Partakers Christian Podcasts

Scriptural Delight 03 - Psalm 119:1-8

Aleph

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

I wonder what you regard as being successful in life? Is it the amount of money in your bank accounts? Or perhaps it is the long and successful career? Now while there is nothing essentially wrong with those sorts of things, the Psalmist writes that the key to living a successful life is to be obedient to God and doing, as He has decreed. God has spoken and given His decrees, law, commands and statutes! Look at the picture the Psalmist writes. Walk according to the Law of the Lord. Keep His statutes. Seek Him wholeheartedly.

The person who is blessed doesn’t do wrong against other people (that is what is meant in verse 3) and is obedient to God’s decrees. The successful person considers how to best apply God’s commands in their life, letting them permeate every facet of their being! A successful life is one, which is utterly obedient to God and God’s commands, precepts and decrees. Not only in the doing of them, but also in the underlying attitude. God’s commands are not only things to be done, but also things not to be done!

When we sin, and we all do, sometimes is because we do something that is wrong and contrary to God’s law. But there are also sins that are because we fail to do something in order to fulfil God’s commands. God’s commands it should be noted are not to become objects of worship themselves! God alone, the giver of the commands, is to be worshipped and adored!

Some people I meet are all for the laws of God but forget about the giver, Almighty God! God, as revealed in the Bible, is to be followed with commitment to God but also with consistency or as the Psalmist says “steadfast”. Obedience to God brings about praise to God and does not end in disappointment or shame. Obedience brings joy and a glow to the face! And how can we be fully obedient to God? Is it through our own strength, wisdom and actions we can fully satisfy all of God’s laws? No! Because we will fail if we try to obey God in our own strength!

Read verse 8 again! God will help you to fulfil all His commands if you ask Him! God will not abandon or forsake you, but wants to help! God is personal, and not distant – He will help! Amazing!! To have a successful life is to be obedient to God and His decrees, cries the Psalmist.

What has all this to do with the Christian in the 21st century?  Jesus Christ is the only man who ever fully obeyed God in every facet of life. He was the only man to truly be successful and by claiming Him to be our God, then we too can be successful. If you need help to be obedient, just ask Him! If you are a Christian listening to this, you have God inside you through the person of the Holy Spirit! Part of His role in your life is to guide you and help you to live a life of obedience to Jesus Christ the Son, so that the praise, honour and glory go to God the Father. Will you ask the Holy Spirit to do that for you? And if you have done wrong, ask God for forgiveness of that sin and do not let it trap you in its snare! Be quick to ask forgiveness and do not fall for the tempter’s traps. Be blessed by God, and to show that you are blessed, live a life of obedience to Him!

A question for you to ponder and act upon: What areas in my life do I need to give fully to God, so that I can be seen to be obedient to Him, in everything I do, in all my attitudes and thoughts?

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Scriptural Delight 02 - Psalm 119 - Words for Scripture

Words for Scripture

Welcome back to our series based on Psalm 119. This is the second in our series. Throughout Psalm 119, the writer has 8 different words for Scripture or "Law of the Lord". When the Psalmist says "God's Law", "Law of the Lord" or Torah, he does not mean, as some think, just the Mosaic law, but rather all of the revealed will and mind of God in the Old Testament scriptures. We, of course, don't know how much of the Old Testament was written when the Psalmist was writing Psalm 119, but we do know that he would have had at his disposal at least the first 5 books, the Pentateuch. That's Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy to you and I. Additionally, it is also quite probably some of the historical books and maybe even the book of Job.

So with that brief introduction lets investigate these 8 words. Of course our modern translations don't always use these words, but rather, these are root meanings of the original Hebrew words.

1. Commandments: This word, commandment, signifies a direct order from authority. It is not simply power to influence but rather the right to give orders and an attitude of assuredness.

2. Law: The first word to share is "law" and it is the most common of all the words used here in Psalm 119. It has as its foundation the word "teach" or "direction" and can be synonymous with one commandment or a whole book of laws to be followed. It shows that God's revealed will is not simply for observation only but is primarily for obedience!

3. Ordinance: Within the Old Testament, this would be judgements or decisions as laid down by a supremly wise Judge. But its more than judgements, because it also signifies the justice of being dutiful and responsible.

4. Precepts: this word is drawn from a person who is a manager or inspector, looking into a situation and getting ready to act. This word reflects the finer detail or specific instructions as laid down by the Lord.

5. Promise: Very similar in nature to "Word", its root or foundation is from "to say" or "promise to do or say". God's promises are true - He keeps His promises! For a quick example: throughout the Old Testament, God's people, Israel, had the promise of the Messiah - not only for themselves but for the whole world! In the New Testament, we see this promise fulfilled - with Jesus Christ being the long-waited for Messiah.

6. Statutes: When the Psalmist speaks of statutes, he writes about the permanence of Scripture, as an enduring reminder of the Lord and His goodness.

7. Testimonies: This means that what God says is a reliable witness, a witness that is faithful, dependable and true. Rules & high standards for practical and obedient godly life with warnings against disobedience abound within this expression.

8. Word: This the most popular expression used by the Psalmist, simply means God's revealed truth in any shape, form, commandment or statement.

Of course for those of in the 21st century, Scripture or "Law of the Lord" is not confined to the first five books of the Old Testament or even the whole Old Testament. No! Scripture for us also includes the New Testament. We have the benefit of being able to read and study the Old Testament with the understanding and eyes of the New Testament. So many Christians only look at, study and preach the New Testament. But Scripture is all 66 books, all revealing God's timeless truths.

Here in Psalm 119, the Psalmist equates 8 key words about God's revealed word: Law, Testimonies, Precepts, Statutes, Commandments, Ordinances, Word and Promises. They are not meant to be seen as 8 individual words, but rather 8 distinct aspects of God's revealed word in Scripture. For the Psalmist, at least the Pentateuch and probably some of the histories.

For Jesus and the first Christians, the Old Testament and later on some of Pauls's writings as attested to by Peter:

"Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3v15-16)

Hopefully by 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!

And now for you to ponder: 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?

 

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Scriptural Delight 01 - Psalm 119 - Introduction

Introduction

Welcome to the beginning of our journey together through this colossus or giant of the Psalms! The name for the moment of this series is Scriptural Delight. Alas because of its length, a lot of people are put off reading it, let alone studying it. Yet it has a vibrant beauty and pearls of wisdom to offer Christians living in the 21st century with all its rigours, tests and temptations.

Why did the Psalmist write this Psalm? I think the Psalmist wrote it to encourage followers of God to firstly, lead a holy life, a life of obedient godliness and secondly, to show what true worship of God is like, through the study of His written word. To aid the reader of the Psalm help achieve these twin goals, he wrote it as an acrostic, so as to aid memorisation! The Psalm has 22 stanzas or sections, with each line of that particular stanza beginning with the same letter from the Hebrew alphabet. For example, the first section has 8 lines, all of which begin with the letter Aleph. The second section of 8 lines would all have words beginning with the letter Beth and so on through the Hebrew alphabet until the final section, which has the letter Taw. It would be like you writing a poem that went something like this:

A good boy eats apples

Apples that are rosy red

Always crunchy apples

As crunchiness is best!

That is a poor example of what an acrostic is, but hopefully you get what I mean. That is acrostic because the first word on each line begins with the letter ‘a’. Then each subsequent section would be from B to Z. Now, while all that may be very good for helping memorizing Psalm 119 in Hebrew, in English it does not translate like that, as you can see just by looking at it! That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to memorize it though.

The famous David Livingstone once won a Sunday school prize for reciting it from memory – all 176 verses! CS Lewis described this acrostic form of poetry or psalm, as “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.”

Despite its length and its seemingly repetitive composition, it is indeed an unparalleled work of beauty, colour and descriptiveness. So lets take this journey together, through this colossus of the Psalms. In the course of these studies, we will be looking together at each of the 22 sections and looking briefly at one or two delights contained in each one of them.

 

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