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18 hours ago
18 hours ago
Christian Disciple and Evangelism (Part 1)
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Paul writing in 1 Corinthians 2v1-5 regarding his first contact with the city of Corinth: “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.”
When he was going the 50 miles or so from Athens to Corinth, Paul was alone. He had left the intellectual centre of the ancient world, Athens, and entered Corinth, the cultural capital of the ancient world. Do you sometimes think that Paul was like a superman, always brash and utterly confident when engaged in evangelism? According to that passage, he entered with great nervousness, weakness and fear. He was not confident in his own ability or the way that he spoke and reasoned. But why should Paul have been this way with the city of Corinth?
Corinth
The city of Corinth is located on the narrow isthmus linking northern and southern Greece. It had two ports on either side, where small ships and boats could be dragged on greased planks the 3-mile journey across the isthmus, thus saving themselves a 200-mile journey through dangerous waters. It was therefore a natural place for fantastic links for commerce and culture across the known world. The world famous Isthmian games were held there. Paul’s reasoning for deciding to go there was probably along the lines of “If its good enough for commerce and culture to be spread from Corinth, even better for the Gospel to travel far and wide from that hub.” So he enters Corinth. But alas, with culture and commerce came its evil triplet – immorality. The temple, which overlooked Corinth, was dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite and had 1,000 prostitutes. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and sex. In those days to go “corinthianizing”, meant to go actively seeking immorality. These reasons are why Paul entered Corinth nervously – the proud and cultural intelligentsia, endemic immorality and the many temples to many gods including Aphrodite and Poseidon. The Corinthians were post-modern people, even before post-modernity! Their motto – “If it feels good, do it!”
Paul
Paul was nervous and weak in his own strength, but he was supremely confident in the Lord and the power of the Spirit to use him. What can we learn from Paul’s visit to Corinth and how do we apply them to our lives today in the 21st century? After all our modern cities and towns are no different from ancient Corinth!
Evangelism
Paul’s Message – The Gospel
The Gospel is Trinitarian – The Gospel is The Father’s mysterious revelation through the Son’s work on the cross in the power of the Spirit
- The Gospel is Three Dimensional
- Breadth of the Bible – all of Scripture is about God’s plan of Salvation.
- Depth of the cross
- Length of God’s mission
The Gospel is anathema and unpopular. The Gospel is never popular, and if it is, then it is not a truly Biblically Gospel. We have a false Gospel being preached where financial prosperity is the central claim. We have a false Gospel where Jesus is a cure all being the central claim. For Paul, and for all true Christian Disciples, “Jesus and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2v2) is the true Gospel.
Paul faced Jewish opposition
· To the Jewish mindset, it was unthinkable that the Messiah would be crucified on a pagan Gentile cross (Acts18v6, 12-17).
Paul faced Gentile opposition
- · Jesus’ exclusive claim to be the only way, the only truth and only life challenged Corinthian pluralism & universalism! The Corinthians lived a life filled with many gods, why would they want to settle for just the One – particularly one who had died?
- · A life of holiness challenged Corinthian immorality! Exercise self-control? You are having a laugh, Paul. Ha ha.
- · God’s power challenged Corinthian cultured intellect! Some of the Athenians told Paul he was a babbler, and so would have the cultured and refined Corinthian intelligentsia.
- · Humility challenged Corinthian pride. To kneel at the cross, takes great humility. The Corinthians were a proud and cultured people, to whom the thought of humbly kneeling before a God was anathema. Much better to be devoting yourself to a goddess of sex. What more could a young Corinthian want than the mixture of religion and sex?
The same applies today. We are shouted down if we dare exclaim that Jesus is the only acceptable path to God. We are told there are no such thing as moral absolutes any more, and what’s right for you may not be right for me and providing I am not hurting anyone, stay out of my private business. Sex and sexuality are worshipped and adored as if they were gods in themselves. In an age of Scientific materialism and hyper-rationalism, people cynically laugh at us and say that we worship a dead man. We are often called fools for believing in Original Sin and deluded for believing in a God. Have you been called those things? I know I have. Humility is not looked upon as a strength today, its frowned upon as a weakness. The world says that if you want to get ahead in life, you need to be strong, show some backbone and don’t ever back down to anybody or anything. Certainly never admit you were wrong and had made mistakes! The way of the Gospel is to kneel before the Cross, admit your mistakes and sins and be prepared to serve and take up your own cross.
The world is quite willing to accept a harmless baby at Christmas, but not the violence of the cross that followed. That is why even atheists like Richard Dawkins like to sing Christmas Carols! The danger of Christmas is when the glorious incarnation of Jesus Christ, being both fully God and fully human, is diluted into fantasy along with Santa and his elves.
For more to think about please do read Acts 18v1-17, ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together.
Q1. Am I using all opportunities to build relationships and tell others a truly biblical cross-centred Gospel?
Q2. Am I growing and changing into the very likeness of Jesus?
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2 days ago
2 days ago
Bible Reading - 3 John
Today on Partakers we are listening to a reading of 3 John! Come and listen!
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3 days ago
3 days ago
Bible Reading - 2 John
Today on Partakers we are listening to a reading of 2 John! Come and listen!
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4 days ago
4 days ago
Bible Reading - 1 John
Today on Partakers we are listening to a reading of 1 John! Come and listen!
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5 days ago
5 days ago
Rotten Royals
In the podcast today, we take a whistle stop tour through the Old Testament Kings: Saul, David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Jotham, Hezekiah, Josiah, Jeroboam, Ahab, Hoshea.
Our Bible readings are: Deuteronomy 17:14-20; Leviticus 18:1-5; 1 Samuel 8:1-9; John 1:1-5
We investigate together the following questions:
- Why was there a king of Israel?
- Why was asking for a king wrong?
- What was the job of the King?
- What are some of the common themes for failure amongst the Kings?
- What can we learn from the kings?
Through all of this, God’s faithfulness is in clear evidence, despite human failure. Despite the majority of Kings causing chaos, God still preserved the line of David, as promised, leading to that time when He would come as Messiah as promised. Even when kings and people fail, God remains faithful to His promises. What can we take away from all of this?
We see that God, who is the ultimate reality in all this earth, has called each of us, if we call ourselves a Christian, by name to follow him, and to reciprocate the love which he has lavished upon us. Can that describe our love of God? As Christians, we are awaiting the coming again of Jesus Christ. Not as a baby this time, but as the risen and glorified Lord of life!
We know through reading the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament, that God has made promises and he always fulfils His promises. As Christians we can take comfort in that knowledge. That is why we read and study what God has to say to us in the Bible – as individuals and as a Church. The ancient Israelites wanted a King they could see, to walk by sight and not walk by faith.
Are we today, truly walking by faith and not by sight? Do we have sins within our life with which we are not dealing? As individuals and as Church together, are there aspects of our life, individually and corporately, where we are copying the ways and thoughts of the world, being conformed to the world, rather than being conformed to the ways and word of God? Are we too reliant on our own strength, when we could and should be depending upon the reliability of God Himself? Are we searching the Scriptures, studying them, as we await the coming again of Jesus Christ?
Until that time when Jesus Christ comes again, are we using that time wisely, redeeming the time as we keep in step with the Holy Spirit who lives within us. The Holy Spirit, the Holy Comforter, who seals us as God’s precious adopted child, listening to Him and being constantly filled with Him?
We as Christians, Christ followers, are to be obedient to our God – evangelism and truly loving one another are just two areas, where I think the Church, generally speaking, is lacking. Finally, the line of David, the rotten royals, points to the true King, Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus who is the King of all Kings.
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6 days ago
6 days ago
Why I am a Christian?
1 John 5:9-12 - "We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."
Why Is It So?
A testimony is an assertion offering firsthand authentication of a fact. For the Christian Disciple, classically it is generally expressed as how they became a Christian Disciple. But I think it is more than just how, and should expressly include why you are a Christian Disciple. I wonder what is your testimony about how you became a Christian Disciple? When was the last time you thanked our God for your testimony? Have you even thought about your testimony of how you became a Christian Disciple? I am sure you have all heard kids in the supermarket yelling out "Why?" to their parents. We all have, I am sure, questions we want to know the answer to. Why? The question I am often asked is "You are a Christian. Why is it so?" My father, was and remained throughout his life a convinced agnostic and in the few conversations we had about religion and Christianity, he could never understand why it was, that I could not just admit that I would never know if God existed or not, far less a God who was personally interested in me. My reply as ever, was that the very question "Why is it so?" needed to be answered, in order for me to be satisfied.
Why I am a Christian?
Now I could say that at the age of 12, we moved to a town on the coast of Australia, and was invited along to a local youth group and several weeks later, gave my life to Christ and became a Christian. Of course that is partly true. I can't even claim to be a Christian because I was raised in a Christian country. Australia was and is probably the second most secular country on this planet. Sure Australia has its moral base grounded in historic Christianity, but for the latter part of its history, Australia has been thoroughly secular and non-religious. Even if I had been raised in a country such as England, with Christian parents, that would also, only be partly true and I could have rejected Christianity as many people do. The reason that I am a Christian is not because I chased God, but rather He chased me. Unknown to me at the time, God was chasing me and following my every path with the urgency of a lover after the beloved, just as described in the Song of Songs 2:2-14.
God had been pursuing me
This piece of poetic Scripture speaks about the love that God has for his people, and the energy He puts in to calling his people to Himself. He is always reaching out, for all to return to His arms. As for me, it wasn't until I was a 12 year old that I heard that I needed to accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. Before that I didn't know I had to do anything with this Jesus. Jesus was only a curse word for me at the time. That or was just someone or something that the RE teachers bored me with at school.
We are primarily Christians, not because we come to church services or just happened to have been born in a supposedly Christian country. We are primarily Christians, because God first chased and harried us into His arms. We are Christians, if you are one, because God first loved you. And as a tremendous lover, He beckons and calls people all the time to respond to His call, and back to Him.
How does He chase us with His love? He chases each person differently, just as each Christian testimony is different. Take for instance the Apostle Paul in Acts 8 & 9. God chased him through Paul's mind and his religious upbringing and education. Paul had known about God from his childhood. Paul was a righteous Pharisee who saw persecuting these ‘Christians' as his religious duty, so that he may somehow find favour with God. As Paul was gloating over the death of the martyr Stephen, God was pursuing Him, probably raising doubts in Paul's mind as to why Stephen would say at the point of death "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit and forgive them for what they do" (Acts 7:54-60). Surely doubts must have been raised in Paul's mind as he approved of this death (Acts 8v1). Paul was also wrestling with his conscience. Externally he was a righteous man, a Pharisee of Pharisees. Yet when he internally examined himself and his heart, he found himself failing regarding covetousness, which is the last of the Ten Commandments. Then finally, Jesus himself makes a sudden and dramatic appearance before Paul and confronts him directly, "Why are you kicking against me? Why are you rejecting my advances?" (Acts 9) Paul's conversion to Christianity is often described as being sudden. But the only thing sudden about his conversion was this climatic appearance of Jesus.
Just as that was true of Paul, it is true of me, just as it is true of all those who profess to call themselves a Christian Disciple. I am a Christian Disciple not because of anything I have done, but rather because He first chased me, and because He first loved me. Jesus himself said "I came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10).
If you are a Christian today, it is not because of anything you have done. It is because of the events at Christmas and Easter that you are a Christian, when God entered this world as a human baby and took all the necessary steps so that all people could have the choice to be His people or not. In my more smug moments I used to congratulate myself for being a Christian. How proud I was that I, was a Christian and that God was a jolly lucky God that I had decided to follow Him. It was during one of my less self-deluded moments, that I examined myself and I found God pricking my conscience and correcting me, and I read the New Testament "For the Son of Man came, not to be served but to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark10:45).
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7 days ago
7 days ago
The False Witness
The book of Proverbs is a collection of writings, mainly by King Solomon, who was endowed by God with the extraordinary gift of wisdom. These writings are wisdom which reveals how a person can live a godly and God pleasing life. It provides God’s people with a way to deal successfully with the practical affairs of everyday life, living God’s way, as they listen to Him.
We will look at the topic from Proverbs about being a witness. This theme runs throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament. We can be a true witness or a false witness. Let’s start by looking at being a false witness.
The false witness is part of the very first sins committed by humanity. “Don’t be a false witness” is indeed one of the very 10 commandments that were given by God to Moses (Exodus 20).
In regard to being a false witness, in a simple desert community as ancient Israel were, nearly all such crimes were seen as capital offences. If for somebody was to be a successful “false witness”, that person would be seen as something of a murderer.
Here is what the great reformer Martin Luther said concerning it:
“the commandment against false witness is to prohibit the public judgment and reproof of the neighbour. One can indeed see and hear the neighbour sin, but one has no command to report it to others. If one judges and passes sentence, one falls into a sin which is greater than his (except for judges, parents, and preachers).”
Some tough words there as we start out, aren’t they? The other great reformer, John Calvin, taught that this commandment of not being a false witness, emphasizes that the Christian is to:
“assert only the truth with pure motives for the maintenance of our neighbour's good name and estate.”
Let us continue by looking within the book of Proverbs at “false witness”. First of all, what is a false witness?
16 There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. (Proverbs 6:16-19)
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Tuesday Feb 25, 2025
Tuesday Feb 25, 2025
Conclusion
As a way of concluding, let us take a look at what some people have said about this Psalm. We are going to engage with the minds of Augustine, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon and CS Lewis: and they will give us some insight into this magnificent Psalm.
Augustine - "You will not labour long in listening to it, nor will the labour you devote to practicing it be without fruit. As its title indicates, it is a "song of steps." Steps are either of ascent or descent, but as used in these Psalms, steps signify an ascent. Let us understand them, therefore, as ascending steps, and let us not seek to ascend with our feet and in a carnal manner but as suggested in another Psalm: "He has prepared ascents in his heart, in this valley of tears, in the place which He has fixed" (Psalm 83:6-7). Where then are these ascents? In the heart. From what should we ascend? From the valley of tears. In designating the place, the human tongue somehow fails us; one knows not how to speak of it nor even to think of it. You have previously heard this passage of St. Paul, that "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, and that it has not entered into the heart of man" (1 Corinthians 2:9). If it has not entered into the heart of man, then the heart of man ascends to it. There- fore, if "eye has not seen, if ear has not heard, if it has not entered into the heart of man," how are we to say where we should ascend? So in his powerlessness to say where, the Prophet says to us: "To the place fixed."
John Calvin - "Two things which the prophet mainly aims at; the exhorting of the children of God to follow godliness and a holy life; and the prescribing of the rule, and pointing out the form of the true worship of God, so that the faithful may devote themselves wholly to the study of the Law. Along with these he frequently blends promises for the purpose of animating the worshippers of God to live more justly and piously; and, at the same time, he introduces complaints respecting the impious contempt of the Law, lest they should become tainted by bad examples."
Charles Spurgeon - "This psalm is a wonderful composition. Its expressions are many as the waves, but its testimony is one as the sea. It deals all along with one subject only; but although it consists of a considerable number of verses, some of which are very similar to others, yet throughout its one hundred and seventy-six stanzas the self-same thought is not repeated: there is always a shade of difference, even when the color of the. thought appears to be the same". He then goes on to say "I admire in this psalm the singular commingling of testimony, prayer, and praise. In one verse the Psalmist bears witness; in a second verse he praises; in a third verse he prays. It is an incense made up of many spices; but they are wonderfully compounded and worked together, so as to form one perfect sweetness. The blending greatly increases the value of the whole. You would not like to have one-third of the psalm composed of prayer - marked up to the sixtieth verse, for instance; and then another part made up exclusively of praise; and yet a third portion of unmixed testimony. It is best to have all these divinely-sweet ingredients intermixed, and wrought into a sacred unity, as you have them in this thrice-hallowed psalm. Its prayers bear testimony, and its testimonies are fragrant with praise."
CS Lewis : "Everyone has probably noticed that from the literary or technical point of view, it is the most formal and elaborate of them all. The technique consists in taking a series of words which are all, for purposes of this poem, more or less synonyms, and ringing the changes on them through each of its eight-verse sections - which themselves correspond to the letter of the alphabet. In other words, this poem is not, and does not pretend to be, a sudden outpouring of the heart like, say, Psalm 18. It is a pattern, a thing done like embroidery, stitch by stitch, through long, quiet hours, for love of the subject and for the delight in leisurely, disciplined craftsmanship. Now this, in itself, seems to me very important because it lets us into the mind and mood of the poet. We can guess at once that he felt about the Law somewhat as he felt about his poetry; both involved exact and loving conformity to an intricate pattern."
A friend of mine, Sharona, commented to me about Psalm 119! This is her memory of the great Psalm! Years ago, I gave my boss a Bible. He had been telling me that he had never owned anything but a KJV and didn't understand it at all. I gave him a hardback NIV pew Bible. He put it in his desk drawer but never looked at it.
One day I went into his office to find him shuffling through the pages of the Bible, clearly looking for something. I asked if I could help and he told me he had been watching a football game and someone held up a sign that said "John 3:16" so he was trying to find out what it said. I helped him find the verse.
Then he closed the Bible, opened it at random and read aloud, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" and I said "Psalm 119:105 !". He looked at me in shock, and with sheer admiration in his voice said, "Oh, you're good!".
Then he closed the Bible, opened it at random and said "Let's try again!". Then he read a verse I had no idea where it came from, but it sounded a bit like it could have been Isaiah. I said tentatively, "Isaiah?". He said, "No, think bullfrog..." And I said "Oh, Jeremiah!" and we both had a laugh about that.
OK, it's random, but I have a laugh about that every time I think of that happening, him thinking I was such a brilliant biblical scholar, because I knew a verse from Psalm 119.
So lets sum up what each of these witnesses for Psalm 119 offer us in the 21st century. For Augustine, the Psalm is like a staircase for ascending to a fixed place where God reigns! For Calvin, the Psalm encourages followers of God to follow godliness, live and study diligently what God has revealed. He also notes how the Psalmist frequently blends promises in order to animate worshippers of God to live more justly and humbly. For Spurgeon, It is portrays a sacred unity, whereby prayers, testimony and praise intermingle, intermix and form a sweet incense! Psalm 119's prayers bear testimony, and its testimonies are fragrant with praise. For CS Lewis it was like an intricate embroidery, patterned, cunningly weaved and a labour of love for Almighty God and His Law.
What is it for you? Have you considered scripture as being like an elaborately intricate staircase to ascend, so that you can get to know your God more, in order to live a life worthy of him as your prayers bear testimony and your testimonies of God's goodness bear the fruit of praise? Hopefully as we are now at the end of these series of studies, you will have found a new delight in reading your Bible: all 66 books of it including perhaps some that you have never read before. Ask yourself how you view the Bible, how you read it, why you read it and do you listen to God speaking to you as you do so? Has your attitude and feelings changed towards the Bible as a whole? Do certain parts of the Bible now captivate you more than they did before?
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Monday Feb 24, 2025
Monday Feb 24, 2025
Taw
169 May my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word. 170 May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise. 171 May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. 172 May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous. 173 May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. 174 I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight. 175 Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me. 176 I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.
Once again, in verse 169, David the Psalmist repeats his inner desire to understand God's word, law, decrees, statutes and wisdom! He is full of zeal for God and is earnestly yearning His God to reveal His promised wisdom and understanding to him. The Psalmist is in a relationship with God and seeks to get to know His God better and God has promised him that He will pass on wisdom to David through the law and the scriptures. God will enlighten His servant, the Psalmist, because He has promised to, and He who has promised is faithful to honour those promises.
The Psalmist greatest desire is to understand the mind of God, developing his relationship with Him and to be guided by Him! The Psalmist desires that every facet of his life be guided by his great all-knowing and all-powerful God! Part of this guidance, is the Psalmist praying to God in verse 170, making requests and seeking deliverance from the dangers and perils of his life! David, as we read in the Bible, often faced great dangers throughout his life. His God always delivered him from evil, because God honours his promises to those who are serving Him.
Now in verse 171, he is overflowing with praise! He is effervescent with praise, overflowing, bubbling over and ecstatic with joy for His God! The reason for this exuberance is that he wants to be imbued with heavenly wisdom as taught through the decrees and statutes of Almighty God! It gives the sense of a spontaneous outburst of praise just exploding from the Psalmist like spring water bubbling from the desert sands! Having been taught by the Lord in the practise of righteous obedience to the Law, the Psalmist is intent on teaching others! He is passing on to others, the wisdom he has learned and received! The sense here is of corporate singing of exultant choral praises of God or an echo of the angels singing of God's awesome majesty, beauty and holiness!
Continuing, the Psalmist entreats God to personally help - nor my friends or your friends, O God - but you and you alone! Give me your hand O Lord and I will be rescued! Friends may let me down, discourage and betray me - but you O great God will never do that! Personally save me, the Psalmist is crying! By choosing God's precepts, the Psalmist has dedicated himself to obeying his God and following Him closely. The Psalmist was keen to be found in full obedience to his God. And he yearned for full salvation from his God - he had tasted it in part before but was waiting for it to be complete, as if in expectation of some form of greater salvation.
He had been saved from his enemies, those who betrayed him and from wild animals. His present salvation was assured as God had promised him, but so was a future salvation, a salvation of his soul! Hence, there is his longing to delight in all of God's words and works. This future salvation of the soul, filled with life, preserved so he may praise God! God's judgments sustained and helped the Psalmist! Seeing God at work in his life gave him a hope - a hope that promised a future praising God for all God has done, is doing and will continue to do! God's judgement helped the Psalmist to live an obedient life and a life that was close to God, walking and talking with Him! Then finally, we have the climax of the Psalm!
There is almost an urgent need to be fulfilled. The lost sheep needs to be found, to be preserved and to be delivered. For all his knowledge of Scripture, his obedience to God and his own righteousness - the Psalmist knew that it was only because God had promised to find him that he would be saved. He was relying on God to assure him of the salvation of his soul.
As a shepherd, he knew that if a sheep was lost, it was his job to find that sheep and restore it to the fold. So he uses this analogy, to symbolise his need of God's salvation. His own righteousness and obedience to the Law couldn't save his soul - only God could do that. God would seek him, find him and restore him. Here was the king, King David, recognizes his need to be a servant of God and wanting God to find him. He recognizes he needs to be obedient to God in response to being saved by God's grace and mercy.
How about you? How are you doing in regards to your praise? Is praise bubbling from you like water from a living stream? Are you being fully reliant on God alone for the salvation of your soul and not trusting in your own righteousness, obedience or strength? God's grace and that alone is what saves you. Not God's love. Not God's mercy. But God's grace and that grace alone. What is your delight, your ultimate delight? Your delight should be in being guided by God in every facet of your life and being in a devoted obedient relationship with Him. Ask Him and he will help. Raise your hand and ask for help, just as Peter did when sinking in the water and Jesus rescued him. In response to this grace and the salvation that is yours assured, go and live a life of obedience to God - wherever that takes you as His servant.
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Sunday Feb 23, 2025
Sunday Feb 23, 2025
Shin
161 Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word. 162 I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil. 163 I hate and abhor falsehood but I love your law. 164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws. 165 Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. 166 I wait for your salvation, O LORD, and I follow your commands. 167 I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly. 168 I obey your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you.
We only have to read of David's life in the Scriptures to know that he had enemies and persecutors from all walks of life. He was betrayed by close friends and attacked by people from both those within his own nation and those outside it. Here the people that are persecuting him are princes. Princes usually protect the innocent and bring justice to the oppressed. Princes usually act with honour, decorum and nobility - but not these ones! No! These princes are out to cause David, the Psalmist, harm and without a justifiable reason! Committing perjury against him and threatening his life.
What is David's reaction? Is it to run and hide with fear and trembling from these persecuting princes? No! David's fear is not from mere mortal men! David's reverent fear is at God speaking! He is in awe of God's Word. Mere mortals may harm the body, but only God can harm the soul and therefore the Psalmist is not disheartened by persecution, oppression or injustice. The reason he is in awe and reverent fear of God's Word is because it gives nourishment to him! He rejoices in the promises found! He has great joy at finding the treasures within God's written word! He values these treasures as more valuable than the spoils of war! The Psalmist fights for truth, battles for justice and feeds his hungry soul on all God's Word - not just his favourite parts! He loathes and abhors lies, perjury and false talk. They are bitter to him and a total contrast to the sweet honey of the Law and God's written Word. He loves it, feeding from it and gaining strength and nourishment - because it is solid Truth.
Resulting from this nourishment and this Truth, the Psalmist gains strength to be at prayerful praise during the day! This perfect God he sought to praise perfectly! When his perjuring persecutors came to mind, the Psalmist turned to praise and sang to the God of truth and salvation! He wasn't going to let these oppressive princes rob him of the joy of singing praise to his Almighty and righteous God! For he knows that God's laws are righteous and those that love God's law in obedience have great peace! This peace is not faltering as if built on sand! No! This peace is solid, reliable and true because it is based on God and His Law. Perfect peace for those who love God's Law and Words. Those that love God's Law are striving wholeheartedly to walk in obedience to God! When persecution comes, they have perfect peace, given by a God of peace. Because their peace is based on a God of perfect peace, they will not stumble or fall.
While the Law was important and obedience to it produced from love, it could not provide salvation! Salvation could only come from the God and that through grace and grace alone. Because he had salvation assured, the Psalmist sought to show it by being obedient to God's commands and laws. This love he has for God's statues, testimonies and precepts is as a result of his great God saving, rescuing and redeeming him from all his enemies. The Psalmist, David, obeyed God's statutes because he both loved them, but also loved his God. He strove to show his love for his God by being obedient to Him! His outer life which people see is a reflection of his inner spiritual life. Despite the traumas, tribulations and tests that come his way, the Psalmist knows that his salvation is assured, because his God has promised him and God always keeps his promises. The Psalmist knows the mind of God through reading, studying, digesting and loving God's written word - it is the basis for his life of obedience to God.
How are you doing? How are you coping when the tests and rigours of life in the 21st century come knocking on your day and wanting to disrupt you? Are you concentrating on them and worrying about them? Are they debilitating and corrupting you? What about when people perjure you, lie about you and betray you? How should we react? Fear not what mortal people can do! We are to be like the Psalmist and be at peace! If you are a Christian, you have an advocate before God the Father and you have the Holy Spirit as a comforter living inside you! That advocate is God the Son, Jesus Christ, the perfect Prince of peace! Unlike the princes who were persecuting the Psalmist, this Prince of Peace gives perfect peace to those who follow Him!
Cast your cares, burdens, and worries upon Him and let Him handle them. Let Him give you wisdom to deal and battle with those that seek to perjure and persecute you. Read what God has said in the Bible, follow it and obey it! Obedience, not as a means to salvation, because salvation can only be through God's gift of grace and that grace alone! Obedience to Almighty God is in order to reflect your inner peace with Him. Jesus said, "Love God and love others, for all the Law is summed up in those 2 commandments". Work out your salvation, as the Psalmist did, with reverent fear. Acknowledge God in all areas of your life and allow the Prince of peace to give you peace - peace in you, with you, on you and emanating from you! Seek the treasures in the Bible that are waiting for you to discover them. God is trustworthy, faithful and true! Don't just read your favourite passages, but all 66 books! It is worth it! Go in peace to love and server the Lord! Amen!