absolutely everything. The presence of the aforementioned phrases seem to strike somewhere in the middle. To educate someone else means imparting knowledge with the purpose of assisting them in doing something for themselves. Consider this:

When the Spirit of God controls mind and heart, the converted soul breaks forth into a new song; for he realizes that in his experience the promise of God has been fulfilled, that his transgression has been forgiven, his sin covered. He has exercised repentance toward God for the violation of the divine law, and faith toward Christ, who died for man's justification. "Being justified by faith," he has "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1.

But because this experience is his, the Christian is not therefore to fold his hands, content with that which has been accomplished for him. He who has determined to enter the spiritual kingdom will find that all the powers and passions of unregenerate nature, backed by the forces of the kingdom of darkness, are arrayed against him. Each day he must renew his consecration, each day do battle with evil. Old habits, hereditary tendencies to wrong, will strive for the mastery, and against these he is to be ever on guard, striving in Christ's strength for victory. --The Acts of the Apostles pp. 476, 477

Conversion, using your desire to take that first step, is not the end of the effort. It is the beginning. There is some work that needs to be done by us and through us. 

This education involves more than simply information. It involves changing habits. Along this line, the phrase "turn my eyes away from worthless things" stood out to me. The ancient Hebrew word shav translated into "worthless things" in the NIV is also translated into "vanity" in the KJV. It connotes emptiness and falsehood. There are many things in this life that falsely promise fulfillment, but end up giving us emptiness. We need to turn away from these things if we are to truly keep the law of God.

There is much more to be learned from this passage, and I encourage you to take the time to study it for the education you will receive is essential to continue on this journey of keeping God's law.

Freedom and the Law

Psalm 119:25-32 

 Daleth

 ²⁵ I am laid low in the dust;
       preserve my life according to your word. 
 ²⁶ I recounted my ways and you answered me;
       teach me your decrees.
 ²⁷ Let me understand the teaching of your precepts;
       then I will meditate on your wonders.
 ²⁸ My soul is weary with sorrow;
       strengthen me according to your word.
 ²⁹ Keep me from deceitful ways;
       be gracious to me through your law.
 ³⁰ I have chosen the way of truth;
       I have set my heart on your laws.
 ³¹ I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD;
       do not let me be put to shame.
 ³² I run in the path of your commands,
       for you have set my heart free.

Contrary to popular opinion, freedom and God's law go together.

There is a lot that could be said about this section, but I want to focus on verse 32 because it deals with two concepts that are not often associated with one another: commands & freedom. Here the psalmist states that because he has been set free he will keep God's commands.

Keeping the law becomes easier when we realize that we have been set free by God. That realization means we acknowledge that He desires what is best for us. It's not as though we keep the law out of sense of obligation, but rather out of a sense of gratitude for what He has done for us. To put it another way, we are more likely to take someone's advice if they have consistently helped us out in the past.

So as we continue to ponder God's law, let us remember that this law comes from a heart of infinite love; a heart that wants us to be free.

Delighting in the Law

Psalm 119:17-24 

Gimel

 ¹⁷ Do good to your servant, and I will live;
       I will obey your word.

 ¹⁸ Open my eyes that I may see
        wonderful things in your law.
 ¹⁹ I am a stranger on earth;
       do not hide your commands from me.
 ²⁰ My soul is consumed with longing
       for your laws at all times.
 ²¹ You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed
       and who stray from your commands.
 ²² Remove from me scorn and contempt,
       for I keep your statutes.
 ²³ Though rulers sit together and slander me,
       your servant will meditate on your decrees.
 ²⁴ Your statutes are my delight;
       they are my counselors.

To the converted heart, God's law is a delight, and not a burden.

We are now in the third stanza of Psalm 119 signified by the letter gimel. It's best to think of Psalm 119 as a song with multiple verses. They may say different things but they have a unifying theme; God's law. A key thought in this stanza is the psalmist's delight in God's law. He states that the law has "wonderful things" in it, and that God's statute are his delight. These are not thoughts one would have if they were not moving away from sin and towards God.

The unconverted heart, one that has not taken that first step, will seek to avoid the law both literally and/or figuratively:  literally through the avoidance of reading the Bible, figuratively through rationalizing it away. The unconverted  does not want to be convicted of sin. Using the metaphor of the law as a mirror, it would be like someone with dirt on their face avoiding looking a mirror, denying that the dirt exists, or simply stating that it isn't so bad to have a dirty face.

The converted heart, on the other hand, wants to see that mirror because they desire to be clean. It is a joy to be under God's guidance. The psalmist refers to God's statutes as counselors. Counselors are people who help us make decisions. In this case, they help us make good decisions. The law was not a burden to the psalmist. It was a delight.

Help me Lord to see Your law not as a burden to weigh me down, but as a delight to move me closer to You.

How to Obey

Psalm 119:9-16

Beth

   ⁹ How can a young man keep his way pure?
       By living according to your word.

 ¹⁰ I seek you with all my heart;

       do not let me stray from your commands.

 ¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart 

       that I might not sin against you.
 ¹² Praise be to you, O LORD;
       teach me your decrees.
 ¹³ With my lips I recount
       all the laws that come from your mouth.
 ¹⁴ I rejoice in following your statutes
       as one rejoices in great riches.
 ¹⁵ I meditate on your precepts
       and consider your ways.
 ¹⁶ I delight in your decrees;
       I will not neglect your word.

We tend to overlook the key element that enables us to obey God's law.

In my previous Psalms post, I stated that this one would talk about how to continue on this journey of keeping God's law. The first three verses of the "Beth" section (Beth is the next letter in the ancient Hebrew alphabet), gives three guidelines. One keeps God's law by: 1) living according to His word, 2) seeking Him with the entire heart, and 3) hiding His word in the heart. You may think that since it's only three steps that obedience is a simple matter of a checklist. Once you complete those three steps, then you're on your way. Sadly, we tend to make things even more difficult then they need to be.

One of the reasons it is so difficult is that we tend to do steps one and three while neglecting number two. We need to seek God with our entire heart. The point of His word, the Bible, is to draw us to Him. Living a righteous life comes as a result of seeking God. Neither the Bible nor living a righteous life are ends in and of themselves.

To seek God with our entire heart we must surrender our will to His will. This must be a consistent, constant surrender. Once we start along this path, we will become increasingly aware of our need to surrender, and the more we surrender the more of our heart is open to Him. I could go into details as to what we need to surrender, but I'm sure we all have an idea as to where each of us needs to begin. Surrendering involves a struggle, but take heart, the more we surrender, the easier surrender becomes.

A Desire to Obey

Psalm 119:1-8 

Aleph

 ¹ Blessed are they whose ways are blameless,
       who walk according to the law of the LORD.

 ² Blessed are they who keep his statutes
       and seek him with all their heart.
 ³ They do nothing wrong;
       they walk in his ways.
 ⁴ You have laid down precepts
       that are to be fully obeyed.
 ⁵ Oh, that my ways were steadfast
       in obeying your decrees!
 ⁶ Then I would not be put to shame
       when I consider all your commands.
 ⁷ I will praise you with an upright heart
       as I learn your righteous laws.
 ⁸ I will obey your decrees;
       do not utterly forsake me.

A key element in obeying God is desire.

As I go through Psalm 119, I will be focusing on one section at a time because there is no way I can do it justice by trying to cover the entire psalm in one day. Thankfully, psalm is naturally divided in to sections based on the letters of the ancient Hebrew alphabet. Some Bibles, like the NIV, divide it into sections for you. This section is for aleph, the first letter of the alphabet, and if you were to see it in its original language every verse would start with that letter. The technical term for this type of writing is "acrostic".

This section deals with God's law, namely, the keeping of it. The key point I want to bring out is the psalmist's desire to keep the law. Some may think that it's a no-brainer to say that in order to keep the law you must first want to keep it, but if you look around at the world today it's easy to see that many people are not acting as though they want to obey any law, let alone God's law. This psalm doesn't go into how to keep the law, and on it's own it appears to promote a works-oriented religion which is why you shouldn't base your beliefs on just a few verses of the Bible.

There is an old saying that goes, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." I would go beyond that to say that this journey begins not with the physical step, but by choosing to, wanting to, take that step.

In our battle with sin it may feel as if we are walking a thousand miles, but if we have the desire in our hearts we are headed in the right direction. Next time we'll deal with how to continue on this journey.