From The Pastor's Study

Psalm 119:36

2012-01-27T17:15:00.002-05:00

As we are moving through the octave of Psalm 119 entitled Hë, we come to a verse that strikes at the root of all sin, that being the sin of covetousness.

Psalms 119:36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.

Having resolved that he will consistently and wholeheartedly keep the law of God, the psalmist seeks help from God to keep this resolve. He prays to the Lord, Incline my heart unto thy testimonies.

Incline – To bend (the mind, heart, will, etc.) towards some course or action; to give a mental leaning or tendency to (a person); to dispose.

Although God does not force our will to keep His commandments, He does incline our wills in that direction, if we ask Him. He brings gracious influences to bear that bend our hearts to do what He commands. When the Lord gives us assurance that our sins are forgiven, when the Lord gives us information that helps us cope with life, when He gives us peace in the midst of our tribulations, when He gives us comfort and encouragement from His word and from others, when He answers our prayers, when He opens the riches of His word to us, or when He shows us the glories of our Saviour Jesus Christ and thereby rejoices our souls, all of these things bend our hearts and wills to keep His commandments. It is like the clear shining of the sun that causes plants to bend toward its light. So God’s gracious influences incline our hearts unto His testimonies. Indeed, “we love him, because he first loved us” (1John 4:19).

According to this verse our hearts can be inclined in one of two different directions. They can be inclined unto God’s testimonies or inclined unto covetousness. Before getting into this, let’s define covetousness.

Covetousness – Inordinate and culpable desire of possessing that which belongs to another or to which one has no right.

To covet is the same as to lust or to desire, as the following two verses establish.

Romans 7:7 …I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Deuteronomy 5:21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Covetousness is lusting after or desiring something forbidden by the law of God.

Now observe that covetousness is placed in contrast to God’s testimonies, plural. Commenting on this, Richard Capel wrote:

“He saith not, this or that testimony, but (as including all the laws of God) he saith, 'testimonies'; to show us that covetousness draws us away, not from some only, but from all God’s commandments.”

This point is confirmed by the words of the apostle Paul as he speaks of the evils that arise from covetousness.

1 Timothy 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Every sin has an element of covetousness or lust in it. Paul warns us against obeying sin “in the lusts thereof” (Romans 6:12). You see, every sin contains a lust. We sin because we desire, we covet something that God’s testimonies forbid.

James 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

The extreme danger of this sin may be concluded from how much of the teaching and example of our Lord Jesus Christ was directed against it. Charles Bridges said it well:

“There is probably no principle so opposed to the Lord’s testimonies. It casts out the principle of obedience, since the love of God cannot co-exist with the love of the world (1John 2:15); and the very desire to serve Mammon is a proof of unfaithfulness to God (Matthew 6:24).

As I have taught my congregation in the past, in order to resist sin one must deal with it at the level of the lust. Resist the desire to sin, and you will resist the sin itself. Kill the covetousness and you will have killed sin at its root. An effective way to attack covetousness is to pray for God to incline, to bend your heart in the direction of His testimonies and away from covetousness. And mean it when you pray it!!!

Psalm 119:35

2012-01-18T15:59:00.002-05:00

We now come to the third verse of this octave of Psalm 119 entitled Hë.

Psalms 119:35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

The thought expressed in this verse follows logically upon the thought expressed in the first two verses of this octave. In the first two verses the psalmist begged the Lord to teach him and give him understanding of His law. In asking the Lord to give him this knowledge of His word, he resolved before God to conform his life to that knowledge. Now he is asking the Lord to give him the strength to keep that resolution. It is one thing to know what to do and another thing to be able to do it.

To go in the path of God’s commandments is to follow the direction of those commandments, to let them lead you wherever they will take you, just as when you follow the direction of a path in the woods. Knowing that God is perfectly good, you may be sure that the path of His commandments will always lead you to very best places you can be in your life.

When he says to the Lord make me to go in the path of thy commandments, he is asking God to enable him to obey His commandments. When God makes us to go in His way, He does not lead us like a puppet on a string. We have to do the going. We are responsible to obey. We obey the Lord actively, not passively. God makes us to go in the path of His commandments by enabling us, by giving us the strength to keep His commandments.

Psalms 68:35 …the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.

The following passage clearly shows how this mechanism works.

Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Observe that we work out our own salvation. But before we can work it out, God must first work it in. He does this by enabling us to will and to do of His good pleasure. But once He enables us to will and to do, we must ourselves will and do the good pleasure. And we can only do this if God gives us the ability to do it. This prayer for the Lord to make me to go in the path of obedience is a prayer for the Lord to strengthen us. Strength by definition is the power or ability to do something. How many times do we ask the Lord for strength and rightly so? For without His strength, we are powerless to go in the path of His commandments.

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

But with His strength, we can pursue that path all the way, wherever it takes us.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Now the psalmist advances this reason for the Lord to make him to go in the path of His commandments: for therein do I delight. The person who finds his greatest pleasure in obeying the Lord is the person who will most earnestly pray for the Lord to strengthen him to obey. Our delights determine what we most seek after. So examine those things that you most enjoy, those things that turn your crank, as we say. And upon finding those things, you will also find what shapes your desires and prayers. Is health your greatest delight? Then that will be the foremost thing you ask God for. Is being able to come and go as you please your greatest delight? Then you will always be praying for relief from whatever is keeping you from doing that. Is money your greatest delight? Then your prayers will in some way or another mostly revolve around that. “Give me a job, Lord.” “Let this deal go through, Lord.” And on and on we could go. I am not saying these prayers are necessarily wrong. But should they be the foremost desire of your heart? If the greatest delight of your life is pleasing the Lord, then asking God to enable you to do that will be your foremost request. And, interestingly enough, a lot of other good things will come with the answer to that prayer.

Matthew 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Psalm 119:34

2012-01-07T11:53:00.002-05:00

Hë! Are you ready to take up the next verse in this series of meditations on Psalm 119?

Psalms 119:34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

This verse bears on the same theme as the preceding verse. In both verses the psalmist is calling upon the Lord for instruction. He rightly asks God for understanding since understanding comes from Him.

Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

Now just what is understanding?

Understanding - Power or ability to understand (to comprehend; to apprehend the meaning or import of; to grasp the idea of). Signification, meaning, sense.

It is not enough to merely acquire information. Just accumulating a bunch of facts only clogs the brain. For information to benefit us, we need to understand it. We need to be able to make sense of the information we gain, to know what it means and how it fits with everything else. It is a fact that we learn things better when we understand them. This holds true when we come to the Bible, God’s law. In order to profit from the word of God, we need to be able to understand it, to see how it all fits together. Those of us who are Bible students know how rewarding it is to read something in the Bible, perhaps for years, and then one day we finally understand it. When this happens we might say, “I finally got it!” Or when something falls into place in our understanding we say, “It clicked.”

Now the ultimate answer to this prayer for understanding is found in the Lord Jesus Christ as the following verse makes clear:

1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

The revelation of God through His Son is the linchpin that connects everything together so that it makes sense. Only those who know Jesus Christ can really make sense out of the Bible they read and out of the world in which they live. This reminds me of a story I heard. A lady was reading her Bible and another lady upon seeing this told her that she thought the Bible was hard to understand. To this the Bible reader replied, “It helps to know the Author.” How true!

As in the previous verse, the psalmist attaches a resolve to his request. If God will give him understanding, the psalmist resolves: “I will keep thy law.” When God gives us understanding of His law, that understanding brings with it a strong motivation to obey that law. Thomas Manton put it this way:

“It is such instruction as giveth strength, that exciteth the sluggish will, and breaketh the force of corrupt inclinations; it removeth the darkness which corruption and sin have brought upon the mind, and maketh us pliable and ready to obey….”

This same point can be seen in Paul’s prayer for the Colossians.

Colossians 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness….

As result of being filled with spiritual understanding, one can walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing because he understands how to please God. One can be fruitful in every good work when he understands what is a good work actually is. And being filled with spiritual understanding he will realize greater strength to serve the Lord and endure hardship. The more we understand God and His will, the more we will want to pattern our lives according to His will. That is why it is so important to continually pray to God for understanding, and to seek understanding by studying our Bibles and attending to the teaching of God’s word. The more we understand, the more obedient we will want to be and be able to be.

On the other hand, the less we understand of God and His law, the more prone we will be to err. In every sin there is an element of ignorance, something that is not understood. This was the case regarding those who crucified the Son of God.

1 Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Even if a person knows that what he is doing is a sin, he does not fully understand the consequences of what he is doing, else he would not do it.

Now upon being given understanding, the psalmist will not only keep God’s law, he affirms, yea, I will observe it with my whole heart. Taken together with the preceding verse we see that the psalmist resolves to take the instruction the Lord gives him and use it to obey Him consistently and wholeheartedly. He will give his service to God his all, all the time. As we have observed before in studying this psalm, God considers it pretence or feigning if you are not serving Him with your whole heart.

Jeremiah 3:10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.

The Lord will tolerate no rivals with Him in our hearts. Love for anyone or anything else must never be allowed to compete with our love for God and obedience to His law. No part of your heart must be withheld. Charles Bridges said it well: “That which is now willfully withheld, will gradually draw away the rest in apostasy from him.” To which I reply, “Amen.” It’s wholehearted or nothing. It’s all the way or not at all.

Psalm 119:33

2011-12-20T11:55:00.002-05:00

We now come to the fifth octave of Psalm 119 bearing the title of the Hebrew letter Hë. The pronunciation of this letter is close in sound to our words hay or hey. I would like to begin today’s meditation with this Hebrew letter. Hë! Are you ready to study Psalm 119:33? Okay, I know it’s not the greatest joke. But I think it’s cute. And it is original. Could you tell?

Psalms 119:33 HE. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.

This is the third time in this psalm that the psalmist petitions the Lord to teach him. He seasons his prayer with that interjection O, which expresses emotion. This psalmist is in earnest about this. He really wants to learn the way of God’s statutes. The following words of D. H. Mollerus give us an insight into why the psalmist repeats this prayer so often and so earnestly. Read this carefully. It is powerful!

“And the prayer is full of the most ardent longings, which is manifest from the same resolve being so frequently repeated. For the more he knows the ignorance, obscurity, doubts, and the imbecility of the human mind, and sees how men are impelled by a slight momentum, so that they fall away from the truth and embrace errors repugnant to the divine word, or fall into great sins, the more ardently and strongly does he ask in prayer that he may be divinely taught, governed, and strengthened, lest he should cast away acknowledged truth, or plunge himself into wickedness.”

The psalmist asks the Lord to teach him the way of His statutes. This petition agrees with the one we found in verse 27: “Make me to understand the way of thy precepts.” As we noted then, so we note again: all God’s precepts or statutes cohere together to form a single way. People tend to think of the many different ways one can choose to believe, the different ways one can interpret the Bible, the many different ways one can live. But all the different ways really distill down to just two ways: the right way and the wrong way. Or, as we saw in Psalm 119:29-30, the way of truth and the way of lying. Of course, the right way is the way that falls within the guidelines of God’s statutes. And remember that the way that seems right to you is not necessarily the right way.

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

You need to always consult with God and not just with yourself to discover the right way. S. Bernard said, “He who is his own pupil, has a fool for his master.”

Now our Saviour described these two ways as the broad way and the narrow way.

Matthew 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

In this passage our Lord teaches us that most people choose the wrong way. This is even true with respect to the choices people make in the realm of professing Christianity, as Christ later taught in this same chapter.

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Now our psalmist desperately did not want to make the wrong choice. That is why he so earnestly asked God to teach him the way of His statutes.

As we noted in a previous meditation, God uses instruments when He teaches us. We pointed out that He uses the Scriptures themselves as we read and study them. He also uses tribulation to teach us patience (Romans 5:3) and chastening to correct us (Proverbs 3:11-12). He uses parents to teach children. He uses the pastors and teachers He has given to His churches to teach us. And He uses our fellow believers to teach us as we teach, comfort, edify, admonish, and exhort one another. And, as we learned last Sunday, God uses creation to teach us. But remember that all these are God’s instruments. It is God that is teaching you. Always look beyond the instrument to God. If you would learn the right way, pray to the right One to teach you.

Now the psalmist adds this to his petition: and I shall keep it unto the end. The psalmist tells the Lord that if He will teach him the way of his statutes, he will keep that way with a constancy that will endure to the end. That end could be the end of one’s life or the end of the world, whichever comes first. Matthew Henry said it well: “It will not avail the traveler to keep the way for a while, if he do not keep it to the end of his journey.” God is not honoured by starts and stops in His service. Our obedience must not be tied to the fickle ups and downs of our ever changing emotions. The Lord wants constancy, stedfastness, endurance to the end. Said Christ:

Matthew 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Shakespeare put it so well:

“O heaven! were man
But constant, he were perfect: that one error
Fills him with faults; makes him run through all th’ sins:
Inconstancy falls off ere it begins….”

If you would have God to teach you the way of His statutes, be sure that you are sincere in your resolve to keep that way unto the end. And be sure you do just that, even if you fail in everything else.

Psalm 119:32

2011-12-02T12:42:00.002-05:00

We now arrive at the last verse of the fourth octave of Psalm 119 entitled Daleth.

Psalms 119:32 I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.

Charles Spurgeon observed: “What a change from verse 25 to the present, from cleaving to the dust to running in the way.” When we talk about running, we are talking about moving at a faster pace than walking, a pace that requires greater exertion, a greater expenditure of effort. Now there is a reason why someone would exert themselves to run when a slower pace is so much easier. That reason might be to win a race, to escape danger, to make an appointment on time, or to improve one’s endurance and fitness. In the verse we consider today the psalmist uses the word run in a figurative sense. Just as person exerts himself in running to achieve his objective, the psalmist resolved to exert himself, to increase his output of effort in conforming his life to the way of God’s commandments. This conformity to God’s commandments was his reason for running. There is no better reason to exert oneself than that!

The Christian life can be summed us as patterning one’s life after the commandments of God. That being the case, it is interesting to note how the Christian life is described as running a race, which agrees with the thought expressed in today’s verse.

1 Corinthians 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

In this passage Paul teaches the importance of temperance, of self-control in running this race. If we would win the prize in this race, we must be temperate in all things. We must keep our bodily appetites and passions under control or we will lose the race. That is, we will fail at being the Christians we should be and end up being rejected.

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us….

Here Paul exhorts believers to run this race with patience. Patience calls for endurance, not giving up. We must develop the ability to stay the course in the face of opposition, discouragement, and weariness.

Now the psalmist resolves to run the way of God’s commandments. But he hinges his ability to carry out his resolve on this condition: when thou shalt enlarge my heart. How the psalmist will go about keeping God’s commandments will be determined by the condition of his heart. Commenting on this verse Charles Spurgeon wrote:

“Yes, the heart is the master; the feet soon run when the heart is free and energetic. Let the affections be aroused and eagerly set on divine things, and our actions will be full of force, swiftness, and delight.”

It is a fact of life that the more the heart is involved in what we are doing, the more energetically and enthusiastically we will go about it. Have you ever quit doing something just because your heart wasn’t in it anymore? If so, then you can better understand the lesson of today’s verse. If we would exert more effort in keeping God’s commandments, we need more heart to do it. That is, we need to have our heart enlarged. Now let’s define what it means to enlarge the heart.

To enlarge the heart: to ‘expand,’ ‘swell’ the heart with gratitude or affection; now usually, to increase the capacity of the heart for affection, widen the range the affections.

Keeping God’s commandments flows out of love and affection for Him as the following verses declare:

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words….

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

When God enlarges our heart, we love Him more and we are more thankful to Him. As a result, we exert more effort to keep His commandments. When God enlarges our heart, we have an increased capacity to know Him, His will, and His ways. When God gave Solomon “wisdom and understanding exceeding much,” it was said that God gave him “largeness of heart” (1Kings 4:29). A person who knows God, loves Him, and is filled with gratitude to Him for His goodness is a person who will make a greater effort to keep His commandments.

When you step back from this verse and look at the larger picture it comes down to this: we are entirely dependent upon the power of God to enable us to obey Him to the best of our ability. Only by His strength can we practice self-control and endure the rigours of this race to keep His commandments. Increased strength from God equals increased capacity. Left to our own strength our hearts will become straitened and constricted so that we will give up and give in to the pressures and temptations to depart from the way of God’s commandments. We just won’t have the heart to stay the course. Therefore, we need to be ever praying for God to enlarge our hearts, to increase our capacity so that we may run the way of His commandments. You can hear echoes of this prayer in these prayers:

Luke 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

Colossians 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness….

1 Thessalonians 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you….

So if today you are feeling slow, dull, sluggish, or apathetic in serving the Lord, call upon Him to enlarge your heart. But when you ask Him to do this, be sure to tell Him that you will - no maybes about it - run the way of His commandments. Tell Him that you will do your best to serve Him. God will not increase your capacity to serve Him more if He knows you are not serious about doing it.

Psalm 119:31

2011-11-22T12:19:00.002-05:00

The thought in the verse for today’s mediation follows upon that of the previous verse.

Psalms 119:31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.

Let’s begin by looking at the meaning of the verb phrase stick to.

Stick to - To give one’s adhesion to (a doctrine, cause, etc.). To adhere, keep or hold to (an argument, demand, resolve, opinion, bargain, covenant, and the like); to refuse to renounce or abandon; to persist in. To refuse to be enticed, led or turned from; to attend unremittingly to (an occupation, course of action, work, etc.).

In the previous verse the psalmist expressed to God that he had chosen the way of truth. In the verse we consider today, the psalmist tells the Lord that he has stuck to that choice. By sticking to God’s testimonies he was sticking to the way of truth since God’s testimonies are the way of truth. The psalmist chose a course of action and adhered to it refusing to give it up. We call this stick-to-itiveness. Another word that describes this trait is the word stedfast.

Stedfast – Fixed or secure in position. Of persons: Unshaken, immovable in faith, resolution, friendship, etc. Also said of belief, purpose, or affection.

The stedfast person sticks to his faith; he stands by his decisions and commitments.

Suffer me to express my personal opinion. I love people who decide to do something and stick to it. So many people flip from thing to thing never staying very long with anything. They become easily burned out and so move on to something else thus never really achieving any degree of excellence in anything. As the old saying goes: “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” To be sure, we all try something and discover that it is not for us. Or maybe we stay with something for awhile and then give it up because we realize it is no longer serving our purposes. Everybody does that, okay? But I am talking about people for whom jumping around and never settling down to one thing is a way of life, a defining trait of their character. This is not good! Wishy-washy, indecisive, back and forth, on and off just doesn’t cut it. For once, such people need to make up their mind and stick to it.

Now when it comes to our personal growth in our relationship with God, decisiveness and stedfastness are absolutely essential.

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord….

Colossians 2:5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

The stedfast, unmoveable, stablished believer is the one who abounds in faith and in the work of the Lord. He is not stagnant. He is growing. In fact, in the following passage growth in grace is placed in contrast to falling from one’s own stedfastness.

2 Peter 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

If you fall from your own stedfastness, you don’t grow.

You choose to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and to commit your life to following Him by following His commandments. Then you stick to that choice and you do not let anyone or anything turn you from it. When you do that, you can say to God: I have stuck unto thy testimonies. And being genuinely able to say that, you can then make this request: O LORD, put me not to shame.

If the Lord abandons us, we will be put to shame.

Psalms 44:9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.
10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
15 My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,
16 For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth….

Without God’s help, we will not grow in grace and knowledge of Him. Our ignorance will shame us when the enemy attacks us and we cannot defend our position. Without the strength of the Lord, Satan and our enemy lusts will overpower us and we will succumb to temptations to sin. When this happens, the enemy will reproach us and we will be ashamed. If the Lord is not with us to deliver us, we will be put to shame. Hence, this prayer is a prayer for deliverance.

Psalms 31:1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

But if you are sticking to God’s testimonies, you can call upon the Lord to deliver you from being put to shame and He will answer your prayer. He will deliver you. He will strengthen you. And you will go on to know Him and serve Him more and more.

Romans 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Psalm 119:30

2011-11-10T19:07:00.003-05:00

The verse of today’s meditation from Psalm 119 presents a way that stands in stark contrast to the way mentioned in the previous verse. Verse 29 spoke of the way of lying. Today’s verse speaks of the way of truth.

Psalms 119:30 I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.

This verse explains why the psalmist prayed to God in the previous verse to remove from him the way of lying. He wanted nothing to do with the way of lying because he had chosen the way of truth. Matthew Henry had this insightful comment on the psalmist’s choice:

“Observe, I. That those who will make anything to purpose of their religion must first make it their serious and deliberate choice….”

Our eternal salvation is determined by God’s choice, not ours.

Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love….

2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation….

But when it comes to the exercise of religion, that is determined by our choice. Thomas Watson said, “Religion is not a matter of chance, but of choice.” We choose whom or what we will worship and serve, and how we will worship. And this choice of whom or what we will worship and serve will affect every other choice we make. Now, to be sure, God has chosen the way He wants to be worshipped. He wills to be worshipped according to the truth.

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

But we make the choice as to whether we will worship God the way He wants or not.

Every day of our life is filled with all kinds of choices. But all these choices really distill to one choice: the choice of our way, the way we will think, the way we will believe, and the way we will conduct ourselves. And that way should always be determined by the truth. The choice of the way of truth will influence everything in your life. It will influence your worldview, your political beliefs, your work habits, your economic practices, your social connections, how you satisfy your appetites, and, of course, your religious beliefs and practices. Whatever other choice you may make, make sure it is governed by this choice: I have chosen the way of thy truth.

Now the next expression in our verse flows out of this choice of the way of truth: Thy judgments have I laid before me. Again, we hear from Matthew Henry:

“Observe, II. That those who have chosen the way of truth must have a constant regard to the word of God as the rule of their walking.”

God’s written word, His law, which consists of His judgments and commandments, is the truth.

Psalms 119:142 …thy law is the truth.

Psalms 119:151 …all thy commandments are truth.

John 17:17 …thy word is truth.

Having chosen the way of God’s truth, we need to have that truth ever before us if we are going to proceed in that way. Like the psalmist, we must have God’s judgments laid before us, right there in front of us so that we may follow their pattern. The lesson here is that we need to read our Bible, hear it taught, and meditate on its teaching thereby keeping it before us. Only by this means will our lives reflect our choice of the way of truth.

Nothing should be more important to you that choosing the way of truth, because Jesus Christ is the way and the truth (John 14:6). And He is the most important Being in the universe. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ the Scriptures declare:

Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

If everything, including you, exists by and for the Lord Jesus Christ, don’t you think that makes Him quite important? The choice we discuss today is the most important choice you will ever make. You will choose either the way of lying or the way of truth. The choice is inescapable.

In conclusion, I exhort you to examine yourself and the choice you have made as to how you will live your life. What way have you chosen? The way of lying? Or the way of truth? And if it doesn’t really matter to you which way you have chosen; if you don’t think it makes a big difference what you believe; if it doesn’t matter to you what Bible you read, what church you attend, what way you worship, or what preacher you hear; then I say unto you, you have without doubt chosen the way of lying.

Psalm 119:29

2011-11-02T11:50:00.002-04:00

The verse we consider today expresses the yearning of what our Lord called “an honest and good heart” (Luke 8:15).

Psalms 119:29 Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.

The righteous God hates lying and so does a righteous man.

Proverbs 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue….

Proverbs 13:5 A righteous man hateth lying….

The foremost desire of a righteous man is to speak, to know, and to practice the truth. This desire gives rise to the prayer of today’s verse: Remove from me the way of lying.

Commenting on the way of lying, Charles Spurgeon wrote:

“This is the way of sin, error, idolatry, folly, self-righteousness, formalism, hypocrisy. David would not only be kept from that way, but have it kept from him; he cannot endure to have it near him, he would have it swept away from his sight. He desired to be right and upright, true and in the truth; but he feared that a measure of falsehood would cling to him unless the Lord took it away, and therefore he earnestly cried for its removal.”

The righteous man does not want to be deceived. He does not want the way, the course of his life to be influenced by lies. He has an honest and good heart that is open to receiving the truth of God’s word. He wants to know, to believe, and to practice only the truth. He does not want to lie; he does not want to be lied to; and he does not want to live a lie. He will pay whatever it costs him to have the truth and he will not sell it for any price.

Proverbs 23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not….

You hear the petition of today’s verse echoed in these other prayers found in the Scriptures:

Psalms 120:2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.

Proverbs 30:7 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:
8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me….

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Observe that vanity and lies are linked together. To live a lie is to live a life of vanity, a life that is of no value or profit in the eyes of God. If the worship you practice is not in truth, it is worthless. It does neither service nor honour to God.

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Is a characteristic of the wicked that they believe and love lies.

Proverbs 17:4 A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips….

Unregenerate men are deceived and enjoy being so.

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

The following passage describes those who will be deceived by the coming man of sin.

2 Thessalonians 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

These wretched souls do not love the truth and, therefore, do not believe it. They would rather have their pleasure than have the truth, even if that pleasure is in something that is not right. When they look for a church, they look for the church that they can enjoy rather than the church that will teach them the truth.

In order to be delivered from the way of lying, the psalmist prays to God: grant me thy law graciously. God’s law is the truth and as such stands in contrast to the way of lying.

Psalms 119:142 …thy law is the truth.

The psalmist wanted God to grant him His law. He wanted God’s Bible, the true text of the Scriptures. And He wanted the true understanding of that law. The psalmist no doubt had a copy of the law, but he still prayed for God to grant the law to him. It is one thing to have a Bible and it is quite another thing to know and understand it. He did not merely want the law in his hand; he wanted it in his heart. With the true understanding of the law in his heart, he would be able to discern lies when confronted with them. By this means the way of lying would be removed from him. It is by knowing the truth that we can discern truth from falsehood. It is truth that chases away error.

But observe that the psalmist prays for God to grant him His law graciously. For God to let us have His law and to give us understanding of His law, is an act of pure grace. We are like Jacob who confessed: “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto they servant” (Genesis 32:10). When God grants us His law, He is not dealing with us according to what we deserve. He is rather bestowing upon us an unmerited favour. Let us thank God for this grant of His amazing grace.

I close with this observation: If you are in the way of lying, you are in the way of the devil, who “is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44); but if you are in the way of truth, you are in the way of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Whose way do you seek to be in?

Psalm 119:28

2011-10-10T15:18:00.002-04:00

As we saw in the first verse of this octave, so we see it again in the verse we consider today: the psalmist was experiencing soul-trouble.

Psalms 119:28 My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.

The soul of the psalmist was melting for heaviness. Heaviness is the opposite of joy and gladness.

James 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

Do you ever feel like you are being hit on all sides? Perhaps you are struggling with personal health issues, family troubles, vehicle problems, stress on the job, and tight finances all at the same time. Many and varied troubles will cause one to be in heaviness.

1 Peter 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations….

The heaviness the psalmist encountered was causing his soul to melt. One could say he was having a meltdown. What does it mean to have a melting soul?

Melt – Of a person, his ‘soul’ or ‘heart’, feelings, etc. To be overwhelmed with dismay or grief.

The psalmist was dealing with hardship that was weighing him down so heavily that he felt overwhelmed. He felt like his very inmost being was dissolving away. Heaviness can definitely bear down on our heart and soul to the point that we collapse under the weight of it.

Proverbs 12:25 Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.

Charles Spurgeon eloquently described what heaviness can do to a person:

“Heaviness of heart is a killing thing, and when it abounds it threatens to turn life into a long death, in which a man seems to drop away in a perpetual drip of grief.”

Obviously when one is melting under pressure, one is weak. Therefore, the psalmist prays: Strengthen thou me according unto thy word. This request echoes the one that was made in verse 25: Quicken thou me according to thy word. As we noted then, God has promised in His word to give strength to those who humbly seek His help. If we ask God for strength and trust Him to give it, we shall be strengthened in our souls so that we can bear the heaviness that would otherwise cause us to melt away in weakness. We have the promises of God’s word for this. This is that good word that maketh our heart glad. The following verses speak powerfully to our need!

Isaiah 26:4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength….

Isaiah 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

In that last verse the Lord defines strengthening us as helping us. When you are weak, nothing helps like a fresh supply of energy.

Now it is precisely at the point of our weakness, when we are melting for heaviness that we discover God’s strength, for that is when we most realize our need of it. God lets us come to the end of our resources that we might discover the sufficiency of His.

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

God orders it this way so that He gets all the glory for our strength.

Psalms 89:16 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
17 For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

But let us probe more deeply into this verse. Recall that when I introduced this series of meditations on Psalm 119, I wrote the following: “As I dive into these verses I fully expect to also cry, ‘Oh, the depths!’ And as I pore over them, I shall keep an eye out to behold the Lord Jesus Christ as He is certain to show Himself here as in all the other Scriptures. For He said:

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”

Our Lord Himself knew what it was like to melt for heaviness, to have His strength exhausted. Consider the following two prophecies that paint the scene of our Lord’s sufferings for our salvation:

Psalms 69:20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

Psalms 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

When Jesus entered into Gethsemane, it was written of Him:

Matthew 26:36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death…..

In that dark moment in that dark place His soul was melting for heaviness. He looked for comforters and found none. His disciples slept while He wrestled with God in prayer. He was overwhelmed with grief (see the definition of melt above). In that hour He cried to God for help.

Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared….

In answer to His prayer God sent Him the strength He needed for what was ahead of Him.

Luke 22:43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

Oh, how these words should dissolve our all too often calloused hearts into thankfulness. God strengthened our Saviour so that He could suffer for us.

I close with this testimony of David, which was also the testimony of our Lord, the son of David and the Son of God. It is my testimony as well since God has often strengthened my melting soul.

Psalms 138:3 In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.

Psalm 119:27

2011-09-29T17:43:00.004-04:00

We continue our meditation in the fourth octave of Psalm 119 entitled Daleth.

Psalms 119:27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.

If we are to understand God’s word, God must enable us. He must make me to understand. When the verb make is used with an object and infinitive, as it is here, it means to cause a person or thing to do something. In this sentence the object is me, make me, and the infinitive is to understand, make me to understand. So the psalmist is asking God to cause him to understand the way of His precepts.

So how does God cause us to understand His word? First of all, He does not just pour understanding into us. We are commanded to search and study the Scriptures in order to understand them (Proverbs 2:4-5; John 5:39; 2Timothy 2:15). We must be receptive to what God has to say in His word, even if it crosses us. We must submit to and listen to the teachers He sends us. But in order to actually gain understanding from our study, God must energize our thoughts and desires as we apply them. He must restrain the devil and the evil within our flesh that would otherwise obstruct our ability to understand. God must be involved with us as we study and listen. If left to ourselves without His gracious influence, our thoughts will be distracted and confused; and we will not understand His words. But if we are applying ourselves to learn as God teaches us, He will open our understanding. He will make us to understand.

Luke 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

Observe that the psalmist does not just ask to understand God’s precepts. He prays that he may be made to understand the way of God’s precepts. All of God’s precepts cohere together to form a single way, a path of life to follow. If you ever wonder which way to go in life, go in the way of God’s precepts. Make sure that the decision you make, the path you choose, fits within the boundaries of God’s commandments rather than transgressing or stepping over them. Learning God’s precepts is all about learning the way to live. Our foremost desire should be to understand and follow the way of God’s precepts, rather than the way of the world’s fashions, ideals, and goals. I quite agree with the assessment Charles Bridges made of understanding the way of God’s precepts: “The smallest attainment in this knowledge is (as the great day will fully declare) of infinitely greater value than the highest intelligence in the field of earthly science.”

Having asked the Lord to cause him to understand the way of His precepts, the psalmist makes this resolve before God: so shall I talk of all thy wondrous works. He will be taught of the Lord first. Then he will talk to others of the Lord’s wondrous works. They are best qualified to speak to others who have been first taught themselves.

Psalms 71:17 O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.

But before he will talk of all the wonderful works of the Lord, he will first understand how God wants him to live. In other words, he will learn to walk the walk before he talks the talk. It rings hollow with God and with spiritually discerning believers to hear people talk about the wonderful things God has done when they don’t understand the way of His precepts.

Notice also that when he understands the way of God’s precepts, he will talk of God’s wondrous works and not his own. Anyone who boasts of his own wonderful works does not understand the way of God’s precepts. Such persons may be in for a rude awakening in the Day of Judgment.

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Lastly, God means for His wondrous works to be talked about and that from one generation to the next.

Psalms 145:4 One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
5 I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
6 And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.

God’s wondrous works are worthy of universal acclaim. They are a theme that can and ought to be expressed in all languages.

Acts 2:9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

Talking of God’s wondrous works will be one of the activities of God’s redeemed when they stand before Him in glory.

Revelation 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

God’s works are indeed wondrous. There is nothing more wonderful to talk about. Sadly, we all too often hear the inventions and achievements of men spoken of as if they were more fascinating than the things God has done. For example, compare how much you talk about the feats of your favourite athletic team as opposed to how much you talk of the wondrous works of God. Which thrills you the most? Which do you think is most wondrous? Check your speech. Its content will reveal the answer to those questions. I close with this beautiful piece of poetry that fits well with today’s meditation:

Bless, O my soul, the living God;
His favours claim the highest praise;
Let not the wonders He hath wrought
Be lost in silence, and forgot.

Psalm 119:26

2011-09-15T17:40:00.003-04:00

The verse for today’s meditation addresses an extremely important step in our walk with God.

Psalms 119:26 I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.

Recently I have taught the congregations I serve to search and try their ways as taught in the following passage:

Lamentations 3:40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.

To search and try our ways means that we explore our ways, find out what they are, and examine them thoroughly. We should search and try the way we think, the way we act, the way we react, the way we relate to God and to others. We should thoroughly examine our desires, our choices, our plans, our intentions, and our motives as these are also our ways. And acknowledging our ways, we should declare them to God, as did the psalmist whose words we consider today.

What is it to declare our ways?

Declare - To make clear or plain (anything that is obscure or imperfectly understood); to clear up, explain, expound, to interpret, elucidate. To manifest, show forth, make known; to unfold, set forth (facts, circumstances, etc.); to describe, state in detail; to recount, relate.

The Hebrew word translated declared in our verse is caphar and means to record, enumerate, recount. When you declare your ways to God, you bring them out into the open between you and God; you list them off; you describe them in detail as you recount them both good and bad. And if you are not sure of whether they are good or bad, you ask God to give you discernment. Tell the Lord about your burdens, your troubles, and your temptations as these are ways down which you are travelling. If you are angry with someone and struggling with hatred, declare it to God. If you are angry with God because you do not think He is dealing fairly by you, then bring it out into the open. Don’t deny it. He knows what is going on in your heart. Declare it! If you are being drawn to something you know is not good for you, admit it to God. If you are involved in something destructive to your spiritual, mental, or physical well-being, have out with it. If your ways have taken you into sin, confess it. Are you depressed? Then tell the Lord all about it. Explain it to Him. If you are being tossed about by uncertainty and doubt, tell Him. If you are afraid of something, admit it to Him. If you are considering a move, a change, a business venture, a relationship, bring it before Him. Whatever your ways are, declare them to Him.

The beautiful thing is that when we declare our ways to God, He hears us: and thou heardest me. God truly does care for us.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

God is interested in what goes on in your life. He wants you to make Him a part of it by declaring your ways to Him. And when you do so, He listens to you. Just knowing that a caring person is listening to you is immensely helpful.

Now having declared your ways, follow that with the prayer: teach me thy statutes. When you do this, you are inviting the searchlight of God’s statutes upon your ways. This is part of the process of trying your ways. You are submitting your ways to the scrutiny of the word of God. And when you pray this prayer, then take to reading and studying your Bible. Listen carefully to the teaching of your minister. Seek godly counsel. And when you do this, you will receive the instruction that will let you know whether the ways you are choosing are acceptable or not, whether they are profitable or not. You will get the answers that will help you think, act, and react as you ought to whatever life brings your way. I close with this passage that relates directly to what I am writing about:

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Psalm 119:25

2011-09-05T16:21:00.002-04:00

We now launch into the fourth octave of Psalm 119 entitled Daleth.

Psalms 119:25 ¶DALETH. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.

The psalmist acknowledges that his soul cleaves to the dust. Let us begin by defining cleave.

Cleave - To stick fast or adhere, as by a glutinous surface. In wider sense: To cling or hold fast to; to attach oneself (by grasping, etc.) to.

The psalmist’s soul is stuck to the dust; it is clinging to it. In order to understand what the psalmist is saying, we must understand what he means by the dust. First of all, our fleshly bodies are material in nature, made of the dust of this earth.

Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

On the other hand, our soul is immaterial in nature and dwells within our fleshly body until it departs at the death of the body.

Job 14:22 But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

Genesis 35:18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin

The soul is the seat of our consciousness and the place where our personality resides. A body without a soul has no personality. It is merely a hunk of clay. Now with this information in front of us we can get some idea of what the psalmist was confessing when he wrote: “my soul cleaveth unto the dust.”

Christians are given this commandment in 1 Peter 2:11:

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul….

Our battle is to not let our personality be controlled by the lusts of our fleshly body. The desires of the body should be controlled by the soul rather than the soul being controlled by the desires of the body. But, alas, our soul cleaves to the dust. Our fleshly desires exert a powerful influence on us and without the help of almighty God they will overpower us. Trying to rise above the pull of the flesh is like trying to get unstuck from powerful glue. This was Paul’s lament:

Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Furthermore, Scripture describes a state of affliction and oppression as a lowly experience with the dust.

Psalms 44:24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.

To be in the dust is to be in a low condition. It is to be down, as we say.

Isaiah 26:5 For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.

Have you ever been so low that you felt like you were groveling in the dirt? Our afflictions sometimes drag our souls down so that our faith falters, our love grows weak, and our hope is dim. In such cases our soul cleaveth unto the dust.

In short, a soul cleaving to the dust is a soul bowed down with sin and sorrow. Sound familiar? Now over against this cleaving to the dust, the psalmist prays to God: quicken thou me according to thy word. Let’s define what it means to be quickened.

Quicken – To give or restore life to; to make alive; to vivify or revive; to animate. To give, add, or restore vigour to (a person or thing); to stimulate, stir up, rouse, excite, inspire.

When our soul is cleaving to the dust, we need a revival. We need to be given vigour, renewed strength to rise above the power of the dust which holds us down. The good news is that God has promised in His word to give precisely this to those who humbly seek His help.

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Psalms 113:7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
8 That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

Therefore, when God quickens you it is according to His word of promise. When the psalmist was down, he sought the relief that is found in keeping with the Scriptures and so should we. You may be down low, cleaving to the dust, but if you seek the Lord's help and await His promised relief, it will come in due time. He will revive you. Did this meditation help anybody?

Psalm 119:24

2011-08-18T16:31:00.002-04:00

Today we consider the last verse in the third octave of Psalm 119, the octave entitled Gimel.

Psalms 119:24 Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.

By means of the word also, the psalmist adds this thought to the thought of the previous verse. Recall that in the previous verse the psalmist wrote that “princes also did sit and speak against me.” His way of coping with this persecution was by meditating in God’s statutes. Rather than despairing over what the princes spoke against him, he focused on what God in His word spoke for him. Now in today’s verse, he tells us what God’s word was to him as he meditated in it. The testimonies of the Lord were his delight and his counsellors.

It is interesting to notice the things that the Holy Scriptures link together by the word and. In this particular case delight is linked with counsellors. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense that these two things are joined together. A counselor is one who gives counsel, which is advice or direction. When one is in perplexity or distress, to receive good counsel is one of the most delightful things that can happen. It brings relief and comfort to gain insight into a difficult situation, to get some direction on how to deal with it. To put it straightly, a good counselor is just a pleasure to have around. Solomon acknowledged this in this proverb:

Proverbs 27:9 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.

The hearty counsel of a friend rejoices the heart; it brings delight.

But observe that God’s testimonies are our counsellors, plural. Solomon wrote:

Proverbs 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Proverbs 15:22 Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

The Scriptures contain a multitude of counsellors for our safety. None of these counsellors will ever give bad advice. And because of that, your purposes or plans can be established; they can be well-settled rather than being tossed about in indecision and uncertainty. Indeed, there are counsellors in Scripture for every situation that you can be involved in. And no counsellors in this earth are more expert in giving advice than the counsellors of Scripture. In fact, the advice of every other counsellor you may consult should always be weighed in relation to the counsel of Scripture to determine its merit.

Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Thomas Manton made the following interesting comments on this passage that show the advantage of finding our counsellors in a book:

“Alphonsus, king of Arragon, being asked who were the best counsellors? answered, ‘The dead (meaning books), which cannot flatter, but do without partiality declare the truth.’ Now of all such dead counsellors, God’s testimonies have the pre-eminence. A poor, godly man, even then when he is deserted of all, and hath nobody to plead for him, he hath his senate, and his council of state about him, the prophets and apostles, and ‘other holy men of God, that spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’ A man so furnished, is never less alone than when alone; for he hath counsellors about him that tell him what is to be believed or done; and they are such counsellors as cannot err, as will not flatter him, nor applaud him in any sin, nor discourage or dissuade him from that which is good, whatever hazard it expose him to.”

Now that is rich!

If you would have God’s testimonies be your delight, then take them for your counsellors. They will bring you little joy if you do not seek their advice. And if you would find in God’s testimonies your counsellors, then take them for your delight. You will not be prone to seek the advice of that which you dislike.

Lastly, we refer to attorneys and psychotherapists as counsellors. A beautiful thing about having God’s testimonies for our counsellors is that their advice and help are free. Imagine having access to a multitude of lawyers and psychotherapists to be consulted as often as you wish for as long as you wish and it costing you nothing but the time you spend seeking their advice. Now that is a deal! This fits well with this admonition with which I close:

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Psalm 119:23

2011-08-04T09:27:00.003-04:00

By means of the word also today’s verse from Psalm 119 picks up the thought introduced in the previous verse.

Psalms 119:23 Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.

In the preceding verse the psalmist wrote of being the object of reproach and contempt. In the verse we consider today we find that this reproach and contempt did not just arise from the common folk, but it also came from princes. Let’s define what a prince is.

Prince – 1. A sovereign ruler; a monarch, a king. 2. One who has the chief authority; a ruler, commander, governor, president; also, the head man, chief, or leader of a tribe.

A prince can refer to anyone in authority in any sphere. Those who occupied places of authority in the life of the psalmist were speaking against him, heaping upon him their reproach and contempt.

Observe that our verse does not simply state that princes spoke against him. It rather says that they did sit and speak against him. When someone is functioning in an official capacity as an authority figure, he is spoken of as doing so from a seated position.

Judges 5:10 Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.

Isaiah 16:5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

Matthew 23:1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

When our blessed Lord, Messiah the Prince, gave His authoritative pronouncements in that great Sermon on the Mount, He did so from a seated position.

Matthew 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:…
2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,….

In fact, notice this definition given of the word sit in the dictionary:

To occupy a seat in the capacity of a judge or with some administrative function.

It is interesting that when someone today runs for office, we say that he is seeking a seat in parliament, or a seat in the senate, or a congressional seat. And when we speak of judges issuing their findings in a case, we say they are speaking from the bench, the place where they sit.

So taking all this together, we see in our verse that these princes were speaking in an official capacity; they were using the power of their office to speak against the psalmist. Sadly, it has happened all too often in history that persons in authority have abused their power by using that authority to speak against the good and godly. Time and space would fail to mention all of the unrighteous laws and decrees throughout history that have been handed down from seats of power against the innocent and the righteous. The ultimate example of this took place when the religious and political rulers of the Jews used their authority to speak against the only perfectly innocent and just Man in all of time, even our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,….

Although reproached and spoken against even by princes, our psalmist did meditate in God’s statutes. He found in God’s words comfort, strength, and refuge when those who should have been his protectors became his persecutors instead. As Matthew Henry pointed out, he found that when they spoke against him, the word of God spoke for him. In those statutes the believer finds that he is not alone when he is reproached for his godliness. He is in the company of the saints spoken of in the Scriptures. He is having fellowship with the sufferings of Christ His Lord. He finds that while princes may persecute him, God stands up for him and will vindicate him in due time as the following passage declares:

Psalms 94:16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
18 When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts (found in God’s statutes) delight my soul.
20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.
22 But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.
23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.

It is to the psalmist’s credit that during this time in which he was persecuted by princes, he mediated in God’s statutes. Rather than focusing on what the princes were saying against him, he focused on what God says. He did not envy the princes and spend his time fretting over what they were doing. Instead he meditated in God’s law. His position was vastly superior to the position of those evil princes as the following passage shows:

Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

How much better off some would be if they spent more time and energy meditating in God’s statutes than they do meditating on the unrighteous decrees of wicked princes.

Psalm 119:22

2011-07-22T11:40:00.003-04:00

The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12 that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” The verse we consider today from Psalm 119 mentions a persecution heaped upon believers that comes in the form of reproach and contempt.

Psalms 119:22 Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.

We begin by defining reproach and contempt.

Reproach – A source or cause of disgrace or shame (to a person, etc.); a fact, matter, feature or quality bringing disgrace or discredit upon one.

Contempt – The action of contemning or despising; the holding or treating as of little account, or as vile and worthless; the mental attitude in which a thing is so considered.

When, like the psalmist, a person’s life is dedicated to keeping God’s testimonies, he will become the object of reproach and contempt. He will be evil spoken of. He will be discredited, ridiculed, and despised. His keeping of God’s testimonies is precisely the reason reproach and contempt are heaped upon him. The life of a godly man exposes the sin, foolishness, rebellion, and utter stupidity of the ungodly. Instead of repenting and cleaning up their lives, the ungodly will rather try to shame and discredit those who expose them.

Psalms 38:20 They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.

Proverbs 29:27 …he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.

1 Peter 3:16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

1 Peter 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

It has been thus since the dawn of time as witness the case of Cain and Abel.

1 John 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

Cain and Abel were brothers. Therefore, we see that reproach and contempt can even come from those of our own family.

Matthew 10:36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

While on the one hand, we should rejoice when we are reproached for the name of Christ and the good we do, on the other hand such reproach is painful to bear. Therefore, the psalmist seeks relief in asking God to remove it from him. We should always ask God to remove the reproach and contempt rather than trying to remove it ourselves by letting up on our obedience to God’s testimonies. It is much to the psalmist’s credit that in spite of the persecution it brought upon him, he continued to keep God’s testimonies. Furthermore, it is best to commit this matter to God in prayer rather than trying to defend yourself. As I have often said, you cannot prove innocence to those who are determined to believe guilt. Thomas Manton said that “prayer many times proves a better vindication than an apology.” God is well able to silence those who reproach and despise you. Matthew Henry said it well:

“God has all men’s hearts and tongues in his hand, and can silence lying lips, and raise up a good name that is trodden in the dust.”

When He so pleases, God can even make our enemies to be at peace with us (Proverbs 16:7).

Now our psalmist advances the fact that he had kept God’s testimonies as a reason why God should remove this reproach and contempt. The psalmist was not bragging. He was simply acknowledging the truth about his own conduct. He knew it was only through God’s mercy and strength that he could keep His testimonies. But, like Paul, he had not received God’s grace in vain (1Corinthians 15:10). He had rather used it in pursuing a constant obedience to God. And when he failed, as do we all, he consistently applied the remedy of repentance and confession and thus stayed on course in keeping God’s testimonies. Anyone who lives like that has a plea that he can bring to God when he is reproached by his enemies. It is a plea that God will vindicate in due time as the following passage assures us:

Psalms 37:5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Of course, today’s verse has its ultimate realization in our Lord Jesus Christ of Whom it is written:

Psalms 22:6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

Psalms 69:7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.
9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

Psalms 69:20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Hebrews 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

At His second coming in glory every reproach and contempt ever heaped on our sinless Saviour will be completely removed and His enemies will be forced to bow the knee and confess that He is Lord. And all Christ’s followers will share in His vindication. Then shall the prayer of this psalm be fully and eternally answered.

Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

1 Peter 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Psalm 119:21

2011-07-12T12:22:00.003-04:00

Sometimes God’s commandments are not kept because sinners are ignorant of them. But all too often, God’s commandments are disobeyed because of an attitude problem. The verse we take up today speaks directly to this latter cause of disobedience.

Psalms 119:21 Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.

The word proud in this verse is a noun and refers to a proud person. To know what a proud person is like, we need to define the adjective proud that is describing him.

Proud – Having or cherishing a high or lofty opinion of oneself; valuing oneself highly on account of one’s position, rank, attainments, possessions, etc.; Usually in a bad sense: Disposed to take an attitude of superiority to and contempt for others; arrogant, haughty, overweening, supercilious.

The proud have such a high opinion of themselves that they look down on others. They are too stuck on themselves. But our verse takes this a step further in that it characterizes the proud as they which do err from thy commandments. In this case, the attitude of the proud goes beyond seeing themselves as superior to other men. Their attitude is also taking them to the point of defying Almighty God. They are daring to pit their opinions against those of God. They think they know better than the only wise God what is best for their lives. They are not going to let anything God commands get in their way. Thus they err from His commandments.

What is it to err?

Err – To ramble, roam, stray, wander. To go astray; to stray from (one’s path or line of direction). To go wrong in judgment or opinion; to make mistakes, blunder. To go astray morally; to sin.

The attitude of the proud interferes with the process of making good decisions. This applies to every area of life whether it be work, education, relationships, sex, or religion. Once we think too highly of ourselves and our opinions, we set ourselves up to go astray. When you see someone who has been taught the right path of God’s commandments veering from it, you can charge it to this: they have let pride take over.

We all have a problem with pride. If you do not think you do, then that is proof positive that pride has the upper hand in your thinking. Speaking of pride, Joseph Hall wrote:

“Honourable and beloved, this vice is a close one; it will cleave fast to you; yea, so close that ye can hardly discern it from a piece of yourselves: this is it that aggravates the danger of it.”

One of the best kings that Judah ever had was King Hezekiah. It is written of him that he “wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God” and that “he did it with all his heart” (2 Chronicles 31:20-21). After Hezekiah had been granted an additional fifteen years of life in answer to his prayer, we read this sad chapter from his life:

2 Chronicles 32:25 But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
26 Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

My point is this: if good King Hezekiah had a problem with being proud, so can you and I. Pride reared its ugly head in Hezekiah’s life when he was experiencing great blessing. And just as today’s verse teaches, God rebuked Hezekiah for it. When we are making advances in spiritual growth and blessedness, we need more than ever to be on our guard against the subtle workings of pride. For it is at such times that we are prone to feel the least vulnerable to a downfall. We must never entertain too high of an opinion of our ability to withstand the temptation to err. Beware of ever thinking too highly of your spiritual growth. You have not yet reached such a degree of perfection as to be beyond the reach of pride. Hence it is written:

1 Corinthians 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

And nothing will bring about a downfall more quickly than pride.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

It is pride that keeps us from facing our sins and weaknesses and thus dealing with them. We just do not want to accept that we could be so depraved, so vulnerable, as to have such a problem. We like to think we are made of better stuff, that we have come too far in our spiritual growth to be susceptible to such things. And thus we condemn ourselves to erring from God’s commandments. Why do you think some people get stuck in the wrong church and never get out, even when the truth is clearly presented to them? It is because they are too proud to admit that they could have been that wrong. They see themselves as just too sincere, too good to err.

Now our verse tells us that God has rebuked the proud that are cursed. When something is rebuked, it is forced back or repulsed as when Jesus rebuked the winds and waves (Mark 4:39). The Lord finds proud people repulsive. He pushes them away from Himself. His curse rests upon them as the following verses make plain.

Psalms 138:6 Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

Proverbs 15:25 The LORD will destroy the house of the proud:….

Proverbs 16:5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

Luke 1:51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

If you do not want the Lord to keep His distance from you; if you do not want Him to find you abominable; if you do not want Him to destroy you; if you do not want Him to scatter you and to resist you; then you need to repent of your pride and to be constantly on your guard against it. This monster is ever lurking in the shadows looking for a chance to pounce on you. Be always on the lookout! We would all do well to heed this admonition:

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:….

Psalm 119:20

2011-06-29T14:12:00.002-04:00

We continue to work our way through the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119.

Psalms 119:20 My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.

Longing is the action of the verb long, which we would do well to define.

Long – To think long; to have a yearning desire; to wish earnestly.

When you have a yearning desire for someone or something, you tend to think long about that person or thing. This explains why the word long can be connected with desire.

Desire can be an overwhelmingly powerful emotion, even to the point of becoming psychologically crushing. Any parent who has longed for the healing of a child who is dangerously ill, or any parent who has longed for the return of a son gone off to war, knows exactly what I am talking about. A yearning desire to achieve a certain goal, to find a mate or a friend, or to have a child can sometimes press a soul to the point of breaking. This kind of yearning desire is what the psalmist was expressing in today’s verse. But in this case, the crushing desire was toward God’s judgments.

God judgments are those decrees that our righteous Judge has laid down in His word for our obedience. They are also the accounts given in His word of His dealings with the sons of men as the Rewarder of good and the Avenger of evil. The whole course of His government is wrapped up in those words thy judgments. And the psalmist yearned to know and understand these things so far as God has revealed them to us. His longing to hear, to know, and to understand God’s judgments was so great, it exerted such a pressure upon him, that it broke his soul.

Some of my readers can perhaps relate to this when you have been away from church. You feel a pressing desire to get back to the assembly and to hear the word of God expounded. Or if the cares of this life have demanded too much from you, you have a heavy longing to get back into your Bible and to get the Bible back into you. It can be downright depressing to read the Bible and yet glean nothing from it. This is an instance of the breaking of your soul for the longing that it hath unto God’s judgments. Perhaps as you read this, you are smitten in your heart because you fear that you do not have such a powerful yearning for God’s word. But the fact that this fear presses itself upon you may itself be evidence that you do indeed long for God’s judgments. Were that desire not there, these words might make little impression upon you.

But observe that this longing was not an occasional, hit and miss thing with the psalmist. The longing was constant and habitual. “My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.” Whether he was in times of prosperity or times of adversity, the powerful longing of the psalmist unto God’s judgments remained the same. Those things you most long for will form the trend and habit of your soul. I close with these words of Charles Bridges taken from his excellent exposition of this verse: “The longing of the soul can never over-reach its object. The cherished desire, therefore, will become the established habit – the element in which the child of God lives and thrives.” Amen!

Psalm 119:19

2011-06-16T12:46:00.002-04:00

The verse for today’s meditation describes the attitude of the spiritually minded believer regarding his life in this earth.

Psalms 119:19 I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.

Of course, let’s begin by defining that word stranger.

Stranger – One who belongs to another country, a foreigner; chiefly (now exclusively), one who resides in or comes to a country to which he is a foreigner; an alien.

God’s people are citizens of another country. This world is not their home. They have been chosen out of it.

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.

If God’s children embrace what they are taught in the word of God, then they, like the psalmist, confess that they are strangers in this earth. They seek another country. This was the confession of the fathers of our faith.

Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Even when the nation of Israel was settled in the land of Canaan that God had given them to inherit in this earth, they recognized that as only a temporary lodging place. They still confessed themselves to be strangers in this earth. They knew their permanent home was somewhere beyond this world. These are David’s words spoken on behalf of the Israel while they were dwelling in Canaan’s land:

1 Chronicles 29:15 For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.

And this can be connected with the way Peter addressed believers in the New Testament:

1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;….

It will never do for a Christian to feel to at home in this world. He should hold everything in this world with a loose hand realizing that his permanent possession lies in what the Scriptures call “the world to come.” So if you go through this earth feeling like you haven’t arrived yet, you haven’t! You are a stranger “just a passin through,” as the old song says.

Because the psalmist was a stranger in this earth, He asked God not to hide His commandments from him. Now this is really the same petition that we studied in the previous verse. There the psalmist asked God to open his eyes to behold the wondrous things of God’s law. If our eyes are open to see something, then that something will not be hidden from us.

Now there are three things that greatly assist a stranger as he makes his way through a strange place. Those three things are a guide to point the way, a guard to keep him safe, and a companion to keep him company. God’s commandments provide all three of these things as the following passage clearly shows:

Proverbs 6:22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee (a guide); when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee (a guard); and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee (a companion).
23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:…

.
The psamist asks God not to hide His commandments from him. This word commandments not only refers to those things that God has commanded us to do, which certainly provide direction for us as we travel through this strange country; but that word also refers to God’s government of this universe. Everything in this universe is subject to the command of God. It was created and continues to function by the commandment of God.

Psalms 148:4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.

Isaiah 45:12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.

Job 37:11 Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud:
12 And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth.
13 He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.

Job 38:12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;….

Psalms 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

It should comfort us strangers in our pilgrimage through this earth to know that everything in this world is subject to the command of the God Who loves and cares for us. And because He loves us, from time to time He exercises His power of command to deliver us.

Psalms 44:4 Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.

Whatever be the crisis that you are caught in, God has but to utter His word of command and you will be delivered. Well might you commit yourself to the care of such a faithful Creator, Who has all things at His command.

1 Peter 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

And, of course, the sweetest of all is to see His commandment of our everlasting salvation. This assures us of a safe arrival home.

Psalms 133:3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

John 12:50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

Let me close with this precious thought: God has given to our personal Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Shepherd of our souls, the command of this universe. He still has the same power today that He had when he walked on this earth and had all things subject to His command. As the disciples of old, let us wonder and worship Him.

Luke 8:25 ….And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

Fellow stranger in this earth, may God not hide His commandments from you.

Psalm 119:18

2011-06-06T09:38:00.002-04:00

In today’s meditation we light upon a prayer I frequently pray when I approach the Scriptures.

Psalms 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

To behold a thing is to see it. If a person has not been born again, if he does not possess the gift of spiritual life; he has no capacity, no spiritual eyes with which to behold, to see, to know, and to understand the things of God’s word. He is blind and in darkness.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Ephesians 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:....

But when a man is born again and given spiritual life, he has the ability to behold the things of God’s law. He has spiritual eyes with which to see spiritual things. But the regenerate man is still saddled with a carnal nature called in the Scripture the flesh. And this carnal nature is opposed to the word of God as Paul clearly states in the following passage:

Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

If this carnal nature is not kept in check, it will blind the child of God so that he does not see and understand the Scriptures. If the desires, thoughts, and emotions of our flesh are allowed to dominate us, they will distract us from the word of God so that we do not see what it is saying. We may read the words, but they will be just words. We will glean nothing, learn nothing, behold nothing. And too much of that will discourage any attempt to read and profit from the Bible. Or, something else may occur if the flesh has the upper hand and that is, when we read the Bible, even though the word is speaking clearly, by the time it enters our minds our carnal nature will pervert its message. We will interpret it according to what we want it to say, rather than seeing what it actually says. And thus we will miss the wonder of it. It was with an awareness of this fact that the psalmist prayed to God to open his eyes to behold the wondrous things out of God’s law.

We need the continued help of the Holy Spirit to keep our carnal nature in subjection, to give us repentance to see our sins and errors, and to strengthen our inward man so it may see what God is teaching in His word.

This prayer of the psalmist quite agrees with Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians.

Ephesians 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling,….

So when you sit down to read your Bible, do so with an awareness of your natural propensity for blindness. Ask God to open your eyes to behold its wondrous things.

Now the psalmist asks for God to open his eyes to behold wondrous things out of His law. The word wondrous means wonderful and wonderful means full of wonder. So let’s define the word wonder.

Wonder – Something that causes astonishment. A marvellous object; a marvel, prodigy. A deed performed or an event brought about by miraculous or supernatural power; a miracle.

The following quote taken from the writings of John Ker are very insightful.

“The great end of the Word of God in the Psalmist’s time, as now, was practical; but there is a secondary use here referred to, which is worthy of consideration, - its power of meeting man’s faculty of wonder. God knows our frame, for he made it, and he must have adapted the Bible to all its parts. If we can show this, it may be another token that the book comes from Him who made man.”

It is true that man yearns to behold astonishing and wonderful things. This can be seen from early childhood and it continues throughout life. We crave the spectacular. And the Bible is designed by our Maker to satisfy that craving.

The word wonder is used in Scripture to refer to miracles. The miracles that Moses performed in Egypt were called wonders (Exodus 4:21; 11:10). The miracles performed by Christ and His apostles were called wonders (Acts 2:22; 15:12). Now when God opens your eyes and you really behold what is in God’s law, you find that the Scriptures themselves are miraculous. You see that this is no ordinary book. It is given by the supernatural power of God. Although the Bible consists of 66 books written over a period of about 1500 years by over 40 authors in different places and different circumstances, yet there is an amazing harmony and unity in its message. It tells us of things in our universe long before science ever discovered them. It is historically accurate. It is prophetically accurate. It clearly describes the world we live in, why it is the way it is, and what will become of it. It tells us what man is, how he thinks, how he feels, what he will say, and what he will do. As we study it, it broadens our intellect, fortifies our hearts, and brings us exquisite pleasure. The more you see in the Bible, the more astounded you will be at the relevance, the truth, and the depth of its message. And, of course, it greatest wonder is the Saviour it presents, even our Lord Jesus Christ Whose name is called Wonderful (Isaiah 9:6). The Bible is a collection of miracles you can embrace in your hand at any time of the day, any day of the week. You need look no further than its pages to discover wonder upon wonder. If this is not your experience with the Bible, it is because your eyes are closed. Oh, that God may open our eyes to “behold wondrous things”out of His law.

Psalm 119:17

2011-05-26T14:03:00.002-04:00

Now that I am safely returned home from my evangelistic trip to Asia, I am ready to resume this series of meditations on the 119th Psalm. We come today to the first verse of the third octave, which is entitled by the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Gimel.

Psalms 119:17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.

This verse is a prayer to God. It contains a specific request with a specific objective in mind, should God grant the request. The request is that God would “deal bountifully” with His servant. Although my trip to Asia was in some ways a life-changing experience for me, there is one thing that remains unchanged about me and that is my method of teaching the word of God. We begin by defining terms. In this case, we define the key word bountifully.

Bountifully – In a bountiful manner; with generous liberality, munificently, plentifully, amply.

The psalmist brings a large petition. He begs for liberal, plentiful, abundant supplies from God. He brings a large petition because He is addresses a very large God Who has large amounts to give. “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof” (Psalm 24:1). It is His to give to as much as He will to whomever He will. All things seen and unseen belong to the Lord.

Romans 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

God is “abundant in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6). He has a multitude of tender mercies and lovingkindnesses to bestow (Psalm 51:1; Isaiah 63:7). “With him is plenteous redemption” (Psalm 130:7). He abundantly pardons (Isaiah 55:7). And considering the abundance of my sin, this is an abundance I certainly need. His grace is exceeding abundant (1Timothy 1:14). Our Saviour came that we might have life, and “have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Because of “his riches in glory” we have the promise that our “God shall supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19). Indeed, as Paul wrote, God is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). It is no imposition to ask a God like this to deal bountifully with us.

And the psalmist brings a large petition because he has a large need. Without God’s liberal dealings with us, even at our best we are the extremity of weakness, emptiness, and nothingness.

Psalms 39:5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

We have an abundance of sin. Thank God He has a greater abundance of grace.

Romans 5:20 ....But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

Now the psalmist’s specific objective in asking God to deal bountifully with him is that he might “live, and keep thy word.” Whenever you ask God to live, to spare your life and lengthen your days, what is your reason for asking this? Is it that you might achieve certain professional goals? Is it that you might see your children or your grandchildren grow up? Is it that you might experience more of the delights of this world? Or is it that you might keep God’s word? If you ask God for life with a selfish end in view, do not be surprised if your request is denied.

James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

In this prayer the psalmist speaks of himself as God’s servant. As servants of God, our chief aim and purpose is to do the will of our Master. God’s will is expressed in His word. You serve God by keeping His word. And it to this end the psalmist asks God to deal bountifully with him that he might live.

So if you pray and expect God to deal bountifully with you, make sure that you aim to use the bounty He bestows to serve Him and keep His word. The thought of this verse is well expressed in the following verse taken from the hymn written by Samuel Stennett entitled Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned:

Since from His bounty I receive
Such proof of love divine,
Had I a thousand hearts to give,
Lord, they should all be Thine,
Lord, they should all be Thine.

It is good to be back home doing this work of a pastor and teacher. I pray that this may bless you in reading as it has blessed me in writing.

Psalm 119:16

2011-03-21T17:20:00.002-04:00

We now come to the last verse of this second section of Psalm 119 entitled Beth.

Psalms 119:16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

We note again the expression “I will.” The psalmist resolves that he will delight himself in God’s statutes and will not forget His word. He will do these two things because he wants to do them and, therefore, he intends to do them. It is a fact that most people do what they want to do most of the time. If you really want to do something, you will generally find a way to do it. Most of our negligence does not arise from a lack of opportunity, but from a lack of will!

Now let’s focus on what it is to delight oneself in God’s statutes.

Delight – To be highly pleased, take great pleasure, rejoice in or to do (anything).

The psalmist is determined to take great pleasure in God’s statutes and to rejoice in them. It is interesting to note that in verse 15 he wrote: “I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies.” Now he states that he “will delight in God’s statutes.” The verb tense of have rejoiced is the present perfect tense. The present perfect tense sets forth action that took place in the past. The verb phrase will delight is in the future tense. The enjoyment the psalmist had in God’s statutes in the past was an enjoyment he would have in the future. Commenting on this verse Charles Spurgeon wrote:

“We may not promise for the future if we have altogether failed in the past; but where grace has enabled us to accomplish something, we may hopefully expect that it will enable us to do more.”

We noted in our last blog that the psalmist said he would meditate in God’s words after he had said that he had rejoiced in them. We pointed out at that time that you will devote more thought to those things that you enjoy. Now notice that after having determined to meditate in God’s precepts, the psalmist further determines to rejoice in them. Just as delight leads to meditation, meditation leads to further delight. You see, once you get into God’s word and it gets into you, you will enjoy it more and more. The joy you have had in it will provoke you to enjoy it more. Habits, be they good or bad, reinforce themselves because habits bring us some kind of pleasure or satisfaction. The more you indulge your habit the more you want to indulge it. The same holds true for the habit of meditating in God’s statutes. The more you do it, the more pleasure it brings you and the more you will want to do it.

That delight and meditation work in tandem may be seen from the very first psalm that describes the blessed man:

Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

It is also interesting to note how the psalmist applies his will to his emotion. Delight is an emotion. In this case the psalmist is going to subject his emotion to the direction of his will. Sadly, too many subject their wills to their emotions. They do what they feel like doing. Rather, we should subject our emotions to our wills. The emotion may resist at first, but eventually it will give way if you want it to. And that is the key. You have to be willing to delight in God’s statutes. If you want to enjoy the Bible, you will enjoy the Bible. The delight will come with the willingness.

Next, the psalmist resolved to remember God’s word: “I will not forget thy word.” This verse gives us two things that are helpful in remembering something. The first thing is the will: “I will not forget.” You will more likely forget something if you make no effort to remember it. And sometimes that is the wisest thing to do. We can’t remember everything. One of the keys to having a good memory is being able to sort out what needs to be remembered from what is just as well forgotten. A memory uncluttered with useless information will have more capacity for remembering what is necessary and useful. And God’s word is that one thing most necessary and useful for us to remember. Now if you are going to remember God’s word, you must want to remember it. The will must be involved. And if you really want to remember God’s word, you will focus your attention and effort upon it in order to remember it.

The second thing helpful in remembering something is the emotion. The psalmist said he would delight himself in God’s statutes and not forget His word. We generally have no problem remembering things that bring us pleasure. In his excellent book More Than Meets the Eyes, Dr. Richard A Swenson had this to say about memory: “The amount of effort we put into learning is not necessarily the most important thing. It turns out that meaning is as important to memory as intention.” Following up on this statement, I wrote this in a former blog on the subject of memory:

“You remember those things that mean the most to you. Do you have any trouble remembering the family and friends you love most? Or the experiences you most enjoyed? You can be assured that remembering my grandchildren is quite easy. Why? Because they mean so much to me! They are very much in my affections and thoughts. My wife and I speak often of them. Or turn it around. If someone forgets something that you expect them to remember, then how do you sometimes interpret their forgetfulness? Don’t you sometimes feel that you must not mean that much to them? Otherwise, they would have remembered. It appears we all understand the importance of meaning to memory…. Can you remember what you read in a novel, but not what you read in your Bible? Can you remember the content of a stirring political speech, but not the content of a stirring sermon? Do you remember when your favourite television show is on, but yet you sometimes forget when it’s communion Sunday? You will remember those things and events that your heart is most set upon because of how much they mean to you. You do not have any trouble remembering things that brought you great pleasure, do you? Things that bring you great pleasure mean a lot to you. If you delight in something, the odds are greater that you will remember it….The psalmist resolves that he will not forget God’s word. For him, memory was a matter of the will: “I will not forget.” But connected with his resolve was His delight in God’s word. The more you take pleasure in learning and obeying God’s word, the more you are going to remember it. For things that highly please you are more meaningful to you.”

If you really enjoy God’s word and you want to remember it, you will!

Now there are several other verses in this psalm that speak of delight in God’s word. But do not fear that we shall be saying the same things when we get to those verses. The subject of delight is a great one with broad application. The other verses dealing with this subject will bear this out. In connection with this, consider this comment on Psalm 119 from Charles Spurgeon’s book entitled The Treasury of David:

“Something in the position of each verse affects it meaning, so that even where its words are almost identical with those of another the sense is delightfully varied. If we do not see an infinite variety of fine shades of thought in this psalm we may conclude that we are colour-blind; if we do not hear many sweet harmonies, we may judge our ears to be dull of hearing, but we may not suspect the Spirit of God of monotony.”

To which I add a hearty “Amen.”

This will be the last blog that I shall write until after I return in the middle of May from my evangelistic trip to the Far East. So for now, I leave you with these meditations from Beth. I did not want to leave Beth hanging before I departed for Asia. God has blessed me with the closure that I desired. If the Lord will, we will take up with Gimel when I return and am recovered from the trip. May God bless these meditations to His glory and the good of your souls.

Psalm 119:15

2011-03-10T14:23:00.002-05:00

We continue our series of meditations on Psalm 119. We are currently working our way through the second section entitled Beth and we now come to verse 15.

Psalms 119:15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

The psalmist resolves that he will meditate in God’s precepts. Let’s define the word meditate.

Meditate - To muse over or reflect upon; to consider, study, ponder.

The psalmist would not just read or hear God’s precepts. He would focus his thoughts on them and toss them over in his mind. The verse we consider today follows logically from the preceding verse in which the psalmist stated that he had rejoiced in the way of God’s testimonies. If you really enjoy something, you will devote more thought to it. Commenting on this verse, Charles Bridges wrote: “The thoughts follow the affections.” How true! Therefore, we must guard against allowing our minds to become so crowded with the cares and pleasures of this life that they dampen the joy we have in the way of God’s testimonies.

Zero in on those first two words: “I will.” We considered these words when we dealt with verse 8: “I will keep thy statutes.” We pointed out at that time that you must exercise your will in order to obey God’s commandments. If you only obey God on a wave of emotion, you will not stick with it. As soon as the emotion dies down, and it will, you will be on to something else. The same applies to meditation. You have to determine to meditate whether you feel like doing it or not. The thoughts of the mind must be harnessed and forced to focus on God’s word if we are to derive maximum benefit from it. Failure to spend time meditating on God’s word is not really owing to a lack of time. It is owing to a lack of will. If you want to do something enough, you will find a way to do it. If you discipline yourself to study God’s word, it will yield its treasures to you.

In connection with meditating on God’s precepts, the psalmist said to God, “I will…have respect unto thy ways.” To have respect unto God’s ways is to have regard to them, to give them attention and consideration, to have them in view. Meditation in God’s precepts is an essential step in giving due regard to God’s ways.

The expression thy ways can refer to the things God does, how He deals with His creation and especially with His children.

Job 26:12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.
13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
14 Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

Psalms 103:7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

Now we can never exhaustively understand God’s ways.

Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

But while we cannot fully know all of God’s ways, we can know some of them to some extent. And what we can know will be a great help to us. The expression thy ways also refers to the ways that God’s wants us to walk in this world, how He wants us to act and react.

Deuteronomy 8:6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

The more thought you devote to God’s word, the more respect you will have unto it. As you study and consider God’s word, its teaching will become embedded in your mind so that you will be able to recall it as you confront the difficulties and decisions of life. You will better understand how God is dealing with you and what He expects of you. This will not occur if you just casually read and listen to the Scriptures without really focusing your thoughts upon them. Commenting on this verse in his commentary on Psalm 119, Charles Bridges offered this quote by Professor Francke:

“If a chapter be read with the eye merely, while the mind remains inattentive, and the book be shut as soon as the chapter is finished, and thus, what has been read immediately escape the memory; what is there to surprise, if, after the whole Bible has been several times read through, we discover in ourselves no increase of piety and devotion?”

That sums up quite well what Psalm 119:15 is teaching us.

Psalm 119:14

2011-02-23T10:11:00.003-05:00

In today’s meditation we gain an insight into the joy of the author of Psalm 119.

Psalms 119:14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.

In the preceding verse the psalmist wrote of the fact that he had declared with his lips all the judgments of God’s mouth. The verse we consider today gives the reason he could speak of God’s word so openly and informedly, that reason being that he rejoiced in the way of God’s testimonies. Think about it. Most of us have no difficulty talking at length about anything that we greatly enjoy, whether it be a novel we have read, a movie we have seen, a trip we have taken, a hobby we pursue, a sport we keep up with, or the grandchildren we adore. I can talk with ease and at length about learning foreign languages because I find so much joy in it. I bet some of you wish I enjoyed it a little less, eh? Tired of hearing about it? Well, cast a mantel of charity my way and deal with it. Now if we have trouble talking about the way of God’s testimonies, it is likely owing to a lack of joy that we have in it; and that calls for a serious correction of our priorities.

Now our psalmist did not just rejoice in God’s testimonies, although he did, but he rejoiced in the way of God’s testimonies. He not only loved the theology, the science, the history, the prophetic accuracy, and the form of God’s testimonies, but he loved the way of them. He loved the course of life that they prescribe for us to follow. He enjoyed living by God’s law. He enjoyed doing it himself and he enjoyed seeing others do it.

Observe that the psalmist said that he rejoiced in the way of God’s testimonies as much as in all riches. Let’s face it: we do rejoice in riches. It gives us a thrill when we get a raise or a bonus, or get paid a dividend, or win a prize, or receive an unexpected gift. And there is nothing wrong with this. After all, it is “the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1Timothy 6:17). But if our hearts are right with God, we should rejoice in the way of His testimonies as much as in all riches. That expression as much as suggests that our rejoicing in the way of God’s testimonies should be to the same degree or extent as our rejoicing in all riches. In fact, God’s testimonies and what they can do for our life are better than any riches this world has to offer. In speaking of God’s testimonies, the psalmist David wrote:

Psalms 19:10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

King Solomon, a man who had everything money could buy in his day, wrote this about God’s testimonies which impart wisdom and understanding:

Proverbs 3:13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

There should be nothing that we can acquire in this world that brings us greater joy than the way of God’s testimonies. If you have a choice between living by God’s law and acquiring wealth, then live by God’s law. As a parent, it should bring you greater joy to see your children walk according to God’s commandments than to see them acquire a university degree, or a prestigious job, or a big house. My mother always taught me that the greatest gift I could ever give to her is to live a good life, and by that she meant a godly life. As a pastor nothing brings me greater joy than to see those whom I teach walking in the way of God’s testimonies. I share the sentiments of the apostle John when he wrote:

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Charles Spurgeon had the following interesting comment to make on this verse:

"Observe that his joy was personal, distinct, remembered, and abundant. Wonder not that in the previous verse he glories in having spoken much of that which he had so much enjoyed: a man may well talk of that which is his delight."

The psalmist’s joy was personal: “I have rejoiced.” His joy was distinct: “I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies.” His joy was remembered: “I have rejoiced.” He joy was abundant: “I have rejoiced…as much as in all riches.”

Lastly, those of us who are blessed to live on this side of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into this earth rejoice in the way of God’s testimonies in a very special manner. We know the way of life Jesus lived and the example He has set before us to follow. We know Him to be the way to God, the way to which all of God’s testimonies point. To rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, is to rejoice in the way of God’s testimonies.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Psalm 119:13

2011-02-08T12:55:00.003-05:00

The next verse we consider in this second section of Psalm 119 is full of matter. I could devote several blogs to this verse alone, but I shall try to condense my comments into a single presentation.

Psalms 119:13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.

In the preceding verse the psalmist prayed to be taught God’s statutes. Now, as Charles Spurgeon noted, “the taught one of verse 12 is here a teacher himself.” God’s objective for the believer is not only that he know and believe the truth, but that he speak it. God’s word should not only be in his heart, but also in his mouth so that he may teach others.

Proverbs 10:21 The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.

Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

By declaring God’s judgments with our lips we promote the spiritual growth of others and of ourselves. Again I quote Charles Spurgeon: “By teaching we learn; by training the tongue to holy speech, we master the whole body” (see James 3:2).

But before the judgments can be in our mouths, they must first be received, learned, and retained within us.

Proverbs 22:17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.

You cannot speak forth what you do not have within. It is as our Saviour said:

Matthew 12:34 …for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

So the challenge to us is to treasure up God’s judgments in our hearts that we might declare them with our lips.

Next observe that the psalmist had declared all God’s judgments with his lips. Consider the definition of declare:

Declare - To make clear or plain (anything that is obscure or imperfectly understood); to clear up, explain, expound, interpret, elucidate. To manifest, show forth, make known; to unfold, set forth (facts, circumstances, etc.); to describe, state in detail; to recount, relate.

The method for making God’s judgments clear and plain is set forth in this passage:

Nehemiah 8:8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
12 And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.

This passage records the method used by the Levites as they set forth the words of God’s law before the people of Israel. The result of this method was that the people “understood the words that were declared unto them.” The way to declare God’s judgments is to read them distinctly and to give the sense. By reading the words distinctly one comes to know exactly what the words say. When something is read distinctly each word is emphasized. These Levites did not treat any word of the law as trivial or unnecessary. Then they gave “the sense,” that is, the meaning of the words. When words are defined they are made plain; they are explained or interpreted, that is, they are declared. Observe, the Levites did not give “the senses” (plural), but rather “the sense” (singular) of the words. To give to a word “the sense” is to give it its primary meaning, its most basic and obvious sense. This imparts understanding of the word. On the other hand, to assign to words multiple possible meanings confuses the hearer.

Furthermore, to declare God’s judgments is to make them known. It is the opposite of hiding or concealing them. The following passage is a prophecy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Observe that in His teaching He declared all the judgments of God’s mouth rather than hiding them.

Psalms 40:9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.
10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.

God’s judgments are declared when they are made known and clearly defined. The failure to clearly define words causes a passage to be obscure and hides its true meaning.

Lastly, note that the psalmist declared “all the judgments of God’s mouth.” Nothing God has to say is unimportant. Paul certainly shared this conviction about God’s words as can be seen from his testimony regarding his own ministry:

Acts 20:27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

Any and everything the Bible teaches is worthy to be declared. No part of God’s word should be swept under the carpet. Any professed teacher who declares some of God’s judgments while ignoring others out of personal preference or the fear of man is contemptible and base.

Malachi 2:9 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

Now before anyone takes in hand to declare God’s judgments, he had better be sure he is walking according to them. If one is going to “talk the talk,” he needs to “walk the walk.” It is a wicked man who declares God’s judgments with his lips while at the same time he refuses to follow them.

Psalms 50:16 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?
17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.
18 When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.
19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.
20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son.

In conclusion, we would all do well to search our hearts in the light of the following question posited by Job:

Job 26:3 …how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?

Psalm 119:12

2011-01-28T12:26:00.002-05:00

In today’s meditation we find a prayer mingled with praise and petition.

Psalms 119:12 Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.

The Psalmist gives praise to God when he states: “Blessed art thou, O LORD.”

Consider the definition of bless as it pertains to our blessing God.

Bless - To hold or call holy; to extol as holy, divine, gracious. To extol, praise, or adore (God) as holy, worthy of reverence, esp. with an added notion of thanksgiving or acknowledgement of gracious beneficence or goodness.

When the Psalmist acknowledges God as blessed, he is telling God that He is holy, gracious, and worthy to be praised. God is so holy, gracious, and great, that it is an act of worship just to admit He is thus. We worship God when we acknowledge His glorious attributes. Our brother Greg Ohly did this in our service last Sunday as he began the opening prayer by listing off to the Lord several of His divine attributes. In so many words he was saying, “Blessed art thou, O Lord.” On the other hand, to ascribe to a creature the attributes that pertain only to God is to worship the creature, which is idolatry. God alone is blessed in the way that we are considering the word bless. Only God is holy in the sense of being essentially and necessarily holy. God is holy of Himself. Hence we read:

Revelation 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy:….

Any holiness that we have is a holiness that God imparts to us. It is not a holiness we have of ourselves. And since God is essentially, supremely, and perfectly holy, He is the most happy of all beings. God is indeed blessed!

Now our psalmist desires a blessing from this blessed One and that is the blessing of being taught by Him His statutes. What better teacher could there be than the blessed God? And what better instruction could be given than the statutes of the blessed God? It stands to reason that the most supremely happy Being is the one that can best teach us how to be happy, and this He does in His statutes. Indeed, the blessed God is a great teacher. When He became incarnate in flesh in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, He was known among men as Master or Rabbi, which are titles for a teacher.

John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

John 1:38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?

Now God utilizes instruments when He teaches us. He does not sit across from us and carry on a discussion, as He did when He was among us on earth. Neither does He Himself audibly speak His lessons into our ear. God teaches us through the Scriptures, which Paul tells us are “profitable for doctrine” (2Timothy 3:16). Doctrine is defined as the action of teaching or instructing. When you are reading and studying your Bible, God is teaching you and you can learn a great deal by that means. But God also uses other means to teach us. God uses tribulation to teach us patience (Romans 5:3), and He uses chastening to correct us (Proverbs 3:11-12). Fathers are commanded to bring up their children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Christ has given His church pastors and teachers to teach us (Ephesians 4:11). As we sing in our service to God we are “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Colossians 3:16). Older women are commanded to teach certain things to the younger women as it respects their character and their duties to their husbands and children (Titus 2:3-5). And then all believers are to be teachers of one another in that they are to comfort, edify, admonish, and exhort one another.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Romans 15:14 And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

Hebrews 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

All of these are so many instruments used by God to teach us His statutes. So when you come to church this Sunday, come with a prayer to the blessed God to teach you His statutes. And when you have been taught in the service, look beyond the pastor or whoever else may have taught you and bless God for His goodness in teaching you. If your parents taught you well, then thank God for using them to teach you. If a brother admonishes you and saves you from doing something foolish, thank God for using that brother to teach you. And continue to pray to God to teach you His statutes. He is the ultimate Teacher and nobody can teach like Him, as saith the Scripture!

Job 36:22 Behold, God exalteth by his power: who teacheth like him?

Psalm 119:11

2011-01-11T12:02:00.002-05:00

In today's meditation we come to a verse that gives us a prescription for avoiding sin in our lives. If we truly fear God, sin is something we hate and, therefore, very much want to avoid.

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

Here is our verse for today:

Psalms 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

The psalmist hid God’s word. He did not hide God’s word for the purpose of concealing it from the view or discovery of others. He rather hid it for the purpose of safekeeping so as not to lose it. He treated God’s word like a precious treasure that he wanted to keep. Now the place where the psalmist hid the word was in his heart. The purpose for his hiding it there was that he might not sin against God.

The psalmist hid God’s word in his heart. By hiding it in his heart, he put it in the place where it would have the greatest influence upon the course of his life.

Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

It is with our heart that we think, intend, know, understand, purpose, believe, and experience emotions such as joy and sorrow (Hebrews 4:12; Ecclesiastes 1:17; Daniel 10:12; 2 Corinthians 9:7; Romans 10:9; Isaiah 65:14). Indeed, all the issues of our life can be reduced down to those things we think, know, understand, believe, decide, and feel. If God’s word is hid in our heart, the issues of our life are going to be affected by it. And since God’s word steers us away from sin, the issues of our life will also be steered away from sin.

God’s word needs to be hid in the heart. It is not enough to store it in a notebook or in a computer program. It needs to be inside of you!

Proverbs 4:20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

Proverbs 7:1 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.

When you love the Scriptures, read them frequently, and meditate upon them, they will become stored up in your heart. And when you are tempted to sin, you will be able to draw upon them to resist sin just as our Lord did when Satan tempted Him to sin in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Each temptation was met with “It is written,” a citation from the Holy Scriptures. It was by this means our Lord avoided sin and it is by that means you will avoid it as well.

Psalms 17:4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.

1 John 2:14 ....I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

But if the word is not hidden in your heart, if you don’t know what the Bible teaches regarding certain sins, then you are more apt to fall into those sins when tempted. Have you ever committed a sin only to recall too late the Bible verse that forbad that sin? If you simply take a moment to think and pray before you act, that is, if you take heed to your way as verse 9 of our Psalm teaches us; and if you have the word hidden in your heart for immediate access; you greatly reduce the chances of stumbling into sin unexpectedly.

Then consider that the psalmist is telling God that he hid His word in his heart. If we would ask God to deliver us from sinning, we should be able to acknowledge to God that we have followed His prescription for avoiding sin. To ask God to deliver us from sin without taking His prescription is like expecting a doctor to heal us without taking his remedy. So if you would not sin, then get out your Bible, read it, meditate on it, and hide it in your heart.

In conclusion, notice something very interesting about the first three verses of this second section Beth as they compare with the first three verses of the first section Aleph. The first verse of Aleph speaks of “the undefiled in the way.” The first verse of Beth asks “wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way.” Both verses speak of a way, the objective being that a young man’s way corresponds to God’s way. The second verse of Aleph pronounces them blessed who seek the Lord “with the whole heart,” while in the second verse of Beth the psalmist said that he had sought God with his “whole heart.” Then the third verse of Aleph speaks of those who “do no iniquity” and the third verse of Beth teaches us how to “not sin.” Every theme mentioned in the statements of the first three verses of Aleph become prayers in the first three verses of Beth. Now is this just a coincidence or is this inspiration?

Psalm 119:10

2010-12-28T18:08:00.002-05:00

We now come to the second verse in the second section of Psalm 119 entitled Beth.

Psalms 119:10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

This is a prayer to God that He would not permit the psalmist to wander from His commandments. That the psalmist was in earnest with this petition is seen again in the usage of the interjection O at the beginning of the prayer. The psalmist was emotional about this; he was not indifferent.

Now just exactly what it is to wander from God’s commandments? Let’s define that word wander.

Wander – Of persons or animals: To move hither and thither without fixed course or certain aim; to be (in motion) without control or direction; to roam, ramble, go idly or restlessly about; to have no fixed abode or station. fig. or in fig. context: Of persons (also of the mind, thoughts, desires, etc. personified): To turn aside from a purpose, from a determined course of conduct, or train of thought; to digress; to pass out of the control of reason or conscience; to fall into error (moral or intellectual), etc.

The person who wanders from God’s commandments loses focus on keeping them. Something else or perhaps several things are distracting him from God’s commandments. Making sure that his entire life is in conformity to God’s commandments is no longer his chief priority. He has lost that direction.

Notice that this petition is made by someone who could say of himself: “With my whole heart have I sought thee.” This is a true believer. We discovered when we considered Psalm 119:2 that seeking God with the whole heart involves a willingness to do anything and everything that God commands the way He commands us to do it. King Hezekiah is a good example of one who sought God with His whole heart. The following verse describes Hezekiah:

2 Chronicles 31:21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.

Observe from this verse that seeking God with the whole heart involves the house of God (the church), the law (the Bible), and the commandments (obedience). Don’t think you are seeking God with your whole heart if these three things are not given paramount consideration in your life. Seeking God with your whole heart means that every other desire or ambition you might have takes a backseat to pleasing the Lord. Now anyone who has ever sought God with his whole heart has discovered the richest and best life that a human being can have on this earth. Wholehearted service to God brings a joy that nothing else in this world can offer. If you have had that joy, then you have a dread of ever losing it. Therefore, you should earnestly pray to God to never let you wander from His commandments. If you have never had that joy, then you have never yet sought God with your whole heart.

The believer who seeks God with his whole heart is the one who is most keenly aware of a propensity within himself to be drawn away from that purpose and course of life. He is the one Satan will try hardest to lead astray. Therefore, for him to stay the course is a constant battle. Let me recall a previous quote I gave you by C. S. Lewis from Mere Christianity: “Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all…you find out the strength of the wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down.” That soul who seeks God with his whole heart will not be self-confident in his obedience. He will rather acknowledge his proneness to wander from it and will constantly strive and pray against that proneness.

On the other hand, if you do not have a struggle with a tendency to wander from God’s commandments, you have likely wandered already. You probably do not seek the Lord with your whole heart and, therefore, you perceive no danger.

Now here is a frightening thought: if we ever become lackadaisical and careless in seeking the Lord, if we do not give Him His due place in our hearts and lives, then He will withdraw His hand and let us wander from His commandments.

Psalms 81:11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!

And when we wander from God’s commandments, we will inevitably find ourselves in a way that is not good, even though we may think it is.

Isaiah 65:2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts.

May this meditation on today’s verse give you a deeper appreciation of these words taken from the song Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing:

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandr’ing heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Psalm 119:9

2010-12-14T11:09:00.002-05:00

We now come to the second section of Psalm 119 under the title of Beth, which is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Psalms 119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

Owing to the fall of man into sin, man’s nature is corrupted from his youth.

Genesis 8:21 …for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.

These words were God’s assessment of mankind after the cataclysmic judgment of a worldwide flood. Even a judgment of that magnitude did not change the bent of youth toward evil.

Youth is a time when the desires of the flesh are at their peak of intensity. Because youth are young in years, there is much of life they have not experienced and yet they intensely long to experience it. Couple this youthful passion with a sin nature and you have an explanation of why youth is often scarred with painful memories of follies and sins as these two verses show:

Job 13:26 For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.

Psalms 25:7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD.

Youth should be a time to perfect one’s potential and to grow upward spiritually, intellectually, and morally. Yet sadly, the trend in youth if too often downward and much of that time must be written off as wasted. The word unclean is an altogether too apt description of much of the way of youth.

The verse we are considering in today’s meditation shows how a young man can make the best of his youth, how he can maximize upon the potential of his youthful mind and vigour. Our verse shows how a young man can “clean up his act” and redirect his youth. The way to do this is to take heed to his way. Let’s define that word heed.

Heed – Careful attention, care, observation, regard. Especially in the phrase to take heed.

If a young man would clean up the way he lives, he must begin by caring! He must stop being careless and reckless. He needs to pay attention to what he doing, why he is doing it, and what will be the consequences of his choices for himself and for others. How sad it is to see a young man throw away his life in alcohol and drug abuse, pornography, premarital sex (or whoremongering, as the Bible calls it), and crime while he seems to not give a care about the consequences of his evil choices. Again, cleansing one’s way begins with caring.

Now many a young man has reformed his behaviour by beginning to care about his grades, his place on the team, his career, or maybe even his family. While this will win him approval with men, it is not enough to please God. There are a lot of “good” young people whose ways are clean in the eyes of men. We often hear them spoken of as “nice kids.” Yet their way is unclean in the eyes of God. Our verse is talking about cleansing one’s way before the Lord! In order to do that, the young man must take heed unto his way “according to thy (God’s) word.” He must see to it that the way he chooses to go in life is in agreement with what God’s requires of him in His written word.

A young man’s way is the whole course or direction of his life that he chooses to pursue. It includes his thoughts, motives, and attitude; the choices he makes for friends, for a spouse, for a profession, for a location, for recreation, for a faith, for a church; and whatever else goes to make up the way he lives. If a young man (or woman) would live a clean life in the eyes of God – and that’s where it counts most! - he (she) must pay careful attention to what God says in His word and follow it. A young man needs two things to cleanse his way: (1) God’s word to guide his way and (2) careful attentiveness to that word. Matthew Henry said it well:

“God’s word will not do without our watchfulness, and a constant regard both to it and to our way, that we may compare them together.”

Of course, it stands that the only way any young man can cleanse his way is through the satisfaction that the Lord Jesus Christ made for God’s chosen people on the cross of Calvary. Without the blood of Christ, all our ways are unclean and can never be anything but unclean.

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

But thanks be to God, Christ has redeemed us by His blood from all of our sins so that we can now truly do good works, that is, we can cleanse our way according to God’s word.

Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

I close this mediation by issuing this call to young men:

Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Psalm 119:8

2010-11-29T18:34:00.002-05:00

We now come to the last verse of the first section of Psalm 119 entitled Aleph.

Psalms 119:8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.

Zero in on those first two words: “I will.” In order to truly keep God’s statutes, you must exercise your will. If obedience to God is something you do on a wave of emotion, you will not stick with it. As soon as the emotion dies down, and it will, you will be on to something else. Rather, obedience to God must arise from an act of will, a determination to do it, a determination that will transcend all the ups and downs of your emotions through all the changing circumstances of life. It behooves each of us to adopt this resolve as the driving impulse of our life, the single most important goal we seek to attain. Whatever else we may do or not do, whatever of life we may experience or not experience, this one thing we will do, we will keep God’s statutes. And firmly resolving to do this will provide a grid for sorting out everything that comes into our lives demanding our time and attention.

But having made this firm resolution, the psalmist immediately follows up with the request that God not forsake him utterly. Commenting on this prayer, Charles Bridges wrote: “Firm in his purpose, but distrustful of his strength, instantly upon forming his resolution, he recollects that the performance is beyond his power.” How true! We cannot keep God’s statutes without Him. Hence, we beg God to not forsake us utterly. Now guess what comes next. You got it! To fully grasp what the psalmist is requesting, we must define our terms.

Forsake – To abandon, leave entirely, withdraw from; esp. to withdraw one’s presence and help or companionship from; to desert.

Utterly – In a complete or utter manner; to an absolute or extreme degree; altogether, entirely, absolutely; fully, thoroughly, out and out.

The psalmist is asking God not to withdraw His presence and help, at least not completely and entirely. That the prayer begins with the interjection O indicates that the psalmist was in earnest in his request. He realized how desperately he needed God’s presence and help.

Now God does indeed forsake His people at times for various reasons. The Lord may forsake us because we have forsaken Him.

2 Chronicles 15:1 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:
2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

God might forsake us if we become overconfident in our prosperity. David experienced this.

Psalms 30:6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.
7 LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

Or the Lord might forsake us to try us, to bring to light some corruption lurking in our hearts. This happened to Hezekiah after God healed him of a life-threatening sickness.

2 Chronicles 32:24 In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the LORD: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign.
25 But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

Hezekiah’s heart was lifted up and he behaved unwisely in showing off the riches of his kingdom to the ambassadors of Babylon. Babylon later proved to be a formidable enemy. The Lord forsook Hezekiah for a time; He left him so as to expose this pride in his heart.

2 Chronicles 32:31 Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

In such cases God forsakes us to correct us, to get us back on the track of keeping His statutes. But if God should forsake us utterly, we would fail utterly. We would never be able to find our way back. Hence we pray: “O forsake me not utterly.” In dealing with my own personal weaknesses I have sometimes said to the Lord in my prayer: “Keep working with me, Lord. Do what You need to, but don’t give up on me.” In essence I was saying to the Lord, “O forsake me not utterly.”

Now the wonderful thing about it is that we have a promise from God that He will not forsake His children utterly even though they disobey Him.

Psalms 89:30 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

We are actually pleading this promise when we pray to God to not forsake us utterly. Thanks be to God that though He may at times forsake His children, He only forsakes them for a little while rather than completely and forever.

Isaiah 54:7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

Psalm 119:7

2010-11-23T13:32:00.002-05:00

It is right that when we ask something of God, that we resolve to praise Him for it when we have received it. And it is good that we tell Him that we shall do so. This is what we find happening in our verse for today’s meditation.

Psalms 119:7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.

I can think of three reasons why the psalmist would praise God when he had learned His righteous judgments. First, he will praise God because those righteous judgments would not be there to learn if God did not give them to us. Secondly, he will praise God for this because we would never learn God’s judgments if God did not incline our hearts to want to learn them. Thirdly, God is to be praised for this because we cannot learn His righteous judgments except He teach us. We can read them and hear them taught, but without the enabling of the Holy Spirit, we will not learn. The book we read and the teacher we hear are the instruments, but God the Holy Spirit is the teacher. No matter how good a Biblical scholar you may be, always recognize that you can only learn the Scriptures if God teaches you. Were God to withhold the enabling of His Spirit, your learning would cease. So you do well every time you seek to learn to ask God to teach you. And we shall find the psalmist doing just that repeatedly in this psalm.

Notice that when speaking of learning God’s righteous judgments, the psalmist speaks in the future perfect tense. This tense shows that learning God’s judgments is something that will occur in the future. Now to be sure, other verses in this psalm show that the psalmist already knew God’s righteous judgments. Yet the fact remains that so long as we live in this world no matter how much of God’s word we know, there is always more to learn. God’s righteous judgments are an inexhaustible treasure. This writer has been studying the Scriptures for 44 years, and preaching for 41 years. Yet he feels he is but skimming the surface of all there is to know about God’s righteous judgments. It is as though he is just beginning to grasp them. There is so much more to learn!

As for praising God with uprightness of heart, let’s begin by defining the word uprightness.

Uprightness - The state or condition of being sincere, honest, or just; equity or justness in respect of principle or practice; moral integrity or rectitude.

First, God must be praised “with…heart.” To worship with the lips but without the heart is an act of hypocrisy. It is pretence. It is not true worship.

Mark 7:6 He (Jesus) answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

Secondly, God must be praised “with uprightness of heart.” For God to accept our worship, it must proceed from a heart that is sincere, and true, and clean.

Joshua 24:14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

Well might we cry with the psalmist David:

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

And lastly, if we would praise God with uprightness of heart, we need to learn His righteous judgments. God will not accept just anything that calls itself worship. His worship must be according to His righteous judgments, in the way and manner He has prescribed in His word.

God grant us to learn His righteous judgments that we may render to Him the praise that is His due in the way that pleases Him.

Psalm 119:6

2010-11-09T17:41:00.003-05:00

Before you read this meditation make sure you have reread the meditation from last week on Psalm 119:5, as that one is of prime importance. And now we turn to our verse for this week.

Psalms 119:6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.

I shall not define the word ashamed as I think all of my readers know altogether too well what that word means. The way to avoid being ashamed is to have respect unto all of God’s commandments. To have respect unto God’s commandments is to have regard to them, to give them attention and consideration, to have them in view. To avoid shame, our attention and consideration must be given to all of God’s commandments. We should keep all of them before us to inform our decisions and to direct our course. To not have respect to so much as one of God’s commandments, to consider any commandment as unimportant or unnecessary, is to open the door to shame. To be sure, some commandments are weightier than others, but none are to be disrespected as the following passages make expressly clear.

Deuteronomy 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

Matthew 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

You only have to break one commandment of the law to be a lawbreaker.

The following excellent comments of Charles Bridges on this verse are well worth quoting. These comments are taken from his book entitled Psalm 119.

“The Lord expects our obedience to be not only ‘diligent,’ but universal. Willing to dispense with the least of the commandments, proves that we have yet to learn the spirit of acceptable obedience. (Matt. v.19.) Grace is given and suited for all, no less than for one of them, ‘that we might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.” (Col. 1.10.) One lust ‘regarded in the heart’ is sufficient to keep possession for the tyrant, however others may be restrained.”

Who are we to think that any commandment of God is unimportant or unworthy of our careful observance? To disregard or slight anything God commanded is to put your opinion against His wisdom. The commandment you are not respecting may be a little one in relation to others, but the contempt you are showing for God’s authority is huge! You may be sure that God does not take kindly to that and He will put you to shame for it. Maybe you don’t feel it today, but you will! Our first parents became ashamed after they broke the one commandment to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Saul bore the shame of losing his kingdom because he disobeyed a single commandment of God to utterly destroy all the Amalekites and their possessions (1 Samuel 15). Moses suffered the shame of not being allowed to enter the promised land because he disobeyed a single commandment regarding the rock (Numbers 20:7-13). God told him to speak to the rock and he smote it instead. Having respect unto all God’s commandment appears to be extremely important.

Yet how many think that because they keep many or even most of the commandments of God, it is no big deal if they overlook a few. The man who faithfully attends church every Sunday and gives, and yet fails to teach his children the way of the Lord will be ashamed. The same goes for the man who gives every appearance of being a devout Christian and yet does not love and cherish his wife as he ought. What of the person who professes faith in Christ who has never been properly baptized and is not a member of a true New Testament local church? Or how about the person who continues to celebrate Christmas thus violating the clear commandment to not observe pagan rites unto the Lord God (Deuteronomy 12:29-31)? Is washing of the saints’ feet something that we can take or leave with no consequence when the Saviour plainly commanded it in John 13:13-16? No amount of faithful obedience to most of the commandments will excuse disobedience to even one of the commandments.

Once we disregard one commandment, what is to keep us from disregarding others when they interfere with our agenda? Scripture clearly teaches that one act of disobedience will lead to another. As Paul put it in Romans 6:19 when speaking of the Romans before their conversion: “Ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity.” One iniquity will eventuate in another and so goes the downward spiral into a life of shame.

The way to reverse this downward spiral is to have respect unto all of God’s commandments. Give diligence to do anything and everything that God requires of you, no matter how small it may be. By this means you shall live an honourable life that will be a shining testimony before this evil world. Our goal should be to keep all the commandments of God so that we need never be shamed by a rebuke from God for disregarding any of them.

Philippians 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.

Psalm 119:5

2010-11-02T15:32:00.004-04:00

Today we continue this series of meditations on Psalm 119 by considering verse 5. This is a meditation that I suggest you read more than once and ponder very carefully.

Psalms 119:5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!

In this verse the psalmist expresses a desire to God. We know that it was expressed to God from the second person singular possessive pronoun thy in “thy statutes.” We noted in the last meditation that we use pronouns in the second person when we are talking to someone. The Psalmist is saying to God that he desires that his ways were directed to keep God’s statutes.

Let us next consider the definition of the word direct so that we may know precisely what the psalmist desired.

Direct – To cause (a thing or person) to move or point straight to or towards a place; to aim (a missile); to make straight (a course or way) to any point; to turn (the eyes, attention, mind) straight to an object, (a person or thing) to an aim, purpose, etc.

The psalmist longed that his ways would be aimed straightly at keeping God’s statutes without any diversion or misdirection. He wanted his ways, the train of his thoughts and desires, his actions, and the events of his life to be directed to keep God’s statutes. And as we saw from the definition of the word keep used in verse two, to keep God’s statutes means to pay attention to them, to dutifully believe and practice them.

That the psalmist earnestly desired this can be seen from that simple one-letter interjection o at the beginning of the verse. So back to the dictionary we go for the definition of this word. I’ll be done with the grammar and definitions in a minute. So just hang with me and I’ll get cranking into how this all fits together.

O – In other connexions, or without construction, expressing, according to intonation, various emotions, as appeal, entreaty, surprise, pain, lament, etc.

The psalmist’s desire to have his ways directed to keep God’s statutes was so strong that it stirred his emotions. It is, therefore, quite fitting that this sentence ends with an exclamation point further stressing the emotion of the writer. Since the psalmist is addressing this desire to God, we discern an earnest appeal in the word o. We can also detect a grief that his ways were not more directed to keeping God’s statutes. These are emotions we would all do well to cultivate.

Anyone who sincerely tries to keep God’s statutes can relate to the longing of this verse. Try as we may, there are a thousand things pulling us in all kinds of directions away from keeping God’s statutes. First of all, there is the pull of our own fleshly lusts warring against the soul.

Romans 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

You become keenly aware of the pull of your fleshly lusts when you discover God’s statutes aiming directly at the correction of some of your greatest weaknesses, weaknesses such as pride, anger, envy, hatred, evil sexual desires, evil surmisings, gluttony, slothfulness, covetousness, and backbiting, to name a few. In fact, the more you try to keep God’s statutes the more you will experience resistance against it. In his excellent work Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis wrote:

“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all…you find out the strength of the wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down.”

I could not have said it better. It stands to reason that the adversary has to put up his toughest fight against those who mount the toughest resistance.

And then there is the pull of a thousand distractions all vying to so occupy our minds and emotions that the focus on keeping God’s commandments gets shoved aside. There is the glut of media sounding everywhere calling for our attention: news clips; advertisements; campaign ads from more candidates than we can keep up with; scores of television channels to choose from; preachers and televangelists of all kinds; a barrage of movies released to the public for consumption; the internet with its offer and allure of endless information; email; facebook, twitter, and the like; two or three telephones ringing; athletes, teams, and events in more kinds of sports than you can count at all levels from elementary school through college to the professional level; entertainments galore; a vast myriad of ideas on how to stay healthy, and how to best manage your money, your time, and your relationships; not to mention well-intentioned friends who insist that you have to read this book, see this movie, hear this speaker, etc. All these are so many siren sounds beckoning for your attention. And add to all of this the cares of daily life that must be attended to. If you are a person who finds most everything fascinating and interesting, you do have your work cut out for you to come through this maze and still keep your focus where it belongs. Those with fewer and more focused interests will find it easier to sort through this pile and disregard a lot of these distractions. But even they will have to work at maintaining balance in the limited things they allow themselves to become involved with. So that in the end we must all cry: “O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!”

What might we want and expect from God in response to this longing expressed to Him? First of all, we pray that He so order the events of our lives that we not be tempted above our ability to resist. We want Him to close doors to opportunities that would too much distract us from keeping His statutes. Secondly, we earnestly desire that He would give us strength to resist the evil lusts of our flesh that we might keep His statutes. Third, we pray that God would give us good judgment so as to weigh the cost in time and energy of every thing that beckons for our attention. Never forget, every interest you choose to pursue comes with a price and if the payment of that price takes away time and energy better spent on those things most important to God, then you had best let that opportunity pass you by. Never forget this commandment given through our beloved apostle Paul:

Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

To redeem the time you are going to have to make the choice to let some things go that you might otherwise like to pursue. You are just going to have to settle for going through this world without experiencing everything it has to offer. And that is no great loss when you consider what our Lord Jesus Christ said:

Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Bishop Fulten J. Sheen wrote the following about the son of Confucius that fits so well what I am talking about:

“The son of Confucius once said to him: ‘I apply myself with diligence to every kind of study, neglect nothing that could render me clever and brilliant; but I do not advance.’ ‘Omit some of your pursuits,’ replied Confucius, ‘and you will get on better.’”

How true! Try to do everything and you won’t be that good at anything.

Speaking for myself personally, I am a very curious person. There are so many things I would like to learn and learn well, but I know that if I devote time to all of that, I will suffer loss in that one thing most needful for me to know as a man of God, and that is God’s statutes. And as time fast passes by me and age eats away at my mental and physical energy leaving me with less than I had before, how much more must I weigh the cost of everything that beckons for that time and energy. So I just have to choose to remain ignorant and inexperienced about a lot of things so as to be more directed toward and more focused on what I need to know and to do in order to be the best that I can be at what God calls me to be. God grant me wisdom to never lose sight of this and strength to apply that wisdom in every choice that I must make. But, oh, the powerful allurement of so many other things coupled together with my own personal weaknesses forces this lamentable cry from my heart: “O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!” Is it thus with you, dear reader?

Psalm 119:4

2010-10-18T19:02:00.004-04:00

We have noted that the first three verses of Psalm 119 are statements regarding the effect of the scriptures on the lives of those who obey them. We have seen that the way to avoid committing iniquity and to attain true happiness is to simply do what the Bible says and to do it wholeheartedly. Now we come to verse 4 which begins a long series of prayers. With the exception of verse 115, the rest of the Psalm consists of prayers.

Psalms 119:4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.

Since the verse opens with the second person singular pronoun thou, we know that the psalmist is addressing God. We use second person pronouns when we are talking to someone. I say that this verse is a prayer, because we usually say we are praying when we are talking to God. We have already examined the dictionary definition of prayer and found that prayer consists of requests and thanksgivings to God. Now the verse we are considering is of itself neither a request for something nor a thanksgiving for something. It is rather an acknowledgement to God of how God wants us to keep His precepts. In fact, we do not hit upon a request until we get to verse 8. Up to the point of making this request, the Psalmist is acknowledging facts, facts about God and about himself. If you examine other prayers in the Bible, you will find this kind of thing. The person praying not only makes requests, but intersperses those requests with confessions of faith, confessions of sin, and descriptions of circumstances. To sum this up, we can say that prayer is a conversation with God in which we not only ask Him for things and thank Him for things, but in which we also just tell Him things, things about Himself and things about ourselves and others. If you think about it, it is much like talking to a friend. In fact, it is talking to a Friend, the best Friend any of us have or ever could have!

According to the verse we are considering, God not only commands us to keep His precepts, which He most certainly does in numerous places in the Bible, but God commands us to keep them diligently. God commanded Israel to keep the commandments of His law diligently.

Deuteronomy 6:17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.

Deuteronomy 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

To keep the precepts diligently is to keep them with diligence. Now you know what comes next. Let’s define diligence.

Diligence – Constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken; persistent application and endeavour; industry, assiduity (constant and close attention to the business in hand, perseverance).

If we are keeping God’s commandments diligently, we are paying close attention to keeping them, we are making an earnest effort to keep them, and we are keeping them constantly. God is very displeased with a lazy, lackadaisical, indifferent attitude toward what He commands in His word. Religion is serious business with God. And if we know what is good for us, it had better be serious business with us as well. The religion of God deserves our best efforts.

Furthermore, the obedience that pleases God is an obedience that is consistent. It is not enough to occasionally do what God says. We must stay focused on doing what God says and we must continue to do it. Do you ever hear a sermon that convicts you of something amiss in your life and you really focus on making it right for a day or two only then to return to your old habits? That is not keeping the precepts diligently. For example, suppose you hear a sermon on the importance of training up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:4). You become convicted that you have been negligent and so for a few days you read the Bible with your children, pray with them, and really step up the discipline. Then after a few days the conviction dies down and you fall back to letting the computer and the television take over while the Bible sits on the shelf waiting to be picked up for church on Sunday. After all, we do want to look pious for church, don’t we? Is this keeping God’s commandments diligently? Hardly!

We miss so much when we do not keep God’s commandments diligently. Recall that when we studied Psalm 119:2 we saw that keeping God’s commandments is essential to seeking the Lord. With this in mind note these words:

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

God rewards those who diligently seek Him, that is, who diligently keep His precepts. Keeping God’s precepts as He commands will enrich your life. No matter how much you achieve of power, status, or fortune in this world through your diligent efforts, if you are not diligent in keeping God’s precepts, YOU ARE A LOSER!

Psalm 119:1-3: Jesus Christ the Blessed

2010-10-12T14:49:00.002-04:00

I had intended to launch into Psalm 119:4 for this week’s meditation. But on Sunday morning the thought occurred to me of how Psalm 119:1-3 is such a perfect description of the Lord Jesus Christ. When I introduced this series of meditations, I wrote this concerning the verses of Psalm 119: “And as I pore over them, I shall keep an eye out to behold the Lord Jesus Christ as He is certain to show Himself here as in all the other Scriptures.” So before passing beyond the first three verses of this psalm, let us see Christ in them.

Psalms 119:1 ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.

As we have seen, these three verses describe a blessed or happy man. The verses speak in the plural and so refer to any man that wholeheartedly patterns His life according to the word of God. And, thanks be to God, He has made provision through the blood and righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ that even sinners can attain unto this blessedness.

But the most perfect, the absolutely untarnished example of the blessed man as described in these verses is our Lord Jesus Christ. First, He was undefiled in the way.

Hebrews 7:26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

It should go without saying that walking in God’s law and keeping His testimonies pleases Him. Jesus Christ of all men walked in the law of the Lord and kept His testimonies. His entire life was spent in perfect obedience to the law of God. Thus He pleased God. Speaking of Himself He said:

John 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

And the Lord Jesus sought God His Father with His whole heart.

John 7:18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

Christ did not seek His own glory. He did not pursue His own self-interest. His whole life was about doing the will of God and glorifying God. In fact, doing the will of God was the thing that sustained Him. It was His very meat. It was what energized Him and kept Him going.

John 4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

And since our Lord flawlessly walked in God’s law, kept His testimonies, and sought Him with the whole heart, He is the only man of Whom it could be said in the fullest sense of the word that He did “no iniquity.” He is the only man in all of history of Whom words like this could be written:

1 Peter 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ fits the description of a blessed man given in these first three verses of Psalm 119. He of all men is most supremely blessed. Well, then, might we join in chorus with those who exclaimed His praises when He entered into Jerusalem “riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass”:

Mark 11:9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Psalm 119:3

2010-10-05T12:43:00.002-04:00

We come today to third verse of Psalm 119, in which the Psalmist further describes those who walk in the law of the Lord, that keep His testimonies, and that seek Him with the whole heart.

Psalms 119:3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.

The first three verses of this Psalm remind us of the definition of sin given by the apostle John.

1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

If one does what the law says, he commits no sin, he does no iniquity. If one transgresses the law he goes beyond the bounds it sets and thus breaks the law, that is, he sins and does iniquity.

Now we are straightly commanded not to sin.

Psalms 4:4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.

The way to keep from sinning is to walk in the law of the Lord, to keep His testimonies, and to seek Him with the whole heart. If you would avoid sin, simply do what the Bible says and that wholeheartedly. This also explains what it means to “walk in the Spirit” as Paul commanded us in this verse:

Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

If we are not fulfilling the lust of the flesh, we are not sinning since sin proceeds from the lust of the flesh.

James 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Now the question might arise, just how does one “walk in the Spirit”? These first three verses of Psalm 119 answer that question. To walk in the Spirit is to walk in the law of the Lord, to keep His testimonies, and to seek Him with the whole heart. This makes sense when you remember that the Scriptures are given to us by the Holy Spirit of God.

2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Because the law comes from the Spirit of God, Paul could describe it in Romans 7:14 as spiritual.

Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual.

Therefore, our Psalm has opened up showing us how to walk in the Spirit, how to be spiritual believers. This Psalm describes those who live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). The experiences of this Psalm are intensely spiritual. The spiritual believers are those who “walk in His ways.”

Examine your ways. Do they agree with God’s ways? If not, then you are doing iniquity. If such is the case with you then there is this commandment from the law of the Lord that you need to keep:

Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

In turning to God from your sin and in confessing your sin to God, God will forgive and cleanse you of that sin. You have His word of promise on that.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Now if you are cleansed from all unrighteousness, then you have no unrighteousness. Your unrighteousness is gone. That is, God sees you as one of those who “do no iniquity.” You are one of those described Psalm 119:3 and in this comforting verse:

Jeremiah 50:20 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.

Because God has pardoned you, you have no iniquity! Thanks be to God that through His pardoning mercy and the cleansing blood of our Lord Jesus Christ we can experience the blessedness, the happiness of those who walk in the law of the Lord, that keep His testimonies, that seek Him with the whole heart, and that do no iniquity.

Psalm 119:2

2010-09-13T16:20:00.002-04:00

Psalm 119 goes on in the second verse to describe those who are blessed or happy.

Psalms 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

They are genuinely happy who do two things: they keep God’s testimonies and they seek Him with the whole heart. As noted in the introduction, the word testimonies is one of the various words describing the word of God, the Scriptures. First of all, what is it to keep His testimonies?

Keep – To have regard, pay attention to, observe. To pay attention or regard to; to observe, stand to, or dutifully abide by (an ordinance, law, custom, practice, covenant, promise, faith, a thing prescribed or fixed, as a treaty, truce, peace, a set time or day.

The blessed souls pay attention to God’s word. They do not ignore their Bible. They read it and listen to it preached. They dutifully believe and practice what the Bible teaches. They defend the Bible. Of course, in order to keep the testimonies, it is imperative that one have the testimonies. It is pretty hard to keep something you don’t have. Duh! I thought I would throw some slang in there to give you a break from my rather lofty style of writing.

The God Who gave us His words has promised to preserve them.

Psalms 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

Anyone who follows my teaching knows that I believe that the A.V. 1611 or the King James Version of the Bible is the pure, preserved word of God in the English language. I consider myself blessed to have God’s testimonies and my greatest happiness is found in keeping them.

The blessed souls are also those that seek God with the whole heart. God will not be sought half-heartedly. This was one of the Lord’s chief complaints against Israel.

Jeremiah 3:10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.

God considers it pretence if you are not seeking Him with your whole heart. You may profess to be entirely devoted to God, but in reality you have something else that you are devoted to that competes with your pursuit of the Lord. It may be your educational goals, your professional goals, your financial goals, your family, your social life, or your pleasures. These things are all fine in their place so long as they are always subordinate to seeking the Lord to please Him and to do His will. If you are struggling with a divided heart, then this prayer is a suitable one for you to pray:

Psalms 86:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

One who seeks God with a united heart seeks God with his whole heart. His heart is not divided.

Observe that seeking God is connected by the word and to keeping His testimonies. God will be sought on His terms! Keeping God’s testimonies is essential to seeking God with the whole heart. And this pertains to things we might consider unimportant. The man who seeks God with his whole heart considers nothing God has said as indifferent or unimportant. When David at first attempted to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, the ark was carried on a cart drawn by oxen. When the oxen shook the ark, Uzzah put for his had to steady the ark and God smote Uzzah for it. Uzzah did not have authority from God to touch His ark. Furthermore, the ark was supposed to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites, not on a cart drawn by oxen. David later recognized his error as the following passage shows:

1 Chronicles 15:11 And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab,
12 And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.
13 For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.

How the ark was carried might seem trivial to us. Many would reason that as long as the ark got to Jerusalem that was all that mattered. But God had commanded that the ark be carried by the Levites and He would tolerate no deviation from His order of doing business. And David connects this with seeking the Lord. So do not talk about seeking God with your whole heart, unless you are willing to do anything and everything that God says the way He says to do it.

Lastly, you are indeed blessed if you are keeping God’s testimonies and seeking Him with your whole heart because these are evidences that you have the Spirit of God within you and that God has given you a new heart.

Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Jeremiah 24:7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

Psalm 119:1

2010-09-07T11:00:00.003-04:00

With a prayer for the blessing of Almighty God we are now ready to begin our verse by verse meditation of Psalm 119 starting, of course, with the first verse of the first section entitled Aleph.

Psalms 119:1 ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.

As noted in the introduction, the first three verses of Psalm 119 are not prayers. They are rather statements regarding the effect of the scriptures on the lives of those who obey them. Verse 1 pronounces them blessed who are undefiled in the way. It goes on to describe those who are undefiled in the way as those “who walk in the law of the LORD.” Let’s begin with considering what it means to be blessed.

Blessed – Enjoying supreme felicity; happy, fortunate.

The word blessed translates the Hebrew word esher which means happiness. It is rendered happy in Deuteronomy 33:29; 1Kings 10:8; Psalm 127:5; 144:15; 146:5; Proverbs 3:13; 29:18.

Thus our psalm opens up by introducing us to that one thing that all men claim to want and to seek and that is to be happy. Sadly, however, most men seek happiness in the wrong way. But our verse points to the way in which men can find happiness.

In order to understand what it is to be blessed, we need to grasp what it is to be happy. For this we will examine the dictionary definition of happy.

Happy – Coming or happening by chance; fortuitous; chance. Having good ‘hap’ or fortune; lucky, fortunate; favoured by lot, position, or other external circumstance.

Now the scriptures teach that a man can be happy even when he is not favoured in his external circumstances. His happiness does not depend upon chance happenings in his life, but upon something much deeper. So we look further in the definitions and we light upon this one.

Happy - Having a feeling of great pleasure or content of mind, arising from satisfaction with one’s circumstances or condition; also in weakened sense: Glad, pleased

This more agrees with the overall teaching of scripture regarding happiness. Happiness does indeed have something to do with things that happen and with circumstances. But Biblical happiness lies in how we deal with those happenings and circumstances. The following verses will demonstrate the meaning of happiness as Psalm 119 presents it.

Luke 6:20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Observe from this passage that one can be blessed or happy even in adverse external circumstances.

1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

James 5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

If in the midst of want and adversity you can experience great pleasure and contentment of mind, you are blessed or happy indeed. Paul obviously experienced such blessedness as he could both be “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10).

Our psalm opens with pronouncing them blessed or happy who are undefiled in the way. First of all, they are in the way. As we noted in the introduction, the way refers to the course of life and conduct God has set before us to pursue. This definition of the way is confirmed in this verse as it goes on to describe those in the way as those who walk in the law of the LORD. To better understand this, consider the definition of walk.

Walk – To journey, move about, esp. on foot. fig. Chiefly in religious use, after Bible examples: To conduct oneself, behave (ill or well, wisely or unwisely). Sometimes with reference to a metaphorical ‘path’ or ‘way.’

Those who are in the way are those whose conduct is regulated by the law of the Lord. They move about in life under the direction of that law. In other words, they live their lives according to the teachings of the Bible, doing what it commands and avoiding what it forbids. The truly happy souls are those who are in that course of life that God has prescribed in His law.

Now observe that they are undefiled in that way. They are undefiled as they conduct themselves according to God’s commandments. Their reasons for keeping God’s commandments are pure. They do not obey God to be seen of men, or to acquire money, prestige, and power for themselves. They keep God’s commandments out of a sincere conviction that this is indeed the right way to live and they want to live that right way. Their goal is to please God, not merely to please themselves. And they endeavour to keep God’s commandments purely, just as He has delivered them. They do not mix God’s commandments with the inventions of men. They are undefiled in the way.

In conclusion, consider just how blessed or happy they are that are in the way. Isaiah vividly describes their blessedness.

Isaiah 35:8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Those who are undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord, are walking in “The way of holiness.” They are living clean since the unclean have no access to this way. They are “wayfaring men,” that is, they are men on a journey. This world is not their home. They are “just a passing through.” They are “marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God,” their eternal home. Since “they shall not err therein” they can be sure they are doing the right thing no matter what else may go wrong in their lives. Satan, the roaring lion, cannot devour them as long as they remain in this way since “no lion shall be there.” Those that walk there are "the redeemed" of the Lord. Christ has died for them and secured the forgiveness of all their sins.

Colossians 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

The happiness that those in this way experience is an everlasting happiness with perfect joy and perfect health at the end. Indeed, “blessed are the undefiled in the way.” This, dear reader, is the way to true and lasting happiness.

Psalm 119: Introduction, Part 3

2010-08-30T16:53:00.002-04:00

We continue this meditation by taking up the other five words that are used in Psalm 119 to describe the Holy Scriptures. The Scriptures are also referred to in this psalm as truth and righteousness.

Truth – Something that is true. True statement or account; that which is in accordance with the fact. That which is true, real, or actual (in a general or abstract sense); reality; spec. in religious use, spiritual reality as the subject of revelation or object of faith.

Righteousness – Justice, uprightness, rectitude; conformity of life to the requirements of the divine or moral law, virtue, integrity.

God’s words are truth and righteousness. They are factual in their content and they are always right. There is nothing false or unjust about them. If you believe them you will believe the truth. If you follow them you may be assured that you are doing the right thing. They will never mislead you or betray you.

God’s words are also called His testimonies.

Testimony – 1. Personal or documentary evidence or attestation in support of a fact or statement; hence, any form of evidence or proof. 4. In Scriptural language (chiefly in O.T.). a. sing. The Mosaic law or decalogue as inscribed on the two tables of stone. b. pl. The precepts (of God), the divine law.

God’s words provide documentary evidence to support God’s claims about Himself and His works. We often quote the Bible to prove the Bible. This is not circular reasoning when you consider that the Bible is made up of sixty-six books written by some forty different authors over a period of some 1500 or more years. Therefore, the Bible is a collection of documents that all attest to the same facts. The Scriptures are God's testimonies. He Himself attests to His commandments and He cannot lie. The very integrity of God is at stake as to their truth and righteousness.

Then the Scriptures are called the way.

Way – Course of life or action, means, manner. A prescribed course of life or conduct; the law or commandments (of God); also in pl.

The commandments of God set forth the course of life and conduct that God wills for us to pursue. Simply put, to keep the commandments of God is to do the will of God. It is to be “in the way.” To break God’s commandments is to be “out of the way.”

Deuteronomy 11:28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

Romans 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said that He is the Way (John 14:6). He perfectly obeyed all the commandments of God given in the Old Testament. He fulfilled the law of Moses and took it out of the way establishing the New Testament in its stead. The commandments of the law of Christ in the New Testament are the way for us today. By following the teachings and example of Christ and His apostles you will be in the way.

And lastly God’s words are referred to in this psalm as His judgments.

Judgment – Divine sentence or decision; spec. a misfortune or calamity regarded as a divine visitation or punishment, or as a token of divine displeasure. In various Biblical uses, chiefly as rendering of Heb. mishpit, in its different uses. A (divine) decree, ordinance, law, statute.

These commandments or laws of God’s word are the judicial decrees of the sovereign Judge of the world. By these laws we are to judge ourselves and others, and by them we shall be judged. This brings to mind the words of our Lord Jesus Christ:

John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

There is no escaping the words of God. You may ignore the Bible today, but you will not be able to ignore it then. If you are concerned about how you will fare in the coming Day of Judgment, I would suggest that you deal with the Scriptures now after the pattern that will unfold before us as we consider Psalm 119.

Psalm 119: Introduction, Part 2

2010-08-23T17:36:00.004-04:00

In today’s meditation, we continue with our introduction to Psalm 119. Recall that the theme of this Psalm is the written revelation of God, the scriptures. With the exception of four verses, the entire psalm consists of prayers revolving around the word of God. Hence, the psalm is dealing with the subject of verbal communication. We communicate with God by means of prayer and God communicates with us by means of His written words.

In order to give a general overview of the message of this Psalm, I shall define all of the ten words used in this psalm for the scriptures. We begin with the word word, which is used in the singular and in the plural in this psalm.

Word - Speech, utterance, verbal expression. Religious and theological uses. a. A divine communication, command, or proclamation, as one made to or through a prophet or inspired person; esp. the message of the gospel. The Bible, Scripture, or some part or passage of it, as embodying a divine communication.

The Scriptures are the written speech or communication of Almighty God. If you want to know what God has to say, read the scriptures. Have you ever been in a situation and said, “What is the Lord trying to tell me?” The Lord is not trying to tell you anything. God has already told you what He wants you to know and that communication is found in His written word. By reading God’s word we hear what God has to say to us.

The Scriptures are also called God’s law, commandment(s), precepts, and statutes. Observe how these words are used to define each other.

Law – A rule of conduct imposed by authority. Divine law. The body of commandments which express the will of God with regard to the conduct of His intelligent creatures.

Commandment – An authoritative order or injunction; a precept given by authority. esp. A divine command.

Precept – An authoritative command to do some particular act; an order, mandate. A general command or injunction; an instruction, direction, or rule for action or conduct; esp. an injunction as to moral conduct.

Statute – A law or decree made by a sovereign or a legislative authority.

Note the words authority and authoritative used to define the above words. The scriptures set forth a body of laws or commandments that carry the authority of Almighty God. These rules of conduct are not matters indifferent. They are established by authority and will be enforced. Since God is supreme, the authority of His law is supreme. Therefore, the law of Scripture takes precedence over all other laws issued by any other authority. If the commandments of Scripture come into conflict with the commandments of men, the commandments of Scripture are to be obeyed. It is as the apostle Peter said: “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

As noted already, we verbally communicate with God by prayer. Consider the definition of the word prayer.

Prayer – A solemn and humble request to God, or to an object of worship; a supplication, petition, or thanksgiving, usually expressed in words.

When we pray to God we either thank Him or we supplicate Him. Now consider the definition of supplicate.

Supplicate - To beg, pray, or entreat humbly; to present a humble petition.

When we communicate with God, we are to do so as humble beggars, who are beholden to God for His favours. Since God is the source of all the good that we enjoy, we also thank Him when we pray. We do not command God’s favours; we rather humbly ask for them. But from the above definitions we see that when God communicates with us, He does so with authority, with the right to command. So in our communication with God, we do the begging and He does the commanding. We cannot maintain a true communion with God unless we respect and submit to His authority. Take the place of a humble suppliant and yield to God’s authority by submitting to His decisions and doing what He commands, and you and God will get along just fine. Psalm 119 will demonstrate this. We will consider the other five words in our next meditation, God willing.

Psalm 119: Introduction, Part 1

2010-08-17T11:24:00.003-04:00

I am setting out on what looms before me as a gargantuan task. I would like to devote these meditations to a verse by verse consideration of Psalm 119. Psalm 119 is one of my favourite things in the Bible to read and think about. It is the longest psalm in the Bible. It is generally believed that David is the author of this psalm, although his name does not appear in connection with it as it does others of the psalms. The theme of this psalm is the written revelation of God to man, which is elsewhere called the scriptures and which we call the Bible. This written revelation is called by ten different names in this psalm. It is called God’s law, His commandment(s), His word(s), His way(s), His judgment(s), His precepts, His statutes, His testimony or testimonies, His righteousness, and the truth.

I am aware that some of the members of the congregation I serve have the excellent exposition of Psalm 119 written by Charles Bridges. If you do not have this book, I heartily recommend it. While I will doubtless quote Mr. Bridges in these meditations, I do not intend to merely rehash what he has already written. These will be my insights into these marvelous verses garnished with insights of other writers in just the same way as I do in all of my preaching and writing.

Psalm 119 consists of 176 verses divided into 22 sections of eight verses each. Each of the 22 sections is marked off with one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet beginning with the first letter aleph and going through the alphabet in order thus concluding with the last letter tau. Not knowing Hebrew, I cannot personally vouch for what I am about to say, but I have read that each verse of each section begins with the Hebrew letter that marks that respective section. This would doubtless have facilitated memorization and recall of the verses by the Hebrews.

The author of this psalm records a variety of experiences, emotions, and frames of mind in which he found himself. There is something in this psalm to speak to you wherever you are in whatever condition you may be. In this psalm we find the author experiencing the full range of human emotions. He felt joy (v. 162), peace (v. 165), longing (v. 20), fear (v. 120), horror (v. 53), sorrow (v. 136), grief (v. 158), anguish (143), and aversion (v. 163). At times he felt jubilant, enriched, and comforted (vs. 14, 162, 50, 52) while at other times he felt faint and withered, and wondered when he would be comforted (vs. 81-83). His varied emotions and frames of mind mirror our own. And yet the psalmist processes all of these experiences through the word of God. It is obvious from the psalm that the author’s relationship with God was grounded in and experienced through the word of God. Our relationship with God is also experienced through the written word of God, if that relationship is as it ought to be. If you think you are maintaining a healthy fellowship with God and yet you are neglecting your Bible, you are sadly deceived.

When one considers what the word of God provides, one can understand why the psalmist would process his varied experiences and emotions through it. According to this psalm, the written word of God provides us with blessedness (v. 2), honour (v. 6), cleansing (v. 9), delight, (v. 24), counsel (v. 24), answers (v. 42), freedom (v. 45), hope (v. 49), comfort, (v. 50), quickening (v. 50), songs (v. 54), riches (72), wisdom (v. 98), sweetness (v. 103), understanding (v. 104), guidance (v. 105), heritage (v. 111), truth (v. 142), peace (v. 165), and help (v. 175). What more could we want?

With the exception of verses 1-3 and verse 115, every verse in Psalm 119 is a prayer. Here is a collection of 172 short prayers that we can adopt. The psalmist’s life was so centered in the words of God that his prayers were for the word of God that he might learn it, obey it, and be helped by it. How much richer our spiritual lives would be if we prayed as much for our relationship to the word of God as we do for other things! Writing what others have said of this psalm, Matthew Henry said: “He that shall read it consistently, it will either warm him or shame him.” Doubtless we will find that true as we consider it together.

From what we have observed thus far, it may be said that the major theme of this psalm is verbal communication with God.

Communicate – To give to another as a partaker; to give a share of; to impart, confer, transmit. spec. To impart (information, knowledge, or the like); to impart or convey the knowledge of, inform a person of, tell.

By means of prayer we communicate with God. We tell God about ourselves, our problems, our wants, and what we are doing. We share ourselves with Him, both the good and the bad. By means of the Holy Scriptures God communicates with us. He tells us about Himself, what He is like, what He does, and what He requires of us. Such communication is indispensable to healthy relationships on a human level between spouses, families, brethren, and friends. And such communication is equally indispensable to a healthy relationship with God. This Psalm will teach us how to maintain communication with God.

Writing of this Psalm Charles Spurgeon said:

“It is loaded with holy sense, and is as weighty as it is bulky. Again and again have we cried while studying it, ‘Oh, the depths!’ Yet these depths are hidden beneath an apparent simplicity, as Augustine has well and wisely said, and this makes the exposition all the more difficult. Its obscurity is hidden beneath a veil of light, and hence only those discover it who are in thorough earnest, not only to look on the word, but, like the angels, to look into it.”

As I dive into these verses I fully expect to also cry, “Oh, the depths!” And as I pore over them, I shall keep an eye out to behold the Lord Jesus Christ as He is certain to show Himself here as in all the other Scriptures. For He said:

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Next time, God willing, we shall continue to take an overview of this psalm by considering the definitions of the various words it uses for the scriptures. In the meantime, I hope this introduction will whet your appetite for a more in-depth consideration of this psalm. Do earnestly pray God’s blessing upon me as I attempt to walk you through this sacred ground. I trust through God that these meditations may prove a blessing to you.

According to Thine Anger

2010-07-10T09:34:00.002-04:00

For my daily Bible reading I have been going through the book of Ezekiel. Today as I was reading chapter 35 I was struck by the following verse:

Ezekiel 35:11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.

In this passage God is pronouncing judgment against the nation of Edom because of their hatred and mistreatment of the nation of Israel. Although Israel had sinned against God and was being judged by Him, Edom had no right to take advantage of this against Israel. Israel may have sinned, but they were still God’s people and their enemies would have done well to remember that instead of adding to Israel’s calamities. Edom was angry against Israel and envious of them. We are here told that this anger and envy proceeded out of their hatred against them. There was obviously something about Israel that made Edom feel threatened so that they were glad to have an advantage against them. Now this verse in Ezekiel is a tremendous commentary on the psychology of fallen man.

Anger and envy are the effects of hatred. Charity or love stands in sharp antithesis to hatred. We are told in 1 Corinthians 13 that “charity envieth not…is not puffed up…is not easily provoked.” When anger and envy are the controlling emotions, charity is definitely not being exercised. Rather, hatred is at work bringing forth its evil fruit of anger and envy.

Consider the definition of envy.

Envy - Malignant or hostile feeling; ill-will, malice, enmity; The feeling of mortification and ill-will occasioned by the contemplation of superior advantages possessed by another.

If you hate someone, you will feel ill-will at any advantage you perceive that person has over you, whether that advantage be strength, beauty, knowledge, wealth, position, goodness, or authority. Conversely, if you envy someone this will lead to hatred of them, which will in turn only cause more envy against them. And, of course, envy and hatred will breed anger.

Now the thing in our passage that arrested my attention is that God told Edom: “I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them.” In other words, God would deal with Edom as they dealt with Israel. Whenever you hate someone and are angry against them, ask yourself these questions: “How would I like it if God felt toward me like I am feeling toward that person?” “What if God treated me like I am treating that person?” Sound frightening? It should!

So if you are indulging anger, envy, and hatred against someone, you had better repent of these sins, fleeing to the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy and forgiveness, and seeking grace to overcome them. Whatever personal insecurities and fears you may have, they can be resolved in a submissive, obedient relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. They cannot be resolved by anger, envy, and hatred. In her book Ten Stupid Things Men Do to Mess Up Their Lives¸ Dr. Laura Schlessinger had the following interesting thing to say about anger:

“When you draw on your anger strength instead of your vulnerability strength you create your own minefield to dance through. First of all, anger isn’t really strength; its defensiveness, fear, uncertainty, immaturity, and hurt posing as something seemingly strong – and additionally, it’s only temporary. Criticism, yelling, and violence are ultimately poor, ugly, immoral, and illegal substitutes for inner strength. Vulnerability strength is the willingness to face personal shortcomings and fears (real or otherwise), and in so doing to gain the ability to get and be better.”

From a Christian perspective, we can overcome anger, envy, and hatred when we face our own personal sins and weaknesses through repentance and find forgiveness, healing, and strength in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let these verses admonish you regarding the danger of the sins of anger, envy, and hatred:

James 1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Job 5:2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.

Proverbs 14:30 A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.

1 John 2:11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

1 John 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Observe in these verses that anger, envy, and hatred are sinful, physically and psychologically destructive, spiritually blinding, and eternally damning. They are not to be trifled with. God forbid that He should deal with us according to our anger and according to our envy which we use out of our hatred against others. Repent and turn to the Lord for pardon so that it may be rather said of you:

Psalms 103:10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Without Carefulness and Without Distraction

2010-06-21T17:43:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I brought an extremely important message to our congregation about the dangers of our modern age of technological advancement. We live in an age characterized by “the information explosion.” I pointed out that we have become a nation that is addicted to noise, constant contact, and instant information. All of this tends to crowd and overcharge the mind with the result that our love for the Lord Jesus Christ weakens or waxes cold, to borrow the language of our Lord in Matthew 24:12. I taught the church yesterday that Paul prophesied in 1Timothy 3:1-7 of perilous times in the last days. The men of these times “shall be lovers of their own selves” and “lovers of pleasures more than of God.” The love of God will definitely not be the most dominant influence in men’s lives. What I find alarming is that these times when the love of God will be suppressed, information will be exploding. During these days men shall be “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” There will be so much information available to learn, and yet with such a plethora of information there will be little arrival at truth. This led me to warn the church to keep the strictest guards on all the modern gadgets and entertainments that vie for the attention of our minds so that our love for God does not become choked by “cares and riches and pleasures of this life” (Luke 8:14).

There is a very relevant passage that I did not include in yesterday’s sermon that contains the two prepositional phrases in the title of this meditation. It is 1 Corinthians 7:29-35.

1 Corinthians 7:29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;
30 And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;
31 And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.
32 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:
33 But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.
34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
35 And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.

Let’s define the two nouns that I have italicized in this passage.

Carefulness – The quality of state of being careful. Solicitude, anxiety, concern. Heedfulness, vigilance, attentiveness, exactness, caution.

Distraction – A drawing or being drawn asunder. The drawing away (of the mind or thoughts) from one point or course to another; diversion of the mind or attention.

In the context of Paul’s admonition, carefulness refers to having things to care for.

To care for – to take thought for, provide for, look after, take care of.

If one is careful or full of care, he has a lot of things to care for. Therefore, to be without carefulness is to have fewer things to care for or to look after. The fewer things one has to look after, the fewer things there are to cause distraction, fewer things that draw the mind and thoughts away from what they should be focused upon. That is why I stressed in my message the necessity for stepping back from the rush and racket of our fast-paced life and considering our ways. How many activities do we do and how many things do we possess that needlessly clutter our lives and cause distraction? And make no mistake about it! Nothing pleases our adversary the devil more than to have our minds and thoughts so drawn away to other things, that we have difficulty focusing when it comes to attending upon the Lord.

In the passage we are considering Paul lists several things such as having a spouse, weeping, rejoicing, buying, possessing, and generally using the world. All these things he listed are certainly lawful and may be used. But he warns against their being abused. When these things so occupy our minds that they come ahead of the Lord and those things which He commands of us, then we have abused them. It is a great blessing to have a spouse. “Marriage is honourable in all” (Hebrews 13:4). But when the spouse is cared for ahead of the Lord, then the spouse has become a distraction. If you have time and money for cable television, movies, computer games, sports, internet surfing, vacations, or whatever; but you set aside little or nothing to give to God, you never crack a Bible, or you scarcely pray, you are not attending upon the Lord without distraction. No relationship, no grief, no pleasure, and no possession should ever be allowed to so claim our attention, that God’s interests get shoved into the background.

We would all do well to seek out ways to simplify our lives and eliminate cares so that we may attend upon the Lord without distraction. If something you are using is claiming too much attention, then cut it back or cut it out. I know whereof I speak. God willing, I will be hosting a day of prayer in my home in two days. Today I had a chance to go and do something that I very much enjoy, and when I say “very much” I mean very much. But I feared that engaging in this fun today might take too much out of me. I believe I need to rest up and orient my thoughts toward attending upon the Lord that day without distraction. Therefore, I declined the opportunity. Although this is displeasing to the flesh, I know I have made the right decision. This is just a tiny example of the kinds of decisions we sometimes ought to make so that, as Paul says, we “may attend upon the Lord without distraction.”

If it pains you to part with things to simplify your life or to eliminate distraction, then remember something I said yesterday in my sermon: We profess to be followers of One Who never owned a home and, when He needed an ass, He borrowed one. May God bless this meditation to your soul and to His glory. Amen.

Unsolicited Advice

2010-06-14T14:43:00.002-04:00

Are you one of those people who spend advice freely even when it is not asked for? You mean well. Whenever you hear of a problem, you want to fix it. You want to help people because you care. But have you ever noticed that very often your advice is not followed? The reason for this is likely because your advice was not sought in the first place. You just gave it anyway.

Solomon, the wisest of men, teaches us that it is a wise man who will take advice.

Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

Proverbs 9:9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

But the reason a wise man will so readily receive advice is because he seeks it!

Proverbs 15:14 The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.

Proverbs 18:15 The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.

Our Lord also taught that it is the seeker that finds.

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

In fact, our Lord likened the kingdom of heaven to a man seeking goodly pearls and finding “one pearl of great price.”

Matthew 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

Here is an interesting verse in this connection:

Proverbs 20:5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.

There are people who are not free with their advice. They keep their advice deep down within them. But a man of understanding who wants to learn will find ways to draw that counsel out of them. It may take some time and probing, but he will not pass up good counsel if he thinks it is to be had. He will make an effort to draw it out. A man of understanding will leave no stone unturned in his effort to get answers.

While a wise man will seek counsel, a fool and a scorner will not only not seek advice, they will despise and reject it when it is given.

Proverbs 1:22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:…
30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

Proverbs 15:12 A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the wise.

It has been said that when there is a student, there will be a teacher. One must have a desire to learn before he will learn. A man is not as likely to follow advice that he is not looking for. I know I have spent a lot of time advising people on how to handle a problem and my advice has not been followed. But when I think back on it, when the person told me his/her problem, they did not ask for advice on how to handle it. They were just venting or complaining. They were not seeking a solution.

Now to be sure, sometimes we just want to talk about our problem. I have found that often in talking out a problem with a friend, as I bring the problem before him I am actually getting it out of me and in front of me so as to more objectively consider it. In so doing, I sometimes find the answer. That is one thing. But then there are times when we just want to complain because we want attention and sympathy or we want someone else to rescue us from something that is ours to deal with. This is not healthy. People who do this a lot should not be surprised if others avoid them. We only have so much sympathy to give to others before we become weary with the complaining. At that point we just want to tell that person something like this: “Look! This is the hand you have been dealt. Just deal with it.” And when you think about it, that isn’t bad advice. However, it is apt to be resented by a chronic complainer.

Sometimes the wisest thing to do is to step back and let the person with the problem suffer to the point where they genuinely want a solution. When they are ready for an answer, then they are more apt to seek it. And that is when your advice will do the most good.

So next time someone brings a problem to you, but does not seek advice, just listen and see if they come up with an answer. If they keep coming to you with the same set of complaints, ask the person if they are just venting or do they want a solution. That may just set them to thinking about what they are doing. When they ask for your advice, then meekly give it. If they insist on continuing to complain and you suspect that they will resent and reject any advice you attempt to give, you may just have to back off and leave them to their choice. Scripture will support such a decision.

Proverbs 9:7 He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.
8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

Proverbs 23:9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

In conclusion, a good suggestion is to be sparing and selective with your advice. If you would save yourself some time, breath, and frustration, it might be a good idea to withhold your advice until it is sought.

Having, Losing, and Regaining Pets

2010-05-24T16:22:00.003-04:00

My computer is down this week. So I am composing this meditation on the computer at my local library. Thank God for libraries!

In our previous meditations we have looked at what the Scriptures have to say about having and caring for pets. We have also considered the grief that comes with losing a beloved pet. And we have addressed the question about pets and the afterlife. Although an animal possesses consciousness, its consciousness is strictly tied to its physical being and never acts independently of it. Therefore, when the body of an animal dies, its consciousness dies with it. So animals do not continue to exist after death as humans do. An animal has a soul, but it does not have an immortal soul. Its soul perishes with its body. This being the case, are pets then something we can only enjoy in this life? Are there no pets in the next life? These questions bring us to today's meditation in which we shall deal with regaining pets.

Recall from our first meditation that before the fall there was no hostility between men and animals. It is an effect of the fall that animals have a fear and dread of man that will cause them to either run away from man or fight back.

Genesis 9:2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

Because of this fear and dread, animals need to be tamed if we are to make pets of them.

Now the Scriptures plainly teach that there will be animals in the world to come. In Hebrews 2 Paul writes of the world to come and that it will be in subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 2:5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:
8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

In this passage the apostle is quoting the eighth Psalm and clearly applying it to the Lord Jesus Christ. In the world to come, which we see not yet, all things will be put into subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is crowned with glory and honour. Now the thing that is relevant to our meditation today is that animals are included in "all things" that will be in subjection to Christ in the world to come. This can be seen by looking at Psalm 8, which Paul was quoting.

Psalm 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

In that world to come, also called a "new heavens and a new earth," there will be animals. All the animals there will be tame being in absolute subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ. No carnivores will be found among the animals. There will be no fear and dread of man, but there will be perfect harmony between all creatures. There will be beasts, but there will be no evil beasts. The following two passages speak clearly to this:

Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

Ezekiel 34:25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

Our Lord gave us a sampling of His dominion over the animals at His first coming. On one occasion He ordered the fishes of the sea to a specific place so that they could be caught by his disciples and this after the disciples had "toiled all the night" and had "taken nothing" (Luke 5:4-6). On another occasion our Lord rode a colt "whereon yet never man sat" and there is no hint that the colt resisted in any way (Luke 19:29-36).

Now think of some beloved pet you have lost. I am thinking of my daughter's little gray parakeet Sugarbaby. Who is to say that when you arrive at your long sought home on the new earth, you might not encounter an animal that will be every bit as beautiful and sweet as the one you lost but only more so? I can imagine a little gray parakeet flying up to me and lighting on my shoulder jubilating the praises of its Maker. This little bird will be everything good that our little bird was and more. I'll rub my glorified nose on his cuddly, feathery breast as I enjoy this creation of God. The joy that this little bird will bring will be perfect, better than any joy our little pet brought us here. In a curious way that I cannot fully explain, I suspect that it will seem like I have reconnected to something I loved and lost awile. And there will never be the fear of losing him. But neither will we have the emotional weaknesses that we sometimes look to companions and pets to satisfy. For we shall be emotionally whole and eternally satisfied in a secure and abiding fellowship with God. We will be able to enjoy our pets as gifts of God without making little gods of them as some might do in this fallen world. We together with all creatures will live holily, happily, harmoniously, and peacefully basking in the light of God's radiant face forever and ever and ever. I can't wait! "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

Having, Losing, and Regaining Pets, Part 2

2010-05-18T10:56:00.008-04:00

In our last meditation we considered an example given in Scripture of a man who had such regard for his little ewe lamb that he treated it like a member of the family. When a pet is like a family member, the loss of it can be a very grievous thing. When I was growing up in Florida, we had a neighbour that had a dachshund. He dearly, and I mean dearly, loved this dog. Sadly, one day it was run over by a car and killed. This neighbour grieved over the loss of that dog until the day of his death. He never really got over it.

In the past I have been asked if there is some kind of afterlife for animals. This question is understandable. When an animal becomes a pet and is regarded like a family member, one would like to think their existence goes on somewhere else rather than just terminating altogether. The reason for this is that the animal has been loved and one does not relish the thought of being forever separated from something loved so much.

We tend to attribute human characteristics to a pet. I know in our family, my wife and daughter would sometimes carry on an imagined dialogue with one pretending to speak for the pet. But the truth is, a pet is an animal, not a human being. Death does not mean to an animal what it means to us. Animals do not think and reason like human beings. They do not possess human intelligence. In fact, Scripture refers to them as "brute beasts" (2 Peter 2:12; Jude 1:10). Note the definition of brute.

Brute - Of animals: Wanting in reason or understanding; chiefly in phrases brute beasts, the brute creation,= the 'lower animals'.

You do not reason with an animal as you reason with a human being. You can train animals to do some pretty amazing things, but you do not train them by sitting them down and explaining to them what they need to do. In order to train an animal, you have to work with his physical senses by presenting rewards and punishments until the animal learns the behaviour you want. The animal learns only through his physical senses apart from any reasoning. For example, you can train a dog to come to you in response to a certain word. You make the sound and the animal responds. The animal learns to recognize the sound of the word and to respond to it. But the animal does not know the meaning of the word. He merely recognizes the sound. When a parrot talks, he is merely making learned noises. He has no understanding of the meaning of what he is saying. This is because he is a brute beast. He has no reason or understanding. And when an animal does something like a bird building a nest or a beaver building a dam, he does so instinctively, not intelligently. This is not a learned behaviour, like a human being might learn to build a house. This is rather instinctive behaviour.

When you present a stimulus to an animal such as food, or sound, or physical affection, the animal is capable of being aware of that stimulus and responding to it. Take food as an example. One day an animal might see food and want it whereas on another day he might see it and reject it. This is not something that plants do. Plants show no awareness of objects with which they come in contact. But animals and humans do show awareness of objects around them and they are capable of responding to those objects by either desiring them or not desiring them. However,there is a difference between the awareness of animals and the awareness of humans. An animal is aware of food, but he not aware of food as food. A dog does not look at a hunk of meat and think of it as meat. He does not say to himself, "Gee, I'm hungry and that hunk of beef looks great. I think I'll have some." The animal simply feels hunger, sees and smells the meat, and eats it. But he does not see himself as a feeling, seeing, smelling, eating being as you do. He does things, but he does not understand that he does them. Being a brute beast he has no such power of reason and understanding. He is not capable of self-reflection as you are. He does not look upon his own actions and judge them as you do. He simply does or does not do things based upon his physical sensations. Although he is aware of objects and can respond to them, he is not aware that he is aware. His awareness cannot turn and examine itself. Or to put it another way, an animal possesses consciousness, but not self-consciousness. From this we conclude that an animal's awareness is strictly tied to his physical being and sensation without any rational thought or self-consciousness. Therefore, when an animal dies, when his physical being ceases to be, his awareness ceases with it.

You are a human being with a rational, understanding soul that is aware of things and is aware that he is aware. Your awareness can reflect upon your physical being and pass judgment on its desires and actions. You possess self-consciousness. The fact that you can be aware of your physical being and its functions and pass judgment upon them shows that your awareness is not strictly tied to your physical being. There is something about you that can act apart from your physical being. Therefore, your awareness will continue after your body dies. But such is not the case with animals. An animal's awareness dies with his body. And this is precisely what the Scriptures teach:

Ecclesiastes 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

When a man and a beast die, the bodies of both go back to the dust. But when a man dies, his spirit goes to God whereas the spirit of the beast goes down to the earth like his body.

Now I realize that what I am saying is probably little comfort to someone who has just lost a beloved pet. But keep in mind that an animal has no self-consciousness. He does not reflect upon himself. Therefore, when a animal is dying, he does not know he is dying. He is just dying. It is as natural for him to die as it is to breathe and eat. To be sure, he will fight to live. But he does this merely by instinct. It is not like he understands what death is and is, therefore, trying to avoid it. So death does not have the meaning to an animal that it has to you.

I realize that I have waxed somewhat philosophical today, but I trust this will make sense to you and give you a better understanding of the difference between animals and human beings. But you will notice that there is one part of this meditation that remains to be considered and that is the part about regaining pets. God willing, we shall consider that next time.

Having, Losing, and Regaining Pets, Part 1

2010-05-11T16:21:00.002-04:00

This will be a most unusual meditation for me. I broach a subject that I do not recall ever dealing with extensively. My thoughts on this have been stirred because two souls under my pastoral care recently lost a beloved pet. One lost a dog had from childhood and another lost a cat. Both of these people were very grieved over their loss. This set me to thinking about what the Scriptures have to say about animals, particularly about animals that people make pets of. I think that at some point in my ministry I should speak to this subject, especially since the Bible has some things to say about it.

I will say at the outset that I am not a great animal lover. Growing up we did have some pets, but I do not recall ever grieving that much when we lost them. I had a parakeet - a budgie if you are Canadian - that lived about eight years. I got him for a birthday present when I was ten years old. He was a sweet little bird. I named him Pretty Boy. I regret that in later years I was not as attentive to him as I should have been. I just got busy with other things. Currently, my wife and I have no pets and we intend to keep it that way. My two oldest daughters had no great interest in pets and that was fine with us. However, my third daughter loves animals and wanted pets. But we only allowed birds, no cats or dogs! My daughter had one pet, a gray parakeet that I developed a fondness for. He was a birthday present to her. I recall going to the pet store with her to purchase a bird. This little bird was in a large cage with other parakeets. While we were looking over the selection, our little bird attached himself to the side of the cage and let me stroke his breast. When I pointed this out to my daughter, she fell for him and he became a new member of our household. His name was Sugarbaby. He loved me. When we let him out of the cage to fly about the house, he would fly to me when I walked through the room. He learned to say some things. Joan Evennou kept him for us one time and said that he laughed like me. Poor creature! Then one day he got out of the house and flew away. This happened while my daughter was at school. One of the most painful things I ever had to do was to tell my daughter that her little bird was gone. She was devastated. I can still see my baby girl wandering about the yard crying and calling out for her little bird that never came back. I remember seeing her that evening on her knees sobbing her heart out to God and remembering how happy her little bird had been. The memory of this pains me to this day. I hope I have not wearied you with this sojourn down memory lane. I just want you to know that I know something of the sorrow of losing beloved pets.

Let’s begin by defining the word pet.

Any animal that is domesticated or tamed and kept as a favourite, or treated with indulgence and fondness.

Although the word pet is not found in the Bible, pets are found, as we shall see.

Now the word animal does not occur in the A.V. 1611. In the Bible animals are called beasts, fowl, or creeping things. The general word covering all animals would be beast.

In the beginning of creation, before man’s fall into sin, none of the animals were hostile. There was no death and destruction such as came after sin entered into the world. Before the fall, no beast posed a threat to man. But with the fall man’s environment, the beasts included, became hostile.

In the beginning, all the beasts were vegetarian.

Genesis 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

But with the fall some of the beasts became carnivores and would even kill men. Hence these words to Noah after the flood:

Genesis 9:5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.

Now a man must tame a beast if he would make a pet of him. Consider the definition of tame and a Bible verse that uses the word when speaking of beasts.

Tame – To bring (a wild animal) under the control or into the service of man; to reclaim from the wild state, to domesticate.

James 3:7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

Scripture teaches the owner of an animal to have regard for it and its needs.

Proverbs 12:10 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Deuteronomy 25:4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.

So if you are going to own an animal, you should take care of it. While God allows us to kill beasts for food, God does not want us to be cruel to them.

When someone owns an animal and cares for it, he often develops affection for the animal and the animal for him. Thus the animal becomes a pet. Pets have a way of becoming part of the family. There is a tender story about this in the Bible.

2 Samuel 12:1 And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

I am sure some of you that own or have owned pets can relate to this story. This little lamb was “unto him as a daughter.” She became part of the family. She was a pet by definition. A pet like this little ewe lamb is something to bestow affection upon and to return affection. It has been observed that owning a pet can be therapeutic for elderly people suffering from loneliness. It gives them something to love and care for. It is a living being that can respond to the attention of its owner. A pet can be something to play with, something that brings joy. The book of Job mentions playing with a bird (Job 41:5). I know something about that. Indeed, pets can be a blessing of God. But when a pet is loved and cared for in the manner I am describing, the loss of it can be very grievous. But I will address that in another meditation, God willing.

Whatsoever Ye Do, Part 3

2010-04-28T11:39:00.003-04:00

Today we conclude our meditation on these words of our beloved apostle Paul:

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

We have observed how comprehensive this commandment is, extending to such ordinary things as eating and drinking. Anything we do is to be done to the glory of God, even things we do for our own maintenance and enjoyment.

Take as another example your job. The following passage makes expressly clear that the service you render to your employer should have as it ultimate aim the glory of God.

Ephesians 6:5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.

It is clear from this passage that you should perform your job with the aim of pleasing the Lord Jesus Christ rather than just pleasing your earthly boss. You are ultimately working for Christ and should do your job as unto Him. You ought to perform your job faithfully whether or not your earthly boss is watching you. If your best performance is only when the boss is looking, then you are doing your job with “eyeservice, as menpleasers.” Always bear in mind that the Lord is taking note of what you do, good or bad, whether or not your boss notices. When you do your job heartily as to the Lord, you are doing it to the glory of God.

But what about our pleasures, things we do for our own amusement? Can we engage in these to the glory of God? Take the pleasure of making love to one’s spouse as an example. Satisfying the sexual needs of one’s spouse is a duty of marriage laid down by God Himself.

1 Corinthians 7:3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

When you are fulfilling a duty given you by God, you can most certainly do it to the glory of God, even though it is bringing you exquisite pleasure.

But what about things like playing cards, fishing, hiking, swimming, taking vacations, watching movies, attending concerts, golfing, bowling, etc.? May these be done to the glory of God? Absolutely, they may! 1 Timothy 6:17 clearly states that it is God “who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” So long as our pleasures do not overstep any commandment of God, then they may and ought to be received as gifts from God and enjoyed with thanksgiving. But as is the case with eating and drinking, when our pleasures become an end in themselves and we serve them instead of God, then they become a snare. Serving various pleasures was a characteristic of our past before God saved us by His grace.

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

We must avoid becoming like men in the last days of whom it is written that they shall be “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:4). Pleasure it like eating and drinking in that it must be engaged in with moderation and temperance. If pleasure is carried to excess, then it will choke the word of God. The same also applies to other pursuits in life.

Luke 8:14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

Anything we do that hinders the effect of God’s word in our lives cannot be done to the glory of God.

I trust this gives you a fair idea of how it is that “whatsoever ye do” may be done to the glory of God. I realize that much of what I have covered in this blog is matter that you have heard and read me expound on numerous occasions. But given the way in which we are bombarded in our modern world by cares and pleasures, it never hurts to be reminded that “whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

Whatsoever Ye Do, Part 2

2010-04-20T14:32:00.003-04:00

In our last meditation we were considering these words of Paul:

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

We observed the all-inclusiveness of this commandment. Anything we do, even those things as routine as eating or drinking, is to be done to the glory of God. Everything we do arises from our choices. We choose and, therefore, act. This verse of Scripture provides us with a grid for processing our choices and thus our actions. Ask yourself regarding any activity you are doing or considering doing: “What is my goal in what I am doing or planning to do? Whose glory and honour am I really seeking? Is this thing I am doing all about me or is it about my Lord?” In asking yourself these questions you may discover sin at work in the seemingly most harmless activities or even in religious duties.

This was the sin of the scribes and Pharisees. Their religious works were done to gain the admiration of men rather than done to the glory of God. Speaking of the scribes and Pharisees, our Lord said:

Matthew 23:5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

Matthew 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

In any service you perform in the cause of God, do you have hurt feelings because people are not recognizing what you do and praising you for it? If this is the case, then why are you doing it in the first place? Are you doing it to achieve recognition of men or to glorify God? The above passage assures us that if we do our religious duties to the glory of God, God will reward them whether men acknowledge them or not.

But then what about ordinary things that we do for ourselves like eating, drinking, watching a movie, going swimming, making love to our spouse, or taking a hike with a friend? How can we do these things to the glory of God? Let’s take eating and drinking as an example, since that is the example specifically mentioned in our passage.

There can be no doubt that eating and drinking is something we do for ourselves. They are necessary for our survival and they are two of the greatest pleasures we enjoy on this earth. In fact, we spend most of our waking hours during the week working so that we may eat.

Proverbs 16:26 He that laboureth laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him.

We eat food so that our body may have strength to function.

1 Samuel 28:22 Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way.

And generally people enjoy eating. In fact, God gives us fruitful seasons for the purpose of “filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17). Since, then, we eat and drink for ourselves, for our strength and enjoyment, how do we eat and drink to the glory of God?

First of all, we eat and drink to the glory of God when we receive our food and drink as gifts from God and give Him thanks for it.

1 Timothy 4:3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

Secondly, we receive our nourishment so that we may be strengthened thereby to serve and glorify God. This is using our food and drink to the glory of God.

The problem arises when eating and drinking becomes an end in itself. For example, there are those who will compromise truth and disobey God just to secure a means of feeding themselves. Paul speaks of such in these passages:

Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Philippians 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

People who make a god out of their belly and so order their lives to fill their belly are certainly not eating and drinking to the glory of God.

If more people were eating and drinking to the glory of God, I suspect we would see far less obesity than we see today. People who eat to the point of gluttony and drink to the point of drunkenness are not eating and drinking to the glory of God. An uncontrolled lust for food and drink has taken them over and satisfying that lust has become the end of their eating and drinking. This brings to mind the words of wise man Solomon:

Proverbs 23:20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

Ecclesiastes 10:17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

One cannot violate these principles of wisdom to the glory of God. It is one thing to eat and drink for strength. It is another thing entirely to eat and drink to excess, to the point of its becoming damaging to one’s health and welfare. Remember, your body is not your own to do with as you please. Your body belongs to God to glorify Him with it. Therefore, “whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

I have more I wish to write about this, but I shall let this suffice for today.

Whatsoever Ye Do, Part 1

2010-04-13T15:44:00.002-04:00

This morning I listened to part of a sermon delivered by a missionary to Quebec. The missionary was attempting to give his listeners an understanding of what sin is. He cited several passages from Scripture among which was the following:

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

The missionary was pointing out that anything we do that is not done to the glory of God is sin. I have referenced this verse on many occasions in my own preaching. But as the missionary was dealing with it, the all-inclusiveness of the verse struck me: “whatsoever ye do, do all.” First of all, let’s define the word whatsoever. The Oxford English Dictionary equates this word with the word whatever. They mean the same thing.

Whatever- Anything at all which, anything that.

Think of anything at all which you might do, and I mean anything, then plug it into this verse realizing that you are being told to do it to the glory of God.

Now the next thing to be determined is the meaning of doing something “to the glory of God.” We refer again to the dictionary.

The Glory of God: the honour of God, considered as the final cause of creation, and as the highest moral aim of intelligent creatures.

Our verse is teaching us that anything and everything we do, is to be done to bring honour to God. Everything we do should exalt and praise God. It should promote God and His interests and not merely those of our own. And this extends right down to “whether we eat or drink.” Everything we eat or drink should be eaten or drunk to the glory of God. The glory of God should be our aim in everything we do, in the whole of our lives.

This verse was written by Paul to the church at Corinth. It sums up what the Christian life is all about. The practice of the Christian religion is not confined to those activities performed in the assemblies of the church, activities such as prayer, singing hymns, preaching and hearing sermons, giving, observing the Lord’s Supper, and washing the saints’ feet. The practice of the Christian religion extends to every area of life right down to when and what we eat or drink. Everything a Christian does should have as its aim, its goal, its end, the glory of God. As the dictionary so well states it, this is “the highest moral aim of intelligent creatures.” To do anything short of this goal is to disobey this commandment and thus to sin. Although the activity may be ever so harmless considered in itself, it is sinful to do it without regard to the glory of God. Aiming at the glory of God should determine all that we do and all that we plan to do.

All things, man included, were created for God.

Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Since we were created for God, it stands to reason that everything we do should be subservient to His purpose for us and thus to His honour. After all, without God we would not exist in the first place. God is the source and end of our being. Since we exist for Him, we should live for Him. This applies to every human being. But, alas, rather than doing all to the glory of God, man has sinned and turned to his own way, to live for himself rather than for his Maker. Our father Adam plunged himself and his posterity into ruin when he acted in his own interest rather than to the glory of God. Man has not aimed at the glory of God. Thus it is written:

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.

But this commandment to do all to the glory of God especially applies to God’s people, whom He has chosen and redeemed for Himself. The following passages clearly show that God has done His special work of grace in our lives so that we may live for Him.

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

2 Corinthians 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Living unto himself to advance his own interests, man has sinned and continues to sin. At the root of every sin is self-interest, the aim to advance one’s own interest rather than the glory of God. On the other hand, at the root of righteousness is the aim to do all to the glory of God. Our Lord made this very powerful and searching statement:

John 7:18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

There is no unrighteousness in the man that is doing all to the glory of God. Such a man is a true believer, a true Christian.

I have more things to write about this. In future meditations, God willing, I shall elaborate more on how it is that we can do all things to the glory of God, even those things that we must do for ourselves like eating and drinking. But this should be sufficient to set you to thinking and paying attention to why you do the things you do.

Away, Apart, Alone

2010-03-30T14:33:00.003-04:00

One of the most valued books in my library is entitled Searchlights from the Word, by G. Campbell Morgan. In this book Mr. Morgan makes comments on a verse taken from each chapter of the Bible. I have made a list of passages upon which Mr. Morgan has commented where I was especially impressed by the comment. In looking for something for today’s meditation, I looked over this list and reviewed Mr. Morgan’s comments on Leviticus 9:23. Once again, I was struck by his profound insights. First, let’s read the passage.

Leviticus 9:23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people.

Mr. Morgan commented on the fact that Moses and Aaron “went into the tabernacle,” the dwelling place of God, before they “came out, and blessed the people.” Here are his comments:

“The principle is abiding. The servants of God, whether prophets or priests, have no power to bless men save as they receive it in direct communion with God. Before we can go out and bless the people, we must go into the Place of Meeting with God. This is so self-evident that it seems hardly necessary to state it. Yet we are perpetually in danger of allowing our very eagerness to serve men, to interfere with our communion with God. To do so, is to fail disastrously. It is only as we serve in the Holy Place, in worship, in silence, in reception from God, that we are able to serve in the camp in work, in speech, in giving to men. Forgetfulness of this is the secret of much futility in Christian work, of much fussiness, of much feverishness. It is the souls who are strengthened, enlightened, quieted in the Tent of Meeting, that pass out to the places and ways of men, carrying blessings with them.”

To this I can but add a hearty “Amen.” We so very much need that quiet time with God apart from the hustle and bustle without if we are to be truly fitted to bless others. As we say in our modern slang, we need to “recharge our batteries.” And our batteries are recharged in communion with God. We experience this communion with God by means of prayer, worship, and reading and studying the Scriptures. In prayer we speak to God. We bring before Him our challenges and problems, and request solutions and help in dealing with them. In worship we praise God for Who He is and the good things that He has done. This puts our problems into perspective and reminds us that we deal with One so much greater than our problems. The reading and studying of the Scriptures are so vital to communion with God because it is through the Scriptures that God speaks to us and reveals Himself to us. Here is where we find the direction we need for meeting our challenges and dealing with our problems. Being thus fortified through communion with God we can go out and be a blessing to others by way of serving, helping, instructing, and being an example.

The importance of this is underscored by the fact that the one perfect man, the Man Christ Jesus, also found it necessary to come apart from the multitudes and His many duties to spend time in communion with God. This point emerges from the following passage:

Matthew 14:22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

There are three words in the passage that describe what our Lord was doing. They are the three words that make up the title of this meditation: away, apart, alone. These three words express what we need to fit us for service to others. We need time away from the multitude. We need to come to a place apart to pray. And we need to be alone. It is in being alone with God, away from the crowd, and apart from everything else that we can experience the undistracted communion with God that fortifies and prepares us to go out and bless others. Without this communion, away, apart, and alone, we will wither, our service will lose its vigour and sweetness, and we will not be the blessing we could otherwise be. We may still be quite busy serving, but something vital will be missing.

As one called to minister to others, I know how important this being away, apart, and alone is. I would grow stagnant and ineffective without it. If the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect Man and Servant, needed to be away, apart, and alone, then how much more does a poor sinner such as I need it. So if you would bless others by your service, then let me encourage you to block out some time and space to get away to be apart and alone with God. Spend sometime in the tent of meeting with God before you go out to bless others. Might it be said of us as it was said of Peter and John of old:

Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

Sickness for the Glory of God

2010-03-16T19:23:00.004-04:00

This morning I was doing part of my daily Bible reading while sitting on “the porcelain chair.” I heard Greg Ohly call it by that name years ago while making a presentation for Longaberger baskets at John and Kathleen Yarsinsky’s. Somehow that has stayed with me over the years. Now I know some of my readers could do without such details. However, I do have a serious point to make with it and that is, that if you are busy and you really want to do your daily Bible reading, there are times and places to do it. You just have to be creative. Most of us have seen pictures of The Thinker, the famous French sculpture by Auguste Rodin. The Thinker is positioned just like someone sitting on “the porcelain chair.” I wonder if Monsieur Rodin had that in mind. You see, it is a great place to meditate. And a great place to do your daily Bible reading.

Now this is not a blog about maximizing time spent on “the porcelain chair.” It is about what I saw today, while doing my Bible reading there. I was reading John 11 and I was profoundly struck by something in verse 4. Let’s begin by reading the first four verses of John 11 leading up to our verse.

John 11:1 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

Lazarus was extremely sick. He was so sick that his sisters sent for the Lord Jesus in hopes that He would come and heal him. In fact, he was so sick that he died from it as the account goes on to relate. And yet, in the face of this great extremity of human tragedy, our Lord had this to say about Lazarus’ sickness: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.”

How could our Lord make such a statement in the face of the fact that Lazarus died? Well, as the narrative continues we learn that our Lord used this as an occasion to show Himself as “the resurrection, and the life.” Our Lord knew in advance what He would do. He was in perfect control of the situation. In fact, when Lararus’ sisters sent for Him, Jesus did not rush to the scene but “abode two days still in the same place where he was” (John 11:6). Does it ever seem to you that the Lord is taking His sweet time when you call for His help in an emergency? Well, He is and He has good reason for doing so. Our Lord Jesus was so in control of this situation, He could even say this when He knew Lazarus had died:

John 11:14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.

Just look at the juxtaposition of those two statements: “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad.” GLAD??? Glad when Lazarus’ family and friends are in such grief? No, He was not glad that they were sad. He was rather glad for the opportunity that this tragedy provided for the display of His saving power and for the strengthening of the faith of His disciples.

As the narrative goes on to relate, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead by His life-giving voice and gained such renown for Himself, that the chief priests and Pharisees gathered a council and decided to have Him put to death. It was the decision of this council that led to the death of Christ on the cross of Calvary for the redemption of His people. Indeed, Lazarus' sickness was “for the glory of God” in the most far-reaching sense of the word. God’s children will be with Him in glory because Jesus died on the cross because the Pharisees consulted to have Him put to death because He raised Lazarus from the dead because Lazarus had died because he had been sick! Of course, behind all of this was “the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23), without which Jesus Christ would not have been delivered up to die for the salvation of God’s elect.

Now the point that I want to stress to my readers is that sometimes we are faced with experiences of extreme tragedy, things that are beyond our ability to fix. We tend to see these things like a “sickness unto death.” But the Lord sees it quite differently. He sees that this is not “a sickness unto death,” but, rather, it is a sickness “for the glory of God.” How many times God has glorified Himself in bringing about deliverance when our resources have been completely exhausted and we have despaired of ever seeing a way out? Whenever such deliverance occurs, we stand on the other side of it in awe and praise God realizing that it was He that saved us and not we ourselves. Well, you see, that was the reason God brought us that that extremity in the first place. It was for His glory. He wants us to know His power and to trust Him wholly. Our extremities of weakness and want are God’s opportunities to display His power. We have a limit. He has no limit.

Jeremiah 32:17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

So whatever extremity of tragedy you may find yourself in today, know that you are never beyond the power of God to save.

Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we bear the hope that not even the extremity of death is the end for us as our Lord put it so well:

John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

On Knowing the Author

2010-03-09T12:03:00.003-05:00

As I have mentioned before, I receive a daily meditation from a pastor friend of mine named Larry Lilly. Pastor Lilly recently wrote an article entitled “Catcher in the Rye and Speaking with THE Author.” In the article he cited the following words of Holden Caulfield, one of the characters in J.D. Salinger’s book, Catcher in the Rye:

"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it."

Pastor Lilly then went on to write: “It is not unusual for avid readers to have a desire to speak with authors whose work they have read.” I can certainly attest to that. I enjoy reading novels in German. My favourite German author is Heinz Konsalik. I freely admit that more than once I have dreamed of meeting Mr. Konsalik, engaging him in conversation, and even becoming his friend. Mr. Konsalik is deceased now. So I have missed that opportunity, not that is was ever very likely.

Thinking of this I was reminded of something a lady said that used to attend a church, where my mother was a member. This lady was reading her Bible in a waiting room. Seeing this, someone made a comment to her to the effect that the Bible was difficult to understand. Here was the lady’s response to that comment: “It helps to know the Author.” What a profound statement!

As Bible readers and believers, we have the privilege of knowing the Author as a personal Friend and talking to Him on a regular basis in prayer. When we read the Bible, we should read it as being in the personal presence of the Author and we should receive its teaching as being for us.

Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

In the Bible, God is teaching us. If there is something in the Scriptures that we don’t understand, we have but to ask Him or “call him up,” as Holden Caulfield put it. God is one Friend we have that really knows how to listen. If we ask and wait expecting the answer, He will give us the understanding we need in due time as the following passages lead us to expect.

Psalms 119:73 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.

Psalms 119:125 I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.

Psalms 119:169 Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy word.

Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

One of the most exciting things I experience in my life as a Christian is reading a passage I have read many times and seeing something I have never seen before. It is then that God is giving me the understanding that I seek. At such a time I am personally interfacing with the Author, Who just happens to be my very best Friend. Oh, the blessing of knowing the Author!

Consolation, Part 4

2010-02-09T14:02:00.002-05:00

This meditation will mark the conclusion of this series on the consolation that is in Christ. We begin today’s meditation with this informative commentary of the Scripture on our subject:

2 Corinthians 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

The effect of this passage turns on the words “as…so.” When these two words are used together in a sentence, as they are in this passage, they denote a more or less exact correspondence, similarity, or proportion between two things. In this case the two things are the sufferings and the consolation that we experience. The consolation by Christ that we receive corresponds to the sufferings of Christ that we experience. Everything you suffer as a Christian carries with it a proportionate amount of relief from the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though the burden may be more than you can handle alone, with His consolation you can bear it. Remember, it is “God, that comforteth those that are cast down” (2 Corinthians 7:6).

Now bear in mind that there is consolation in Christ equal to the sufferings “of Christ” that we experience. There no such consolation provided for sufferings that stem from our own misconduct.

1 Peter 4:15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.
16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

We can never rightfully expect to be consoled in sin. We can rather expect to be heavily burdened when we have sin in our life that we are not dealing with. However, we can expect relief from the burden of guilt when we confess and forsake our sin.

Psalms 32:3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

Referring back to the passage cited above from 2 Corinthians, we note that it also teaches us that the sufferings and comfort that Paul and Timothy experienced, are for our “consolation and salvation” when we endure the same sufferings. Whenever you experience a problem in your Christian walk and you find that the people in the Bible experienced the same thing, it brings relief. You don’t feel so alone in what you are going through. That in itself alleviates the sorrow. And when you see how God comforted them and brought them through it, it encourages you to expect God to do the same for you. As the passage teaches, God comforted them “for your consolation.” God’s dealing with them sets the precedent for all believers that come afterward. This is why you should continually read your Bible. As you read about the lives of the godly men of the Bible, you will be able to trace your own experience. And there you will dip into the consolation that is provided for you in Christ.

As we have seen in the foregoing meditations, there is indeed consolation in Christ. It is a strong consolation. It is everlasting in duration. And it is equal to anything we suffer as a Christian. When we turn to Christ in our troubles and focus on Him, it puts our present burdens into perspective and gives us relief. It is as the song says:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

As I write of the consolation that is in Christ, do you value that consolation? Do you consider it real? Have you experienced it? Have these meditations brought you any consolation? I would appreciate knowing they have. I close with the following searching question:

Job 15:11 Are the consolations of God small with thee?

Consolation, Part 3

2010-02-03T14:54:00.002-05:00

We now come to step three that our Lord gave us to experience the consolation that is in Him: Learning of Him. Many of our distresses and sorrows are lightened as we learn of the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you ever felt drained only to be revived when you heard a good gospel sermon and learned something about your Lord? If so, then you have received of the consolation that is in Christ. As we learn of Christ, we learn of One Who is meek and lowly in heart. Many of our heavy burdens arise from our own pride and rebellion, which are the opposite of meekness and lowliness. If we would learn of Christ to humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand and submit to His will, we would see many unnecessary burdens fall away. I know that some of my heaviest burdens arise from the fact that I am not accepting something God is permitting in my life, something I cannot change or control. But when I humble myself and accept what God has allowed, I discover a sense of relief as well as a supply of grace to bear it.

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.

There is so much consolation to be found in learning of Christ as He is revealed in the Holy Scriptures. The following passage speaks to our point:

Psalms 119:49 Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.

The word of God comforts us in our affliction because it quickens us, that is, it revives and restores vigour to us. When we are invigourated, the affliction we bear is lightened because we have more energy with which to bear it.

Observe how this passage links the comfort of the word of God with the hope it proclaims. When, in the troubles of life, you flee for refuge to lay hold upon the hope that God’s word sets before you, then you find a “strong consolation.” This hope offers a strong consolation because it rests upon the promise of God backed up by His oath, and it is impossible for God to lie when He makes a promise and when He swears to it.

Hebrews 6:17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus….

We believers draw strength from knowing that something far better is waiting for us beyond this world of sorrows. Knowing we have a sure hope set before us in heaven alleviates the sorrows we bear down here. In fact, this greatly lightens our load because it is a “strong" consolation. Observe how it works in the following passage:

2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

As we focus on the hope that is set before us in glory, our present afflictions seem light and momentary in comparison. You see, this hope provides us with a strong consolation which lightens the load of the present affliction. Remember, to console is to alleviate the sorrow, to lighten the load. The stronger the consolation is, the greater is the relief it brings.

How sad it is to see multitudes set all their hopes in this fleeting world. They rely on the things that they can accumulate and experience down here to alleviate their sorrows. Speaking of them our Lord said:

Luke 6:24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

There can be no doubt that riches can lighten a lot of loads that we bear. They can get bill-collectors off our back. They can buy us vacations to relaxing resorts. They can purchase narcotics and sedatives that give us some ease. But when all the relief one has is the relief that money can buy, that is a pitiful situation indeed! The relief the wicked rich receive in this world is all the relief they will ever have.

But for those who flee for refuge to the hope that is in Christ, they find in this life a strong consolation that is not confined to this world. Mark these wonderful words:

2 Thessalonians 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

The Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father not only give us strong consolation now to alleviate our sorrows, but they give us “everlasting” consolation. This consolation reaches beyond this world to the next. I like to think of heaven as a place where I will experience unmingled, never-ending relief. The burdens of the present world will be forever removed. Next time you feel your load lighten when you come to Jesus, just imagine that feeling being enlarged to fill eternity. Imagine feeling forever light, energetic, and free! No more will we feel heavy, weighed down, oppressed, and sorrowful. Of course, we cannot fully imagine it. But it sure is consoling to think about and being consoled by that thought makes our present burdens lighter.

Consolation, Part 2

2010-01-27T17:43:00.002-05:00

In our last meditation we began considering the steps recommended by our Lord to experience the consolation that is in Him. These steps are found in Matthew 11:28-30. The first step is simply to come to Him. We need to bring to Him whatever weights us down and drains our energy. That old song we love says it so well:

O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!

Secondly, we experience consolation by taking Christ’s yoke upon us. This involves submitting to His will and control. When you yoke a horse or an ox, it is for the purpose of steering the beast where you want him to go to do what you want. Yoking is not about doing the will of the beast. It is about doing your will. Now apply this to the Lord Jesus Christ and His yoke for us. Wearing His yoke is about His will, now ours. Anxiety makes any affliction much more difficult to bear and a great deal of our anxiety arises from our will. We want the Lord to do what we want when we want. We want Him to wear our yoke so we can direct Him where we want Him to go. Well, I have news for you. Nobody but nobody steers Almighty God. You might as well get that settled right now.

Isaiah 40:13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?

Our attempt to drive God only creates frustration and an unbearable burden. When we take His yoke upon us, submitting to Him and His way, even though we can’t understand it, we get relief. As He said, “ye shall find rest unto your souls.” We can rest in the assurance that nothing can separate us from His love and that, therefore, He has our best interests at heart and will do right by us in life and in death. Ceding the control of our lives to Christ we then draw on the consolation in Him.

Judy Masching, a member of our congregation, sent this quote that fits nicely with what I am saying: "When we reduce (adjust) our expectations, we will also reduce (adjust) our frustrations." Adjusting our expectations to what God has promised rather than to the fulfillment of our wills, reduces much of our frustration, which in turn conserves our energy.

Furthermore, relief comes in bearing His yoke. We need to exchange the requirements that we and others place upon us for the requirements that He places upon us. The early churches were plagued with the error of the Pharisees, who had believed, but who taught the Gentiles that they had to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses in order to be saved. There was a council of the apostles and elders held at Jerusalem to consider this issue and it was decided that no such burden should be placed upon the Gentiles. Observe how Peter described this burden that the Pharisees were placing upon the Gentile converts:

Acts 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

This was a yoke that the Pharisees, not Jesus, were placing upon these disciples. Read the conclusion of the council in this passage:

Acts 15:24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
26 Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
30 So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle:
31 Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.

Observe that when this unnecessary burden that the Pharisees had placed on the Gentiles was lifted, “they rejoiced for the consolation.” You see, they exchanged the heavy yoke that men had placed upon them, for the easy and light yoke of Jesus. Hence, their load was lightened, that is, they were consoled. This is the consolation in Christ.

We load so much on ourselves and we let others load so much on us that our Lord never required. Step back from your burden and ask yourself this question:

Deuteronomy 10:12 …what doth the LORD thy God require of thee?

Let the Scriptures of truth answer that question. Do what the Lord requires of you and you will do well. It does not matter what others think of you so long as He approves of you. And the burdens the Lord places upon us are easy and light. They don’t drain us like the burdens of men. It is amazing how much time and energy we spend trying to secure and maintain the good opinion of others. We become like Martha, “careful and troubled about many things.” We neglect that “one thing needful,” which is to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn of Him (Luke 10:38-42). And technology does not make this any easier. Today we can contact more people, more quickly and easily than ever, which in turn causes us to feel responsible to contact more people about more things and it also causes more people to expect us to contact them and respond to them. On and on the burdens multiply. But what does the Lord require? That is the all-important concern. Learning and applying the answer to that question will remove a lot of burdens from you. And this brings us to step three: Learning of Him. God willing, we will deal with that next time.

Consolation, Part 1

2010-01-19T16:40:00.003-05:00

Today I was writing a report to our congregation regarding a couple of our members who are ill. As I did so, my thoughts were stirred regarding the subject of consolation. Let’s begin with noting the words of our beloved apostle Paul.

Philippians 2:1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ….

Of course, there is no doubt that there is consolation in Christ. But the sad thing is that we are not always drawing on it. Therefore, Paul introduced his sentence with the hypothetical word if.

True to form, let’s define some terms. Consolation is the act of consoling. This definition requires that we define console.

Console - To comfort in mental distress or depression; to alleviate the sorrow of (any one); to free from the sense of misery.

To console is to comfort, to alleviate.

Comfort – To strengthen (morally or spiritually); to encourage, hearten, inspirit, incite. To lend support or countenance to; to support, assist, aid.

Alleviate – To make lighter, diminish the weight of. To lighten, or render more tolerable, or endurable; to relieve, mitigate.

By definition, it is the function of consolation to comfort, to impart strength. Consolation comforts by alleviating sorrow. It does not make the sorrow go away, but it lightens the sorrow and makes it more bearable. It provides relief. When sorrow is lightened, it reduces the drain on our energy and thus conserves our strength. One has more strength when less strength is being demanded.

We can see consolation at work in the following passage.

2 Corinthians 7:5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.
6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.

Observe that Titus was comforted by consolation and that Paul was also “comforted by the consolation wherewith” Titus was comforted. Paul was troubled on every side. There were fightings without and fears within. His conflicts were to the point that his “flesh had no rest.” There was no letup. The pressure was constant. And then came Titus with good news about the Corinthians. In his first epistle to the Corinthians Paul had issued some stern rebukes to them. Paul was very concerned about how they had received his epistle. Now Titus came with the news that the Corinthians had received Paul’s rebuke very well. What a relief! This was one worry that was lifted off of Paul. This in turn made his remaining conflicts more bearable. You see, his sorrow was alleviated. He was strengthened by the lightening of the load. He had experienced consolation. Surely you have experienced the consolation that comes when you get a piece of good news amidst all the bad.

Now there is consolation in Christ to relieve us when we struggle beneath heavy burdens that drain our strength. This is evident in these familiar words of our Lord:

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Observe the contrast between being “heavy laden” and having a burden that “is light.” It requires a lot less energy to bear a light burden than a heavy one. To have our burden lightened is to experience consolation by definition. This is the consolation that is in Christ! In this passage our Lord teaches us how we can draw on this consolation. It is by coming to him, taking His yoke upon us, and learning of Him. Now let’s examine each of these steps toward experiencing consolation.

First, we experience consolation by coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you find your burdens are becoming harder and harder to bear, just bring them to Jesus. As the old spiritual puts it: “Tell Him all about your troubles.” You will tap into God’s strength just by casting your burden upon Him

Psalms 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee.

In case you don’t know this, sustain means to support. It really does help to pray. I can’t tell you the times that “a little talk with Jesus” has helped to put my troubles into perspective and to make them easier to bear. Our problem is that we try to sort it all out and solve it on our own without Him.

This is growing so I will stop here for today and continue this later, God willing. It is my sincere desire that you will find some consolation in reading this.

The Main Thing

2010-01-04T19:27:00.002-05:00

As I have noted before, I receive a daily devotional from a pastor friend of mine, Larry Lilly. As I read today’s letter, I was struck by this quotation: “Keeping the main thing, the main thing, is the main thing.” In support of this thought, Pastor Lilly cited the words of our Lord to Joseph and Mary, when He was but a lad of twelve years old.

Luke 2:49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

Joseph and Mary together with the child Jesus had gone up to Jerusalem to keep the annual Passover. When Joseph and Mary returned home, Jesus stayed behind. Joseph and Mary assumed Jesus was among the kinsfolk and acquaintance. Being about a day into the return trip, Joseph and Mary sought Jesus and could not find Him. They then went back to Jerusalem and after three days found Him in the temple engaged in questions and answers with the doctors of the law, who were astonished at our young Lord’s understanding and answers. The above passage is our Lord’s response to His mother’s inquiry when she found Him.

Luke 2:48 And when they (Joseph and Mary) saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

When Joseph and Mary found Jesus, He was in the temple dealing with the matters of the law, which would have been the topic of discussion in the temple. He was busying Himself in matters of doctrine. This He called “my Father’s business.” It is obvious that He attached a greater priority to this than to the sorrow of Joseph and Mary. They should have understood that He had to be about His Father’s business. Jesus was not lost. He was right where He belonged.

Now the thing that leaps out at me in this passage is that our Lord attached more importance to His Father’s business than to the concern and feelings of Joseph and Mary for Him. For Him, the Father’s business was the main thing. He would not allow the concerns and emotions of His earthly family to get in the way of that main thing. Couple this together with the fact that His Father’s business was dealing with the law of God in the house of God. Our Lord put the doctrine of the word of God ahead of pacifying the feelings of family members.

There are many today that think the main thing is being concerned about people’s feelings. For our Lord, the main thing, the Father’s business, is the doctrine of God. If we would follow the example of our Lord, we would never let pacifying the feelings of people come ahead of the Father’s business. There is certainly a lesson in this for pastors who spend more time stroking people’s feelings than engaging in dialogue and study of the doctrine of God.

So the challenge for today is to identify the main thing, the Father’s business for you. And let the main thing be keeping that main thing the main thing. Believe me, it’s a challenge!

Taken, Healed, and Let Go

2009-12-09T15:57:00.003-05:00

For my daily Bible reading I am going through the gospel of Luke. Today I read chapter 14, which opens with an account of our Lord healing a certain man, “which had the dropsy.” The dreadful disease of dropsy is characterized by the abnormal collection of fluids in the cavities or tissues of the body. This results in unsightly swelling and no doubt in great discomfort.

In other accounts of the healing miracles of Christ, we read of the sick coming to Him or calling out to Him themselves for healing. Or we read of others asking Christ to heal their sick. But in this incident there is no account that either the man with the dropsy or anyone else asked Christ to heal him. Rather, our Lord took the initiative and healed the man without being asked to do so. Here is the account of the healing:

Luke 14:4 And he took him, and healed him, and let him go.

Let us analyze each verb phrase in this passage. First consider the phrase “and he took him.” All of the miracles of Christ were miracles of salvation. In this case, the man was saved from dropsy. We can learn a great deal about the salvation of God by studying the miracles of Christ. Observe that this salvation occurred when the Lord “took him.” Salvation is more a matter of the Lord taking us to save us than of our taking the Lord as our Saviour.

Then consider the phrase “and healed him.” Whenever we are healed, whether it be by a miraculous intervention, as was the case here, or whether it be by means of nutrition, medicine, surgery, or rest, the Lord is the One Who heals us.

Exodus 15:26 …I am the LORD that healeth thee.

No means of healing sickness can be effective apart from the blessing of God. Although Hezekiah was recovered from his life-threatening sickness by means of a plaister of figs, Hezekiah praised the Lord for the healing (Isaiah 38:15-21). And this not only applies to the healing of the body. It also applies to the healing of the heart and soul.

Psalms 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

Psalms 41:4 I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

This brings us to the phrase “and let him go.” After the Lord took this man and healed him, He let him go. And that is what the Lord does when He heals you. He lets you go. Now the question is: Being let go by the Lord, where and how will you go? Has the Lord healed you from a sickness and restored your strength? Has your heart been broken by grief or loss, and has the Lord healed you by His comforting word? Has your soul been burdened with guilt over sin, and has the Lord healed you through His pardoning mercy and restoring grace? Has your heart been poisoned by anger and bitterness? Has the Lord enabled you to give up that anger and find instead the healing that comes through forgiveness, reconciliation, and acceptance of things you cannot change? Now that you are healed and let go, where and how will you go? Will you go back to sin and foolishness? Or will you go forward following Him? May it be your happy lot to do as blind Bartimæus did when the Lord Jesus healed him and let him go.

Mark 10:52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

I close with these sobering words addressed to those whom the Lord has saved and let go:

Psalms 85:7 Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.
8 I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.

Thanksgiving Day in Retrospect

2009-12-01T11:38:00.003-05:00

Last week’s meditation was designed to prepare my readers for Thanksgiving Day. This week I would like to share with you some of what I experienced on Thanksgiving Day. For me, this was one of the best I have ever been part of.

The day was spent with our family, who live in this area. The only one missing was our newly acquired Canadian son-in-law, Joshua. He had to work. Thanksgiving Day in Canada is celebrated in October. Having just taken a week off for his honeymoon, he couldn’t afford to take yet another day off.

We all gathered at the home of our daughter Caroline. As dinner was being prepared, some of us enjoyed playing games together. But as things rolled along, the television was turned on to the football game. I sat with my sons-in-law, Kevin and Jared, to try to watch some of the game. But as I did so I began to seethe inwardly. Here we were all together as a family and we were being diverted by the television. I resented those football players charging into the midst of my family and stealing our attention away from one another. I was not amused by the characteristic racket of a football game accompanied by the noisy and often ridiculous commercials. When the ladies announced that dinner was ready, I said in a tone that I am not proud of: “Let’s turn off that television and give thanks to God.” By that point I was upset and it was evident. I emphasized the word God with the intent of placing Him in stark contrast to the American icon of football and television in general. It is not that I think it is a sin to enjoy a football game. But did we have to do it then, on Thanksgiving Day, when we were together as a family? Does television have to invade everything? I then proceeded to explain to all that I had envisioned this to be a day for us to enjoy each other. We are all together on such few occasions, that it seemed to me a shame to let television interfere with this opportunity to interface with each other. When I explained why I was upset about the television, the wishes of the patriarch were understood and respected. The television was turned off never to be heard from again for the rest of our time together. Thanks be to God! In hindsight, I should have calmly explained my position when the game was first turned on. I would have saved myself all that inner turmoil that finally boiled over.

As for the food, the women of my family outdid themselves. It was a rich repast. During dinner we engaged in lively conversation. You get that with the Motts. I think it must be that rich French blood that courses through our veins. Kevin and Jared do not have our gift of gab. Therefore, they quietly ate and endured the rest of us with exemplary Christian patience. Had Joshua been there, he would have been a major participant in the conversation. But then he is also French. After dinner, the grandchildren got to open some presents that Opa and Grandma had brought. Linda and I had purchased a few cheap items from the Dollar Chain and had wrapped them. Each grandchild had a package. And, no, we were not celebrating an alternative Christmas! So don’t even go there. I am fully prepared to bury you with arguments if you try it.

As the ladies cleared away the main courses of the dinner and prepared for dessert, my sons-in-law and I enjoyed a card game called Phase 10. I won every hand leaving Jared not far behind me with Kevin trailing in the rear. For me this was a payback. My sons-in-law and I had recently gone bowling together. Kevin bowled outstandingly. Jared did well, too, but Kevin far outshined us both. Kevin used to bowl in a league. He was glad to find that he had not lost his touch. Kevin’s score so far exceeded mine that the words of Job occur to me as an apt description of my defeat: “I have…defiled my horn in the dust” (Job 16:15). So, needless to say, I was quite enjoying beating him in a game. You see, I stand a chance of winning if it is a game of pure chance. But if the game requires athletic skill, then count me out.

But this is where it really became good. After the dessert, we all gathered around the table for a hymn sing. My wife and I raised our daughters to love music. They all took piano lessons and learned to read music. We are able to harmonize as a family and have sung together ever since we have been a family. I am pleased to report that my grandchildren are learning music as well. They, too, chimed in as we sang. On a couple of songs we adults refrained from singing on the chorus and just listened to the children sing. What a blessing that is! Then we had a time for telling things that we are thankful for. My grandson Ashton said: “I am glad the devil is going to hell because I don’t like him.” I quite agree with you, Ashton. I don’t like him either. My grandson Justin thanked God that he is a child of God and that he will go to heaven someday. My mother expressed thankfulness for how the Lord has been with her throughout all her days. Scarcely restraining the tears, she then pointed to her family as one of her chief blessings adding also the blessing of her church family. My son-in-law Kevin expressed gratitude for the deep friendship that he has with his brother-in-law Jared, to which Jared agreed. I was touched to hear Kevin so openly and unashamedly expressing his affection for his brother-in-law. There is nothing unmanly about men expressing their love for one another. It is such a blessing to see the in-laws in my family getting along so well. Then my little granddaughter Rebekah expressed her thankfulness for cups. Yes, you read it correctly: cups. Now you don’t often hear cups listed when people are counting their blessings. But light was shed on the subject when my grandson Nicklas afterwards prayed. He joined his sister in thanking God for cups. Here were his words to the Almighty: “Thank you for cups to drink out of so we don’t have to sink-drink, because that is disgusting.” Of course, others of us had to subdue a chuckle. But when you think about it, cups are indeed something to be thankful for. Imagine what life would be without them. When my turn came, I thanked God for the wonderful resource for joy and companionship that I have within my own family to offset the hardship and loneliness that often goes with being a minister. We had a time of prayer with some of the grandchildren praying. I prayed what I thought was to be the concluding prayer. But my grandson Brendan expressed a desire to pray at the end. Toward the close of his prayer he thanked God that even though it was dark and rainy outside, we were all inside laughing and that it was sunny in our hearts. That crowned the day! And I believe everyone was truly glad that we had turned off the football game. We did not need the outside world to entertain us after all.

As we parted for the day, I went away with this recurring thought: This was how Thanksgiving Day was meant to be celebrated. Thank you for taking a little time to visit with the Mott family. Ya’ll come again now!

Psalms 136:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T11:15:00.004-05:00

Today’s meditation will be a simple one. But some of our biggest problems arise from overlooking the simple matters of our most holy faith.

This coming Thursday our nation will celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Unfortunately, for many, if not most, it will be a day centered on eating and watching football with little, if any, regard given to thanking God. Let me encourage it to be otherwise with you.

First of all, giving thanks to God is just plain a good thing to do.

Psalms 92:1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

Since it is a good thing to do, thanksgiving will make your life better. The word better is the comparative form of the word good. So if you add something good to your life, you have made your life better than it was before you added that good thing. This is simple logic, but it is profound in its implications.

Secondly, consider this passage as it relates to our subject.

Colossians 1:11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Observe that the believer who is strengthened with all might according to God’s glorious power is a believer who is giving thanks unto the Father. Now to be strengthened with all might, and that according to God’s glorious power, is to be strong in the greatest way that a human being can be strong. Show me a thankful Christian and I will show you a person of strong character. His body may be weak and sickly and his possessions few, but he is strong. Also notice that God’s strength leads to all patience and longsuffering. A strong believer can suffer patiently for a long time and still be thankful. To suffer patiently is to suffer with calmness and composure, to suffer without losing it, as we say. And he can suffer with all patience, that is, with God’s strength he can suffer with all the patience he will need for as long as he needs it. Furthermore, a believer strengthened with God’s strength can suffer with joyfulness. His sufferings do not take anything away from his joy. His joy is full. And that his joy is full is explained by the fact that while suffering he is giving thanks. For thanksgiving is the companion of joy as the following passages show:

Psalms 95:2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

Psalms 97:12 Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Isaiah 51:3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

Jeremiah 30:19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

Also consider the following passage as it relates to thanksgiving.

Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

This verse connects being thankful with letting the peace of God rule in our hearts. Ask yourself this question: Is your heart restless, anxious, or fearful? If so, then the peace of God is not ruling in your heart. If this is the case with your heart, check your thanksgiving. Just how thankful are you, that is, how full of thanks are you? If you are thankful, the peace of God will hold sway in your heart. Because, you see, when you are thankful, you are focused on God and His goodness. This puts whatever troubles you have into perspective; it scales them down in size so that they do not loom so largely over you. When this happens, then God’s peace takes over and calms the heart. In other words, it rules or has the commanding influence in the heart.

So let me close by joining the Psalmist in giving you this exhortation:

Psalms 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Empty Nest

2009-11-08T16:50:00.002-05:00

God willing, my last daughter will wed on next Saturday, 14 November. For my wife Linda and me, this is a great turning point. We have had a child in our home for thirty-three years. That is about to end. We now come to that experience that is known as “the empty nest.” So please suffer a father to pour out his heart.

As I muse over the last thirty-three years, I have a lot of mixed feelings. Like most parents I have my share of regrets. If I had it to do over again, there are things I would definitely have done differently. Living day and night with me, you can believe that my daughters have seen my bad side big time. But overall I have to say that I tried to be a good father. To date, all my faults notwithstanding, my girls all love me dearly and respect me highly. The things they say to me in cards for Father’s Day and my birthday often convey their deep appreciation for the lessons I taught them. But more than the cards, I look at the lives they live and that, above all, is the greatest gift that they can give to me. This gives me the satisfaction of knowing that I did something right with those precious lives that God bequeathed to my care.

When my first daughter married, we came home from the wedding only to find a letter from her on our bed. We read the letter and released a flood of tears. The letter expressed her love and appreciation for us and all we had done for her. Of all that she wrote, the only thing that stands out in my memory is the special mention she made of appreciating the model that our marriage had been to her. I once read that one of the greatest gifts you can give to your children is a good marriage. I firmly believe that.

Now that my wife and I face the empty nest together, a good marriage is all the more important. You see, it will just be we in this house most of the time. If we couldn’t stand each other, the empty nest would be a thing to dread. For there will no longer be a child between us. Our daughter will not be here to keep conversation going. No more will we hear the garage door open announcing her arrival home from work. No more will she be a regular presence at our dinner table. No more will we hear the stirrings in her room downstairs. No more will we have the weekly visits from her lover coming to court her and filling our house with their lively conversation and laughter. She will be on her own now living under the authority of the man who will be her husband. Dad will be the number two man in her life. Well, I have been that already, but now it will be even more so. Now she will be bodily removed from my continued surveillance. And Linda and I will return to where we started: just the two of us at the table. We will now face each other with gray hairs, wrinkles, and a wealth of memories good and bad that we did not have when we started. But thank God, we will sit there still in love with each other, more in love than when we began. This will surely help to smooth the transition.

Other parents who have experienced the empty nest speak of it positively, some very positively. And I must say that in one way, Linda and I are looking forward to it. I prayed today that God would give us strength and health for some years to come so that we might enjoy this experience together. Yet in another way, we feel sadness at turning this page in the book of our lives. We have enjoyed our girls. Thanks be to God, none of our children has ever caused us any serious trouble to date. They have been a joy and still are. It is a blessing to watch them as they raise their children. And, of course, the grandchildren are a continual source of great joy. It is as my mother often says: “They are the joy of your old age.” I am blessed to have a family in which we all love one another and enjoy being together. When we are all together I sometimes feel such a sense of blessedness in being the patriarch of this clan. In fact, one of my son-in-laws affectionately calls me patty for patriarch.

Please do not think I am foolishly boasting when I say this, but if ever God has blessed a man on this earth, He has blessed me. The patriarch Jacob expresses my sentiments exactly:

Genesis 32:10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant….

Unworthy though I be, I have been the object of unspeakable favours from such a kind and merciful God. Of all the mercies God has extended to this poor sinner, my daughters are among them. When God gave me those girls, He certainly was not dealing with me according to anything I deserve. He could have given me children of Belial that would have been a source of continual sorrow. I deserve as much and worse.

As I muse on these past thirty-three years of raising my daughters, I can honestly say that we have never known the want of anything we have needed. I have relied on the words of Psalm 23:1 and proved them true: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” And it rejoices me no little to know that this same Lord is also the shepherd of my daughters as their faith in and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ attest. I am blessed to watch as He provides for their wants as well. And the good Shepherd will still be taking care of them when I am long gone.

Although my daughters are all now grown and out on their own, there is one thing that will never change: they will always be my babies. Oh, I won’t treat them like that. But in my heart I have that same feeling for them that I had when I first cradled them in my arms. After my father died, I was given a New Testament that his father had given him. I never knew my grandfather, as he died when my dad was only sixteen years of age. My grandfather gave this New Testament to my father on 25 October 1940. It is now in tatters. But in the cover a prayer is inscribed in my grandfather’s beautiful handwriting. This is the prayer that is upon my heart as I send off my last daughter. It is simply this: “God take care of my baby.”

I hope I have not wearied you with my sentiment. I close with tears.

Halloween

2009-10-27T17:20:00.002-04:00

This coming Saturday, 31 October, marks the annual celebration of Halloween. The name Halloween is the shortened form of All-Hallow-Even. This day is the eve of All Hallows’ or All Saints’ Day, which is observed on 1 November. The first day of November was set aside by the Roman Catholic Church as All Saints’ Day to commemorate all the saints who have no other special day of commemoration. Of course, the New Testament knows nothing of All Saint’s Day. Like Christmas and Easter, this is another attempt by the Roman Catholic Church to mix paganism with Christianity.

During the celebration of Halloween houses, schools, and businesses are decorated with images of ghosts, skeletons, witches, black cats, and jack-o-lanterns with monstrous faces carved in them. Haunted houses and horror films are a popular attraction at this time. Children go trick-or-treating through neighbourhoods often in costumes designed to depict death, horror, witches, or even Satan himself. Adults dressed in costumes also participate in Halloween parties. Why are images of death and the occult so prevalent in connection with this day?

The following quotation taken from Encyclopedia Brittanica regarding the origin of Halloween gives us some insight:

“It (Halloween) long antedates Christianity. The two chief characteristics of ancient Hallowe’en were the lighting of bonfires and the belief that this is the one night in the year during which ghosts and witches are most likely to wander abroad. History shows that the main celebrations of Hallowe’en were purely Druidical, and this is further proved by the fact that in parts of Ireland Oct. 31 is still known as Oidhche Shamhna, ‘Vigil of Saman.’ This is directly connected with the Druidic belief in the calling together of certain wicked souls on Hallowe’en by Saman, lord of death.”

In addition, we cite this quotation taken from The World Book Encyclopedia:

“The Druids, an order of priests in ancient Gaul and Britain, believed that on Halloween, ghosts, spirits, fairies, witches, and elves came out to harm people. They thought the cat was sacred and believed that cats had once been human beings but were changed as a punishment for evil deeds. From these Druidic beliefs comes the present-day use of witches, ghosts, and cats in Halloween festivities.”

It was believed that wearing costumes and masks of harmful spirits was a way to prevent them from inflicting harm. It was also believed that to free oneself from these evil spirits it was necessary to give them a treat. Otherwise, the spirit would cast a spell, a trick. This is the origin of trick or treat. Also on this night animal bones were burned in large fires called bonfires (bone fires) in order to ward off evil spirits. I have also read that there is reason to believe that in ancient times human sacrifices were made in these bonfires.

For practitioners of witchcraft and worshippers of Satan, 31 October is a high and holy day even to this present time. There are documented accounts of animal and human sacrifices offered on this day. Although many people view this as a time of fun and games, it is taken quite seriously by those who are in league with the powers of darkness.

God Almighty also takes the practices of the occult very seriously and gives stern warnings against it. The following passage speaks clearly:

Deuteronomy 18:9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire (might this have been a bonfire?), or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

The world of the occult is very real. There are evil spirits who seek to do us harm and we must have no fellowship with them.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

1 Corinthians 10:20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

Satan would like nothing more than for us not to take his world seriously. He would have us think of witches and incantations as play things rather than harsh and destructive realities. Rather than celebrating the world of the occult in fun and games, the Christian should rather resist and reprove such things.

Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

And as for all the images of death so prevalent at this time, recall that Satan has the power of death. In that sense he is Saman, the lord of the dead. But our Lord Jesus Christ came to deliver us from the fear of death by destroying Satan.

Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Shall we then celebrate the fear of death as is done at Halloween? Ought we not rather to celebrate our Lord’s triumph over Satan and the destruction of his power of death?

From the foregoing it should be obvious that Christians have no business participating in Halloween celebrations. On Halloween night we turn off the porch light to discourage any trick-or-treaters from coming to our door. Do not let your children trick-or-treat or attend Halloween parties. If you have adults living in your home who do not share your convictions and want to attend Halloween parties, do not let them don their costumes in your home. That is your house and you have the responsibility to ban from your home anything that makes light of the kingdom of darkness. I close with this exhortation:

1 Corinthians 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

On Reading Many Books, Part 2

2009-10-14T14:12:00.003-04:00

We continue our meditation this week regarding the reading of many books. Last week we saw that it is better to read fewer books, digest them well, and retain their information than to overload the brain with more books than it can process. Today I want to impress upon my readers the importance of thought. As you read a book, take time to think about what you are reading. Allow yourself to sit back and reflect on what you read so that you may absorb the information. Here is another excellent quote by Charles Haddon Spurgeon taken again from his work entitled Lectures to My Students:

I would impress upon you the truth, that a man who is short of apparatus can make up for it by much thought. Thinking is better than possessing books. Thinking is an exercise of the soul which both develops its powers and educates them....Without thinking, reading cannot benefit the mind, but it may delude the man into the idea that he is growing wise. Books are a sort of idol to some men. As the image with the Roman Catholic is intended to make him think of Christ, and in effect keeps him from Christ, so books are intended to make men think, but are often a hindrance to thought.

That paragraph is profound in its implications. There is no benefit in reading just for the sake of reading or to convince yourself or others that you are intelligent, because you read a lot. In my profession one comes across a great deal to read. It is easy to fall into the practice of reading through things just to say that one has read them. But this is a waste of time if the information is simply run through the brain without any retention. It is better to be selective in what you read. Sometimes you may be able to skim something and discern whether it is worth your time or not. With limited time and energy I need to be selective with respect to what I read. Reading should be done with a view to personal growth, not pacifying everyone who gives you something to read.

Mr. Spurgeon went on to point out that a man who does not have a lot of books can make up for that lack by being a man of thought. If a man is thoughtfully observant of nature, of men, and of himself, he can learn a great deal. The heavens are an open book that declares the glory of God and much can be learned by thinking about them (Psalm 19:1-3). It is worthwhile noting the many lessons Solomon, the wisest man, drew from the study of nature. When reading the book of Proverbs, notice how many times Solomon makes a point by referencing something in nature. When speaking of Solomon's wisdom, Scripture has this to say:

1 Kings 4:32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.
33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
34 And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

In addition to Mr. Spurgeon's words, I found this interesting passage in a book I possess entitled Lord Chesterfield's Letters. Lord Chesterfield wrote:

It signifies nothing to read a thing once, if one does not mind and remember it. It is a sure sign of a little mind to be doing one thing, and at the same time to be either thinking of another, or not thinking at all. One should always think of what one is about; when one is learning, one should not think of play; and when one is at play, one should not think of one's learning. Besides that, if you do not mind your book while you are at it, it will be a double trouble to you, for you must learn it all over again.

Lord Chesterfield's words remind me of a quotation I cited to you in the series of meditations I did on listening. The quote came from an article entitled Improving your Memory.

You can’t remember something if you never learned it, and you can’t learn something — that is, encode it into your brain — if you don’t pay enough attention to it. It takes about eight seconds of intent focus to process a piece of information through your hippocampus and into the appropriate memory center. So, no multitasking when you need to concentrate! If you distract easily, try to receive information in a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted.

Reading must be accompanied with thought to be profitable. And this brings us to that very important word in Scripture, the word meditate.

Meditate - To muse over or reflect upon; to consider, study, ponder.

It is obvious that meditation requires thought, focusing the mind upon a given subject. When Paul instructed Timothy to "give attendance to reading," he also instructed him to meditate in order to profit from his reading.

1 Timothy 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

No amount of reading is a substitute for meditation, for careful thought. Recall that last time we pointed out the importance of mastering one book above all other books, that book being the Holy Bible. Today's point about combining thought with reading applies here as well. It is not enough to simply read the Bible. You must also think about what you read; you need to meditate upon it. It is by this means that you will derive the greatest benefit from the time you spend in the Scriptures. The following passage powerfully drives this point home.

Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

I for one am not a fan of programs for reading through the entire Bible in a year. I find it better to read less and think about what you read, than to consume more chapters just to satisfy a deadline. Granted, one should strive to read the whole Bible. But one should also strive to understand what is being read. And that understanding comes from careful thought or meditation.

Psalms 119:99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

So read something in the Bible each day. Then think about it throughout the rest of your waking hours and your life will become more prosperous in the ways that count.

And as for mastering this one book, the Holy Bible, I can do no better than to close with the advise of Solomon, the wisest of men:

Ecclesiastes 12:12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

On Reading Many Books, Part 1

2009-10-07T12:29:00.001-04:00

Benjamin Franklin said: "Read much, but not many books." I consider this very sage advice and I would like to expand upon it.

In this series of meditations I will cite several quotes from a book by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled Lectures to My Students. These quotes will be taken from the chapter entitled To Workers With Slender Apparatus. This lecture was addressed to ministers who do not have a large library of books. The essence of Mr. Spurgeon's advice to such men is that a man can read too many books, that it is better to have fewer books that are well-read and well-digested, and that reading is no substitute for thought. My experience confirms the truth of Mr. Spurgeon's words. Consider this first quote:

Little learning and much pride come of hasty reading. Books may be piled on the brain till it cannot work. Some men are disabled from thinking by putting meditation away for the sake of much reading. They gorge themselves with book-matter, and become mentally dyspeptic. Books on the brain cause disease. Get the book into the brain, and you will grow.

By the way, the word dyspeptic means indigestion. Just as one cannot well digest too much food, neither can one generally well digest too many books. It is better to read less, to think about what you read, and to absorb and retain it or, as Mr. Spurgeon said, get it into the brain; than to read more than the mind can process. This advice is especially relevant in our day when we are bombarded with so much to read. We are hit with the information highway of the internet, blogs, emails, postal mailings, handouts at meetings, magazines, and books ad infinitum.

I love this next quote about a single book well-read:

There is very much sound sense in the remark of a writer in the Quarterly Review many years back. "Give us the one dear book, cheaply picked from the stall by the price of the dinner, thumbed and dog-eared, cracked in the back and broken in the corner, noted on the fly-leaf and scrawled on the margin, sullied and scorched, torn and worn, smoothed in the pocket and grimed on the hearth, damped by the grass and dusted among the cinders, over which you have dreamed in the grove and dozed before the embers, but read again, again, and again, from cover to cover. It is by this one book, and its three or four single successors, that more real cultivation has been imparted than by all the myriads which bear down the mile-long, bulging, bending shelves of the Bodleian."

The Bodleian is the research library of the University of Oxford, which is surely a mammoth collection of books. More will be gotten from that one well-worn, well-read book than from volume after volume that has been read, but not retained. I know from my experience that I have a few books that I have referred to again and again, whereas most of the rest are much less opened. I also find that rereading a valuable book is extremely profitable. I pick up so much the second time around that I missed the first time.

Of course all of this most especially applies to the one book that it is most important for us to absorb and retain, that is, the Book of Books, the Holy Bible. Of all the books in your collection, this one should be read, marked, prayed over, thought about, and read again and again. The pages should be wrinkled, worn, and soiled from much turning. In time the cover should be frayed from being handled. Thoroughly acquainting yourself with that one book above any other and applying its teaching in your life will make you spiritually mighty, like Apollos, of whom it is written that he "was mighty in the scriptures" (Acts 18:24). Mr. Spurgeon put it this way:

You know the old proverb, "Cave ab homine unius libri - Beware of the man of one book. He is a terrible antagonist. A man who has his Bible at his fingers' ends and in his heart's core is a champion in our Israel; you cannot compete with him: you may have an armoury of weapons, but his scriptural knowledge will overcome you; for it is a sword like that of Goliath, of which David said, "There is none like it."

To which I can but say, "Amen and amen!" More about this next time, if the Lord will.

The Inspiration of the Scriptures, Part 4

2009-09-22T17:17:00.002-04:00

Today will mark the conclusion of this series of meditations on the inspiration of the Scriptures. Let us return to a consideration of 2 Timothy 3:16 as there is one word in that passage that I want to emphasize.

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

We showed before that the words “all scripture” cannot be limited, as many believe, to the original autographs of the Scripture. In the preceding verse Paul made mention of “the holy scriptures” that Timothy had known from a child. Recall that this could not have been referring to the original writings of the Old Testament, but rather to copies of those writings. Yet those copies are called “the holy scriptures.” Then in the very next verse Paul teaches that “all scripture,” which would include the Holy Scriptures that Timothy had, “is given by inspiration of God.”

Furthermore, consider the following passages that mention the Scriptures:

Acts 17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,…

Acts 17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Acts 18:28 For he (Apollos) mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.

Now all these different persons and places did not have the original autographs of the Scriptures. Clearly Paul preached from copies, the Bereans searched copies, and Apollos taught from copies. Yet these copies are called by the Holy Spirit, “the scriptures.” And, remember, “all scripture is given by inspiration of God,” which would include the Scriptures mentioned in these passages.

Our Lord commanded men to “search the scriptures” (John 5:39). If he were commanding men to search the originals, then none of us today could obey that commandment because the originals no longer exist to be searched! It should be clear that when the Bible speaks of the Scriptures, it is speaking of something that men have access to, something that exists that they can see and read.

Now the thing that I want to drive home today is that “all scripture is given by inspiration of God.” If this statement refers only to the original autographs of the Scripture, then Paul should have said “all scripture was given by inspiration of God,” for that would indeed be the case. Rather, he wrote that “all scripture is given by inspiration of God.” If the book you read is the Holy Scripture, and we have shown that the Holy Scripture includes copies and translations of the text, then the Scripture you are reading is given by inspiration of God. The expression “given by inspiration of God” describes the A.V. 1611 Bible you have right now. It is given by inspiration of God.

The process of the divine inspiration of the Scriptures indeed refers to the giving of the words of God to the original writers of Scripture.

2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

To be sure, this part of the process of inspiration is not still going on. God is not still moving men to give forth His words. The body of divine revelation is complete.

Hebrews 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,…

The verb phrase hath spoken is present perfect tense, referring to a completed or perfected action. In the generation of our Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles, God gave us the word He intends for us to have in its entirety. We seek no additional divine revelation. But God has promised the preservation and transmission of those words He has spoken in copies and translations. And these copies and translations are as much His words as when they first fell from His holy lips. Therefore, these copies and translations are given by inspiration of God. So while the inspiration of the Scriptures includes the original communication of the words of God to men, it is by no means limited to that. The inspiration of the Scriptures also includes the processes of copying and translating those words.

Therefore, the A.V. 1611 that you hold in your hands, the book that you read, study, believe, and obey is given to you by the inspiration of God. That very book that you bought or that was given to you by family or friends, you possess by the inspiration of God. It is the superintending providence of God, called inspiration, that secures to you His words, the Holy Scriptures. Prize this gift. Treat it with reverence. Love it. Read it. Study it. Believe it. Obey it. And your daily experience will confirm this glorious fact: “All Scripture," including that which you have in the A.V. 1611, "is given by inspiration of God.”