Partakers Christian Podcasts

Scriptural Delight 18 - Psalm 119:121-128

Ayin

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

Three times in these 8 verses you'll find the words ‘your servant'. They are in verses 122, 124 and 125. That gives a flavour to this section of the psalm. He knows that he has been called in his personal life and, probably, in a public role to serve the Lord. He feels the cost of doing that and appeals to the Lord for help in various ways. All true believers in Jesus today are called to serve the Lord. It begins with simply the way we live. That means that our lifestyle, our priorities and our values about what is right and wrong, will often bring us into conflict with people living and working around us.

Should the Lord call us into a specific role in serving Him, in our local church perhaps, or in the wider world through a Christian mission or agency, the pressure will come in a different way, from those who object to the work we are doing in the name of Christ. Like the psalmist we, too, must turn to the Lord for his comfort and strengthening in the situation. In the first two verses here, he is concerned for his own well-being. ‘I have done what is righteous and just; do not leave me to my oppressors. Ensure your servant's well-being; let not the arrogant oppress me.' He is suffering from ‘people-pressure' and he's not too keen on it.

But we take note of the fact that he's not engaging with them in a war of words but, rather, he's turned to the Lord with an urgent plea for His help. He's resorted to prayer, rather than to disputation, as the best way of dealing with the problem. That's a good example to follow. Our arguments will tend to harden people in their opposition. Sometimes it will even give them some satisfaction to know that they've got to us. Like Jesus before his enemies, we will find that being silent before them but verbal towards God is usually the best way of handling the matter. After all, the Spirit of God can reach those parts in people that none of us can get to!

As we move on, it's clear that he is being called to endure, to keep going, while the Lord is actually handling the situation for him. God's timing and the servant's wishes do not coincide. The Lord seems to be hanging about - why doesn't He get on with it? ‘My eyes fail, looking for your salvation.' And, in verse 126, a wake-up call to the Lord, ‘It is time for you to act, O Lord!' His impatience, on the one hand, is due to his humanity.  He's sharing with us the stress we all feel when our prayers are not being answered with the degree of urgency we feel the case merits.

On the other hand, he has a genuine concern, that those who profess to be God's people are actually flouting - breaking - His Law. Now, whatever happens, or doesn't happen to him personally, surely that situation needs to be addressed! So, in verses 127-128 we read, ‘Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.' That kind of love for the Lord and his word runs through the whole of this challenging psalm.

In fact, it will be found everywhere in Scripture. Devotion to the Lord is expressed by a desire to live His way and to please Him. The Apostle Paul prayed for the Christians at Colosse that they might, ‘live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way.' You'll find that in Colossians 1:10. Before we leave this servant of the Lord, let's have a look at verse 124. ‘Deal with your servant according to your love.' That's a confident request, rooted in his experience of what God is like. To use a New Testament expression, he knows that ‘God is love', therefore all His dealings with us spring from that love, are informed and shaped by that love, and are working towards the best possible end for us. At present, it seems He is working along a strange route and to a different timetable, but in the end, all will be well. Remember, ‘Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' 

Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.

Scriptural Delight 17 - Psalm 119:113-120

Samekh

¹¹³ I hate double-minded men, but I love your law. ¹¹⁴ You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. ¹¹⁵ Away from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commands of my God! ¹¹⁶ Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed. ¹¹⁷ Uphold me, and I will be delivered; I will always have regard for your decrees. ¹¹⁸ You reject all who stray from your decrees, for their deceitfulness is in vain. ¹¹⁹ All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross; therefore I love your statutes. ¹²⁰ My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws.

Just as the Psalmist is single-minded regarding God, obeying God and keeping God's law, so there are others who are unstable and are in two minds about how to act!  The Psalmist compares the stability and reliability of God's word with the instability and fluctuations of those who are unstable in their commitment to God and God alone.  Even his own thoughts when he strays, are the product of a mind that is having wayward thoughts.  The Psalmist knows that only God's word and God's wisdom can provide a solid basis for making decisions, whether moral, private or public.  We get the sense that he is fighting a battle within himself, to control his thoughts and thinking patterns - that when his old ways of thinking habitually take over, he hates it. 

He goes on to cry out to God that God alone is his rescuer, refuge and protector!  He cannot rely on his own intellect and man-made wisdom to do that for him, but rather, he relies on God's word and God's wisdom to reveal God as his protector and shelter! Then in verse 115, we see that he has a battle not only within himself, but also those who would seek him harm.  These people are taunting, tempting and seeking to destroy him.  Perhaps they are mocking him for his belief in God's words and wisdom, which is why he retorts by saying he wants to keep the commandments of his protecting God. 

With God at his side, the Psalmist knows that no harm can come to him.  He has a personal relationship with this God and the Psalmist seeks to follow closely.  The taunts of his enemies are nothing and the Psalmist takes refuge in the wisdom of His All-knowing God.  His God has promised to sustain him, maintain his life! The Psalmist has put all his hopes in and on this great God whom he desires to know more and more.  He knows God's promises are true, unlike those made by his enemies.  God will not forsake him, even when all other people do. When he is in trouble, to whom does he turn?  Does he turn to his enemies and surrender? Does he rely on his own wisdom and guile to escape the clutches of those who would do him harm? No! The Psalmist knows that God Himself will deliver him from the clutches of evil, and that by paying regard to God's decrees and God's wisdom, there will be an escape for him! He doesn't want to obey mere man but rather be obedient to this great God whom he loves, cherishes, adores and has promised to deliver him from evil and those who do evil! 

Those who reject God and God's ways, will be rejected by God Himself!  They are living a life of deceit, double-mindedness and fluctuating morals - God will reject them because they have paid Him no heed. They have relied on their own wisdom and guile to survive - but not for much longer! For the Psalmist knows that this God rules the earth and all those who do wicked and are not in relationship with Him, will be lost forever.  The Psalmist knows that it is by his God's twin actions of mercy and grace that he will be delivered and because he loves this God, he also loves all that God has commanded to be done.  He is in fear of this awesome, all-powerful God and is in awe of the wisdom given in the laws and commandments of this God. 

Those that rely on their own wisdom, own imagination, own power will be as dust in the wind - but those that fear the Lord, accept His wisdom and commandments, will be delivered, rescued and be alive forever - just like the Psalmist says! I don't know about you, but I face a constant battle to be obedient to God and His wisdom. When we are tempted to sin, we are given two choices - either sin or not sin.  We hop from one leg to the other, not knowing which leg to stand on.  By continuing to ponder the temptation, we fall into a double-minded state.  We can choose to either obey God or disobey Him. 

Our 3 enemies surround us: satan, the world and our old nature. We are to be over-comers of these enemies and not in our own strength, wisdom or guile.  If we put our trust in anybody or anything but God the Holy Spirit to help us overcome the temptation to sin, we will fall into that trap of double-mindedness that the Psalmist talks about. We too will then be jumping from one leg to other, not knowing how to stand.  We can overcome our enemies and temptations by asking God the Holy Spirit to help us escape the trap and by also having a reverent fear of God.  Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom cries the writer of Proverbs.  It is a fear borne out of respect rather than dread. It is a fear borne from being in total awe! So lets go, not hopping from one leg to the other or from one thought to other, but rather get to know God's word intimately, be stable in your thinking and in your fearful desire to please this awesome God of grace and mercy, who delivers, rescues, protects and shelters! And it is in this God, that I take rest in my new nature given to me when I became a Christian and letting Him fight the battles for me.  Thank you.

Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.

Scriptural Delight 16 - Psalm 119:105-112

Nun

¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. ¹⁰⁶ I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. ¹⁰⁷ I have suffered much; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your word. ¹⁰⁸ Accept, O LORD, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws. ¹⁰⁹ Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law. ¹¹⁰ The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts. ¹¹¹ Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. ¹¹² My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.

As he walks in the darkness with a lamp to show him where to tread and which path to follow, the Psalmist here is reflecting on just how God's word leads, guides and keeps him on the path of staying right with, and obedient to, Almighty God.  Many is the path the Psalmist would have trodden in the dark when tending sheep when he was a shepherd boy, being careful not to fall into any holes. 

Now, he says just how brightly shining God's word is, to guide, steer and keep him on the narrow spiritual path!  The light of Scripture and God's Law, commands and statues not only give guidance on how to live, but also direct and guide every action! God's word, says the Psalmist, is a light and lamp through the dark time he spoke of earlier.  The tiniest light affects even the darkest night.  It would also have been after having renounced all earthly wisdom that the Psalmist David could be guided by heavenly wisdom seen in the Law!

With a lamp to direct his footsteps and a light to guide his path, the Psalmist resolved boldly before God, that he will follow the righteous laws as laid down.  The lamp and the light are to show God's moral guidance! They are to show a way forward and not backwards! By going backwards, the Psalmist knows he will fall into darkness and ways that are disobedient to God! So he relies on the Law and God's commandments to show him the way up the narrow path of obedience to God.  He offers himself to the service of God and is willing to fully committed to following where God leads and be obedient to Him. 

With his desire to keep God's laws, the Psalmist is embracing what God commands wholeheartedly and single-mindedly. And how does he achieve this?  Is this achievable by using his own strength and guile?  No! its due only to God's grace and power that the Psalmist can hope to achieve his goal and fulfil his oath.  He knows that even though he suffers for his obedience, the Lord has promised to save and rescue him, according to His promises!

Again, the Psalmists relies on God's promises to save, secure and rescue him. In response to be rescued the Psalmist offers praises and a willingness to be taught!  With praises of a teachable person, God is asked to accept the Psalmist' sacrifice.  Nothing was more important to the Psalmist than to know how God wanted him to behave in all situations and God's laws, statutes, precepts and commandments enable the Psalmist to exercise Godly obedience in all situations - both private and public. He has sought to do this, despite sufferings, persecutions, having his very life threatened and being in constant danger of his enemies. 

Despite all that, God's laws are imprinted on the Psalmist's heart and engraved on his mind - he does not forget!  He is then able to overcome the traps, lures, snares and temptations laid out in wait for him, by his enemies.  Knowing God's precepts on his heart and mind, allow the Psalmist to avoid such traps, shining the lamp and light of God's word on the path ahead.  His persecuting enemies seek to destroy and kill him, but they are eluded by the Psalmist Godly guile and knowledge. 

For the Psalmist knows that God's laws are everlasting to everlasting and they bring him true joy. The testimonies he has read in the history of his people about how they overcame in order to be obedient to God are a joy to him.  Provided the Psalmist possessed this everlasting joy, he could leave all other pleasures such as music, gold, jewels, riches, honours, wealth and family behind. God and being obedient to God through God's laws were the Psalmists utmost joy and goal - with a lamp and light to show the way forward!

How is  your lamp showing?  How is your walk of obedience to, and service of, God going?  It is when we are struggling with temptations and sins, that we need the Holy Spirit to help us overcome.  So often, I know, we try in our own strength to overcome temptations and fail. We succumb to the tempters traps and disobey God.  Much to the pleasure of our goading enemies.  Jesus when in the last night before his arrest, trial and death, endured supreme temptations to just give up.  But He didn't, because like the Psalmist, His supreme joy was found to be obedient to the Father!  Where is your supreme joy found? Is it found in your wealth, possessions, sexual activity, friends or family?  Or is your supreme joy, like the Psalmist and Jesus, found in obedience to God and service to Him and His people?  Remember that we have a helper who dwells inside us - God the Holy Spirit! He will help you through temptations and snares and give you the grace freely to do so.

Finally, when you do sin, having fallen for the lure or trap of the enemy, then be quick to ask forgiveness for your sin. The longer you leave it, the more it will fester, turn poisonous and gives the enemy, satan, an opportunity to accuse you.  Ask forgiveness from God, accept His grace, move on and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you anew and help you.  Read Psalm 51 and Psalm 32 if you want to know how the Psalmist did it!  Remember, that temptation itself is not a sin - even Jesus was tempted many times and yet He never sinned! Thank you.

Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.

Scriptural Delight 15 - Psalm 119:97-104

Mem

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

Here the Psalmist declares his love for God's commandments, law and wisdom!  It's now not merely delight but he has moved on to a kind of spiritual ecstatic love!  So much so, that the Psalmist meditates on God's law all the time, letting what God has revealed in His written word to permeate the Psalmist's whole thinking!  And of course, meditating in this sense is not just sitting around and thinking - meditating in the biblical sense is always focussed on God and then acting out what has been learnt from God!  The Psalmist knows that action has its beginning in the thought process and is the culmination of meditating.

This action involves the Psalmist being wiser than his enemies!  Because he relies on what God has said, and obeys what God has said, the Psalmist can avoid the traps of his enemies.  The Psalmist knows that God will protect him!  The Psalmist is endeavouring to live a life worth of His God - a life of total obedience and worship - so by having God's commands with him all the time, helps him achieve this twin aim. And its not only his enemies that he is wiser than - it is also his teachers!  Its not that these teachers were fools - they were not!  Its also not that they couldn't be trusted! They could!

But the study of God's word and meditating upon it, leads to wisdom and fear of the Lord.  He doesn't just accept what those around him and teach him say. He tests and approves their teaching in comparison with what he finds in the Law. Think not that the Psalmist is boasting, because he is not! Rather, he is accepting the teaching from God's word with a child-like desire to grow in knowledge and obedience of Almighty God.  He builds up God and God's Law and not himself.  This has also led him to be more obedient than his elders.  God's precepts and commandments are a priority in the life of the Psalmist! He exudes ecstatic love for God and for God's law, precepts, statutes and commandments. And this ecstatic desire has produced dividends! 

The Psalmist feet have been on the path of obedience and right living! He is following God intimately! Every footstep he takes is carefully chosen so that his feet stay away from the paths of evil!  Nothing could persuade or seduce him away from following God's path closely.  So intimate is he with God's commandments and statutes that he has not departed from them! The path of obedience to God may not have been the easiest path for the Psalmist to take, but it was the right path because it showed obedience to Almighty God, the greatest teacher of all in verse 102! This intimacy of relationship between the Psalmist and God is sweet. The Psalmist loves to read the words of God and exclaims that it is even sweeter when he speak the words of God!  While God's commands are to be sweet to the ears, eyes and intellect, it is only surpassed in sweetness when talked about and put into action. 

The Psalmist knew that if he only gained a head knowledge of obedience to God, then he would stray away from God, so he puts into practice in his life what God has taught him to do.  This is for the Psalmist to live a life of total and utter obedience to the great God he worshipped and adored.  Try as they might, his enemies cannot seduce him away from this obedience to his God! This life of total obedience to God, was mirrored in the life of Jesus Christ. Many times he was tempted to give in, walk the easy path and live a life unworthy of God. 

While we know the Psalmist, David, did sin, we know for sure that Jesus Christ did not.  The life of Jesus Christ portrays an unparalleled intimacy with God and an ecstatic desire to be obedient to God.  Jesus could have said no to the cross, but he did not.  When Jesus Christ died on that cross, it was part of His total obedience to God.  He could have given into Satan's temptations but we know that He did not.  He had faith that His Father would raise him to life again 3 days later - and He was!  Jesus was intimate with the Scriptures, as was the Psalmist David. 

How are you doing? Are there areas in your life where you are not obeying God and are being seduced away from Him?  How is your intimacy with Him? Do you have an ecstatic relationship with the Bible, God's written word, as the Psalmist did?  Why not pray and ask the Holy Spirit to develop this spiritual ecstasy within you, to read the Bible and follow it closely. So we wrap up with wise words from the Apostle Paul, writing in Ephesians 5:15-16 "Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."

Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.

Scriptural Delight 14 - Psalm 119:89-96

Lamedh

⁸⁹ Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. ⁹⁰ Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. ⁹¹ Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you. ⁹² If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. ⁹³ I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life. ⁹⁴ Save me, for I am yours; I have sought out your precepts. ⁹⁵ The wicked are waiting to destroy me, but I will ponder your statutes. ⁹⁶ To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless.

From languishing in the pit of despair in the previous section, the Psalmist here starts with a bang - "Your word, O Lord, is eternal, it stands firm in the heavens" WOW!  While in the pit, he was being tossed and turned like a small boat on a stormy sea! Now he has focussed on a steady rock - God's word!  It is ordered, steadfast, secure and timeless!  In his times of trouble, he turns his attention from himself and his troubles to something much more certain - the Lord and his promises, judgements, orders, decrees, laws and statutes.  God's promises are so certain, assured, and secure that the Psalmist places his whole hope in them!  Secure in the Psalmist's mind and heart is the knowledge that God will rescue him as promised!

He goes on in the next verse to continue the WOW factor! The Psalmist knows that God's faithfulness is unchangeable, timeless and persevering!  Look here at the correlation between God's word and God's work! Just as He is faithful throughout time to all generations, so He created the whole world at a single command, and it too endures! Just as the earth endures having been established by God's powerful words, so too do God's laws endure with precision.  God's word sustains all of creation and all things made are to serve almighty God. 

For the Psalmist this signifies that serving God means to obey God and live a life of service to God.  The Psalmist learns to obey, by studying what God has instructed and learning from the lessons of the past from his ancestors and ancient Israel. This same word preserves the Psalmist.  It is his utter delight.  It is his succour, help and source of joy!  Cogitating upon and remembering God's law is his way of being sustained.  For without it, the Psalmist would be dust at the bottom of the pit - extinguished, lifeless, maligned and afflicted. 

The Psalmist, David, lifts his mind to heaven and sees the consistency and constancy of God's dwelling place! There is his only hope, and that hope was found in God alone through God's word because unlike him, God is not perishable!  He reflects on how God's truths, precepts and instructions have been a source of comfort, joy and encouragement to him to keep going! Without them, he would have just given up and let his persecutors malign him further. Because of this hope, the Psalmist reaches out to God to save him, because he knows that only God can rescue him!  He reaches out to God through God's own precepts, law and word!

The Psalmist's salvation can only come from God and he acknowledges that God is his only hope as discovered through God's teachings and through the knowledge of how God handled the Psalmist's ancestors. While his persecutors wait for him, laying traps to ensnare and take his life, the Psalmist is taking comfort through what he knows about God through the word.  He ponders them, recalls them, brings to mind the promised made by God and the righteous laws given so that he can live a right life for God.  David doesn't worry what mere humans can do to him! No! He gets stuck in to getting to know God better and strengthening his relationship with God! That is what matters to him - being close to God, studying God and becoming closer to God through pondering God's word and God's decrees.

Then finally, the Psalmist concludes that all is meaningless and limited apart from God and God's utterances.  God's commandments and laws bring freedom and hope!  While all things visible have a degree of perfection, they are also temporary, unstable and narrow.  Through the trials of life, the only hope that sustained him was God's ways and God's word. Its perfection is its glory!  By acknowledging that he falls far short of God's holiness and glory, does he continue in the knowledge that his salvation can only come from God.  Its not his own perfection he seeks as a means to being rescued, but to God's perfection! Not his own strength but God's strength to save!

How are you doing and what do you do when the trials of life hit you with a bang?  Do you go into your shell and take pity on yourself?  Do you think God doesn't care about you and your situation?  Its all very well saying you are on God's side when things are going well, but life here on earth just isn't like that! That is not reality!  Reality is that God wants to help you, He has promised to help you, promised to sustain you and promised to be in relationship with you! Are you worrying and burdened?  Then tell God about them, and cast your burdens upon Jesus and let him take the load!  Are you serving God and God's people and yet feeling weak?  Pray and ask God to empower you with the Holy Spirit, so that you do things using His inexhaustible energy and indefatigable power!  Where does your help come from?  It comes from God and from pondering what He has said in the Bible, helping to build your relationship with Him!

Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.

Scriptural Delight 13 - Psalm 119:81-88

Kaph

⁸¹ My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word. ⁸² My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, "When will you comfort me?" ⁸³ Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees. ⁸⁴ How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors? ⁸⁵ The arrogant dig pitfalls for me, contrary to your law. ⁸⁶ All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause. ⁸⁷ They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts. ⁸⁸ Preserve my life according to your love, and I will obey the statutes of your mouth.

Here the Psalmist is fading.  He is languishing in desperation, worn out and expiring.  You can feel his weakness as he pitifully cries out that he is wilting under pressure and his eyes are failing due to darkness overpowering him.  You can sense the life draining out of him as he pitifully cries out to God.  But yet...  Yet the Psalmist, despite being in such desperate condition, continues to have a twin hope.  A yearning for salvation brings about a hope in God's word. The Psalmist knows that salvation will come to him, because God has promised it and God always keeps His promises.  David knows God will rescue him because God never disappoints!  When desire is exhausted and extinguished, then a certain and sure hope takes over to lift the Psalmist back up again. 

With weakened eyes the Psalmist seeks comfort and ease. The picture of wineskins being smoked is perhaps strange to us in the 21^st century world.  But for David they were an explicit illustration of his condition.  Wineskins when empty were hung up in the tent and when smoke filled the tent as it often did, the wineskins grew haggard, wrinkled from the heat and blackened with soot.  It's a picture of David's face.  He is no longer the ruddy-faced shepherd of his youth.  He feels decrepit, wrinkled, haggard and gloomy.  His body was feeling listless and dilapidated. He had endured persecution, undergone the torment of slanderous lies being told about him and his character blackened as if with soot. 

And yet... and yet he still had hope, a glimmer of anticipation - he does not forget God's decrees and statutes.  This is his way of reaching out to hold God's hand through this time. He is waiting for his God to deliver & rescue him, to realise the hope he had placed in Jehovah God.  David was getting edgy and fed up!  He has placed his grievances against others into the court of the Lord and was waiting for justice to be done!   He wants his persecutors punished according to God's law!  His persecutors were digging him many pits to which to trap and bury him.  They were contravening God's law with jesting, arrogance and a haughty step.

But David's enemies had forgotten that while they were his enemies, they were also enemies of God! God who had decreed and given commandments to be followed!  David had followed God's commands so would be rescued from his tormentors.  David had not forgotten about God and what God had promised him.  God will help him and David is stretching out his hands for help. And isn't this last verse more than delightful. 

It is not only the Psalmist saying spare or preserve my life.  We get a sense it is more a case of "Give me life!"  The Psalmist is not seeking merely survival but wanting a full life restored to him.  And he knows that this God he follows and serves will grant him new life! David will live again! God has promised it! WOW! Despite what he is going through, David knows he will have new life!  This new life will see David continue to exhibit a life worthy of God as he follows God's commands in a dynamic relationship.  What God has said, David will do.  David was assuredly a man after God's own heart.

How are you doing right now?  Are you feeling as David was? Confused, aged, drying up, wrinkled and lacking energy - physically and/or spiritually? Are people mocking you and jeering you because of the faith you have in Jesus Christ?  Take heart for God is watching, protecting and will rescue you.  Stay faithful to Him despite all the opposition you are enduring and the Great God whom you seek to serve will come to your aid.  Don't give into the doubters by compromising yourself but hold true to God and His word.  If you are the subject of abuse, injustice or any kind of wrongdoing, take your case to God in prayer! Let the God of justice help you, give you counsel through the Bible and minister to you.  Ask the Holy Spirit to give you comfort, for that is one of his names - the Comforter.  Whatever you are going through reach out and touch God's hand that is outstretched to you.  Reach out in gratitude to the great God and as an act of gratitude, seek to serve a holy life worthy of being called His servant. Thank you.

Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.

Scriptural Delight 12 - Psalm 119:73-80

Yodh

⁷³ Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands. ⁷⁴ May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word. ⁷⁵ I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me. ⁷⁶ May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. ⁷⁷ Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight. ⁷⁸ May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause; but I will meditate on your precepts. ⁷⁹ May those who fear you turn to me, those who understand your statutes. ⁸⁰ May my heart be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be put to shame.

 

When writing this psalm in honour of God's word and its effect upon the life of a believer, the author majored in 8 Hebrew words to describe ways in which the Lord communicates with his people. All 8 are to be found in this section. Now what does that say to us? Here's a quote that really sets us thinking, ‘The author had a theme that filled his soul - that ranged the length and breadth, the height and depth of a person's walk with God.' John Stek makes a great point with these words. This section is about the powerful effect the word of God has in shaping us, developing us, maturing us and equipping us to represent Him in this world.

Four big ideas came out of it for me. Verses 73 and 80 remind us that God made us. ‘Your hands made me and formed me.' That's the starting point for everyone who has a living relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not here by accident, nor by the will and activity of our parents alone. God was in the process of bringing us into the world. He is our Creator, so who knows better than Him how we work and what we need to know, so that we can live in His way? Every piece of equipment in our homes was designed and built for a specific purpose. To know how to use it properly you read the manufacturer's instructions. If it needs servicing or repair you find information in that maker's manual. It's ordinary common sense. And it's spiritual common sense to know that the best way to live in line with the Lord's purpose in making us, is to read his word and respond to its directions.

In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul wrote, ‘All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.' It's the Maker's Manual. Verses 74 and 79 imply that the life of a true believer, especially someone active in the Lord's work, is bound to influence other people. You can't escape it! People around us will be affected, for better or worse, by the way we live (or don't live) in accordance with Scripture. Younger and less mature Christians look to those of us who are more experienced, for guidance and example. Others will be taking note of our words and actions and won't hesitate to charge us with any inconsistency they see in our behaviour. This is true within the fellowship of a church, as well as in the home and at work. Our actions speak louder than our words, so we must let the Holy Spirit teach us through Scripture and keep in step with him in our lives.

The New Testament has a lot to say about the importance being a good witness before other people. ‘Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.' Matthew 5:16. Verses 75 and 78 show that the writer had to suffer for his faith.  The life and work he was called to were no easy ride. He speaks of ‘the arrogant' and the fact that he'd been wronged by these very people. Under the surface of the text, there is a suggestion that they'd misrepresented him; twisted his words and actions to suit their own ends. That's not easy to bear. Paul wrote, again in 2 Timothy, ‘Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.' It's not optional.

But our psalmist recognises that God is at work in all this, using it to knock him into shape. He bravely goes so far as to state ‘In faithfulness you have afflicted me.' No-one volunteers for suffering but we must endure when it comes. ‘The testing of your faith develops perseverance.' James 1:3.

Finally, we notice 5 ‘wish prayers'; short prayers beginning with the word ‘May . . .' Pick them out and think about them. These are not weak prayers. They are valid and honest, reaching from the heart into other people's lives and needs. They may be expressed at any time, in any place, for anyone. Simple, but real. The apostle Paul used ‘wish prayers'. Look up Romans chapter 15:5-6 and then in verse 13, for two examples. Sometimes, when we find normal prayer difficult, these short prayers can prove valuable in helping us dispense some degree of blessing on other people in our lives. Also, why not try to find ways of using this kind of prayer as an add-on to your usual methods of praying? ‘May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.'

Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.

Scriptural Delight 11 - Psalm 119:65-72

 

Teth

 

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

The Psalmist starts again with a great acclamation! "Oh my Lord God! You have done good to your servant, according to your word"! Here David acclaims God for his faithfulness and for the consistency of God's innate goodness!  God' has again kept his promises to His servant David and is faithful to him.  From God's promises, flow the benefits of serving the Living God!  Then the servant David, asks the Great God to teach him knowledge and judgment, for without either David could not live rightly in accordance with God's commandments and precepts.  This is a King willing to be a servant of the Lord, with a teachable mind and a malleable spirit.  So by the renewing of his mind and the gain of knowledge, David seeks to use this knowledge wisely and in good taste and judgement as he makes decisions - both private and public, personal and as king!

But from v67 we see that David had not always done so! He have gone astray from being obedient to God!  Whether it was one incident or if he is relating himself to the natural rebelliousness against God that all people have, David now seeks to be fully obedient to God, in mind, heart and in service.  His zealousness for God and God's law is palpable.  You can taste it as you read how David went from rebellion to obedience and submission to God's ways and laws.  Whatever David's affliction was, it certainly had a curative affect on him. As he looked back on his life, David saw what God had done and how God had brought him through, teaching him and loving him.  David could see that rebellion and insolence marked the historical Israel's relationship with God and how God had taught and moulded them.

Verse 68 sees the servant David yet again pleading, begging and beseeching God to teach him! Teach me your decrees O great God! O Great God you are good and goodness is you!  All that God does is good, the Psalmist cries, because goodness is part of the innate and essential character of God! He knows that God is good and good all the time!  But knowing God is good, David doesn't seek or pray for wealth, honours or privilege!

By no means! David seeks and prays continually to be taught how to obey this great and awesome God who is worthy of being fully obeyed. The Psalmist then compares his perjurers against God! The proud enemies of David have perjured against him, telling lies, spreading malicious talk and denigrating his character.  Does David now wish to take revenge upon them? 

Nope! David desires once again with heartfelt yearning to learn from God and keeping his precepts and statutes in his heart.  These opponents of his have hearts of impenetrable and unmovable stone.  They have no feelings or sensitivity to the ways of God.  All this could well discourage David: leaving him depressed, feeling defeated, battered, bruised and beaten.

But again, no! The Spirit of God pierces David's heart and he is shown to be malleable and teachable, willing to be obedient to this God he serves.  David's delight is not in seeking revenge, but in reading about God and his innate goodness and Law. During his affliction, David may well have questioned God, and asked "Why me?" He may well have been feeling quite dissolute during the times. 

But now, after the event, he says that it was good because God chastised him! That was part of God's method of teaching him, because God loved him.  David knew that he was naturally obstinate against God. David now knew that obedience is better than sacrifice and that what God wanted from him, was his utter and total obedience.  No amount of sacrifices could beat that! 

In this last verse, David again states that his primary desire is not for honour, riches or a vast inheritance or kingdom, but rather to listen to God speaking to him through the Word. WOW! That is awesome isn't it? God is good and good all the time! Good in who He is! Good in what He does! Good in what He does to teach us.  Our response, as it was for the Psalmist, is to be totally obedient to this God of goodness.

Yet, if we are honest, we have to say at least to ourselves, that sometimes we don't feel or see this goodness of God. We all are naturally rebellious and disobedient against God.  God demands our obedience and conformity to Him.  Not as a means to salvation, because that could only ever be by His grace and mercy.  We show we are His people, by being obedient to Him - which consists of loving Him and loving others.  We are to love also getting to know Him, and have zealousness for the Bible and for prayer! Read about how God is good in your bible and pray to Him to teach you! He will! We are to be obedient by serving others and by doing so this reveals we are serving this Almighty God of goodness. Then we too, like the Psalmist, will be servant hearted, teachable, humble and obedient, shining as lights in darkness.

Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.

Scriptural Delight 10 - Psalm 119:57-64

Heth

 

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

David starts off this segment with a bang! A great burst of exclamation of praise "You are my portion, O Lord!" Wow! Here David is lost in awe and wonder of the great God in whom he has put his trust and hope! This great God whom David desires to obey!  This God is part of his treasure and David is enraptured! David could easily have turned to his vast wealth and resources for comfort. He could have plundered the great treasures of the ancient world.  Yet that is not where his heart is - his heart is firmly set on the gift-giver, the Great God! 

So much so that he reaffirms yet again his promise to obey God's every law, precept and command! Here is a man expressing total heartfelt devotion to the God who chose him and therefore seeks to serve Jehovah God! God may have chosen David, but David still desires to develop the relationship with God! He seeks God's face fervently, wholeheartedly and with great devotion. By seeking God's face (verse 58), David is seeking to be in the very presence of the Living God, enfolded in the grace God.  At the very core of God's being is grace, love and mercy.  And the Psalmist knows that God will give him grace, love and mercy, because God has promised that He will! And God always keeps his promises, his side of the deal!

As a response, in verse 59 & 60, David considers how he has been living disobediently and turns back to following and obeying the great God who is his portion, his all!  That is repentance!  He was stepping out of synch with God but turned himself around to the God of grace and made a conscious choice to obey God's commands instead of going his own way. He chose the way of Life instead of the path that leads to destruction.  It is a lifelong commitment David is making, not a half-hearted gesture. No! David is taking all the steps he can in order to be found fully obedient to God and God's law! David's enemies and persecutors may try to bind him with ropes and try to ensnare him, yet he will not forget God and God's words.  Nothing deflects him from following God.  Not being tied up by enemies who oppress and seek to restrict him, even kill him.  The Psalmist knows they cannot match the God of grace whom he seeks! 

So when he had the opportunity, David arose at the midnight hour! Not in order to pray for deliverance but to give thanks! Giving thanks not that he may suffer for the sake of his God but more to thank the Lord for His righteous laws!  God's judgement will fall upon the wicked, the disobedient and unruly! We know from the historical books of the Bible that David was a friend with all those who chose to obey God - those who feared the Lord.   These were the truly wise people, because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom!  It didn't matter whether they were rich or poor - if they feared the Lord and obeyed Him, David would be with them and befriend them! This great King David befriending the obscure who feared the Lord they served together. Whatever David had faced in his life, he knew that God had been there and loved him.  Through exile, betrayal, war, peace, famine and prosperity - God has always shown His love to David.  This assures David that the Lord truly is his portion!

So enamoured is he with God he constantly seeks to be taught by this great God!  Lord you are my portion, he started this section and he finishes with another exclamation of how the earth is filled with the glorious love of the LORD!  Despite being a ruler, leader and King, David still acknowledges that he is also teachable in all areas of life!

How are you doing when faced with the daily problems?  Where is the great God's place for you?  He desires most earnestly to be your full portion for every day.  He calls you to seek His face.  The great God, the Holy Spirit indwells you, to empower you, transform you and teach you how to live!  You are to be constantly filled with the Spirit, not just as a one off experience.  The main way is through the Bible! Read it, pray it and be eager to learn from it! Don't be distracted by anything else but be found fully seeking God in all facets and aspects of life. 

When times of trouble come, just as they did to David, you will find that the Bible and the Holy Spirit's inspiration will help you, give you succour and comfort, as the gracious God of mercy enfolds you in His loving arms of compassion. Seek Him! Desire to live rightly for Him! Show others you know Him, by doing good and showing this God of love to those around you who do not fear Him.  Build friendships with those you know who love the Lord as you do - regardless of their social status or rank.  May you also be found exclaiming that the Lord is your portion!  Thank you.

Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.

Scriptural Delight 09 - Psalm 119:49-56

Zayin

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

The Psalmist now he proceeds to the dual role of memory in the life of the servant of God - as both the one being reminded and the one who remembers! The Psalmist is under pressure and is enduring great suffering! He is being mocked, scorned and ridiculed relentlessly by his opponents.  Where is his comfort and consolation coming from? What is his reaction to opposition?  He is full of hope even though he is going through all of this!

The reason he is full of hope is because the Lord God is reminding the Psalmist of His promises! The Psalmist is still full of hope because he knows that God will fulfil his promises to him, and therefore has a confident hope in the God of his salvation.  So, because of this reminder, the Psalmist takes consolation and comfort as he brings to mind what God reminds him of in His word. The Psalmist knows God's promises preserve and sustain in him in times of trouble.  

Therefore, despite the arrogance of his persecutors, the Psalmist continues to obey God and follow His Law and commands. The Psalmist values his integrity before God as being higher than giving into the demands of those who seek to destroy him. Having been reminded and having reflected on the Lord, His Law and His Word, its time for action: and the act is that of remembering! 

The first act of being able to remember is to have made some effort in the first place to get into the mind!  So as we have seen in this Psalm so far, in relation to God's word, the Psalmist has read it faithfully, systematically and methodically.  Repeating it to himself, so that when times of trouble come, it can be remembered easily!   When times of injustice such as v53 come, he became very zealous for God against the law-breakers! Not only that, but he was aggrieved by the boldness and impudence of such people! How dare they, the Psalmist seems to be saying!  By breaking God's Laws they are disavowing knowledge of God! 

And why does he say that?  In verse 54 we read how God's Laws are his song. They are his delight and he holds them in his heart.  They go with him wherever he travels and nobody can take them away from him.  When David himself was banished from his country, he took God's laws with him, because they were inscribed inside his mind and his heart. Continuing in the same vein, those who actively obey God, putting into practise His commands, remember God perpetually! God works when His people listen to Him and acknowledge Him for who He is!  The Psalmist sets himself up against those who mock him, and because they mock him are therefore despising God! 

The Psalmist, David, invites all others to stand up to those who slander God. Whether that despising slander is actively and passive! The Psalmist seeks a life of total obedience to God alone - both in the day and in the night!  He immerses himself in God's word all day!  Now remember, for the Psalmist the only part of the bible he would have had would be the first 5 books and possibly the book of Job!  So he only has those stories of how God has encountered and interacted with people to reflect on and remember.

How are you doing when people mock and scorn you for our beliefs?  How do you react when you see God being mocked, scorned and insulted? Are you living only for what you deem to be Godly experiences or are you living only for God? Where the Psalmist probably only had 6 books talking about God encountering people, we have 66 books! Not only that, we also have 2000 years of church history to see how God has used His people for His glory!  That's the value of church history! Seeing how God has used people such as Martin Luther, Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Augustine, John Calvin etc.  Nothing you are enduring or undergoing is new. Somebody at sometime will have undergone a very similar experience, particularly in the Bible. 

Read and learn! Read and remember, so that God will be actively obeyed in your life.  Remember God and His word, so you can speak out against injustices in this world as you see them being reported in the media. Are you getting to know your God personally as you read what it says? Do you pray with your Bible open? The role of memory is important to the Christian, even if you, like me, have memory problems!  Be ready for the Holy Spirit to bring back to your memory the verses you read, when you need to remember the most - either when counselling other people or as help for yourself!  The Psalmist remembered God's Word and saw its importance in the role of memorising Scripture.  We would do well, to do likewise!

Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.