Psalms 119:165 Great peace have
they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
As we consider this
verse, let us be reminded that God’s law, His written word, is the
truth (Psalm 119:142). Therefore, I shall speak of the law and the
truth interchangeably throughout this meditation.
Let’s begin by seeing
how the Oxford English Dictionary defines the word offend.
Offend – In Biblical use: To be a
stumbling-block, or cause spiritual or moral difficulty, to (a
person); to shock; to cause to stumble or to sin.
Oxford supplies
another definition of the word offend that agrees with this
Biblical use of the term.
Offend - To hurt or wound the feelings
or susceptibilities of; to be displeasing or disagreeable to; to vex,
annoy, displease, anger; now esp. To excite a feeling of
personal annoyance, resentment, or disgust in (any one).
First off, people who
love the law of God are not offended by the truth in that law even
though it may be offensive. And there is plenty of truth in there
that is offensive to all of us, especially painful truth about
ourselves.
When the Lord Jesus
Christ, Who is the truth (John 14:6), was in this world and spoke
among men, there were those that were offended by what they heard.
Matthew 15:12 Then came his
disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were
offended, after they heard this saying?
John 6:60 ¶Many therefore of
his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard
saying; who can hear it?
61 When Jesus knew in himself
that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this
offend you?
These were obviously
people that did not truly love the law of God, although they
professed to do so. You can always tell how much a person loves the
Bible when you see how they react when the Bible crosses them!
When today’s verse
speaks of those who love God’s law, it is not referring to some
whim or passing fancy that they experience. It is talking about a
love of the law of God that is constant, a love for the law even when
it exposes one’s sins and infirmities. It is talking about a love
of God’s law that leads one to submit to its commandments even when
it is personally costly or painful to do so. When you love the law
like that, you are going to experience the opposition of the devil
and the world over which he is the god and prince (2Corinthians 4:4;
John 14:30).
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour....
John 15:19 If ye were of the
world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said
unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have
persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my
saying, they will keep yours also.
Our Lord was gracious enough to inform us of this hatred of the world in advance just so that we would not be offended when it happens.
John 16:1 These things have I
spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
Yet it happens that
there are those who receive the truth with gladness, but whatever
fondness they feel for it does not run deep. It is not the kind of
love of the truth that endures. Therefore, when opposition comes for
the truth’s sake, they are offended and fall away.
Mark 4:16 And these are they
likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard
the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
17 And have no root in
themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction
or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are
offended.
But whatever affliction
or persecution comes to those who love God’s law, it is offset by
the great peace they have. In the same discourse in which our
Saviour forewarned us of the persecution that would come upon us “for
the word’s sake,” He promised us His peace.
John 14:27 Peace I leave
with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth,
give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid.
John 16:33 These things I have
spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world
ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the
world.
The same law of God
that reveals to us what sinners we are and how deserving of God’s
wrath we are, also reveals the Saviour from sin, the Lord Jesus
Christ. It also reveals that those who love God’s law of truth are
just the ones whom the Lord Jesus has loved and saved. As it is
written:
1 John 4:19 We love him (which
includes loving His law), because he first loved us.
And loving us first,
God sent His only begotten Son to take away our sins and give us
eternal life.
1 John 4:7 ¶Beloved, let us
love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is
born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not
God; for God is love.
9 In this was manifested the
love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son
into the world, that we might live through him.
10 Herein is love, not that we
loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us,
we ought also to love one another.
Now this passage
commands us to love one another. Those who love God’s law will
love one another since to love our neighbour as ourselves sums up
that law.
Galatians 5:14 For all the law
is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself.
So we learn from this
passage (1John 4:7-11) that our love for God’s law is an evidence
of our eternal salvation and security in the love of God from which
nothing can separate us (Romans 8:35-39). And being at peace in the
knowledge of our salvation in Christ, we can better endure whatever
persecutions or slights come our way since we know we deserve so much
worse. When you think you deserve worse and you are thankful for the
salvation God has freely given you by His grace, then you are less
prone to be offended.
It is clear from
today’s verse that the way to avoid being offended is to cultivate
your love of the law of God. And the more you love the law of God,
the more out of love you will be with yourself. You see, that is
where so many of our personal offenses arise. We just think too
highly of ourselves and, therefore, we are offended by whatever
anyone says or does that does not square with our estimation of
ourselves. We need to learn that the world does not revolve around
us. Everyone is not going to crouch down before our every little
whim. People will cross us, even unintentionally. We live in a
hurting world, or have you noticed? And it also happens among
Christians, even the best of them. So if your petty little feelings
are always being hurt, pay more attention to what God’s law says
about you. The most important thing is not what others think of you,
but what Almighty God thinks of you, which you will discover in His
law of truth. When you see how bad you really are under the
searchlight of that law and when you see how loved you are by God
notwithstanding all, then your feelings should calm down into a
settled peace that will set light by the negative judgments of others
whilst you bask in the strong and constant love of God in Christ.
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