LOVING HIS RIGHTEOUS LAW
Psalm 119: 73-80
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A PRESBYTERIAN PSALTER - by Pastor Max A Forsythe |
C H Spurgeon outlines the pattern in this way:
73 prayer to be taught.
74 prayer to be well received.
75 rehearsal of personal testimony.
76 prayer for comfort of God's promise.
77 prayer for God's compassion
78 prayer for those who reject God's word.
79 prayer for those who accept God's word.
80 prayer to be equipped and blessed to proclaim word.
We begin with the correct observation in verse seventy-three that the Lord our God has indeed laid His hands upon us. "Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands." If we are to witness aright it is well that we remember who has created us and that He has a claim upon us. Paul urges this remembrance in his letter to the Corinthians "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." (I Cor 6:19b-20a) John echoes this theme in the Revelation song before the throne "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." (Rev 4:11)
For those who are twice born, this witness is certain and true. Like our psalmist we must humbly submit our understanding to His commands. This idea is reinforced in the words of Paul to the Corinthians "Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Cor 10:5) But how often we in Christ's own Church want to mingle the ideas of the world with the wisdom of the Scriptures. How very often we want people to accept us for what who and what we are. I remember the first time that I really became concerned about giving a witness to those who were in need of the Gospel! How often I despaired over the wanton disregard for the message of Salvation. I took the rejection personally. So is the temptation for us all.
In our witness we need to learn from this portion of our psalm who will rejoice when they hear His word through us. "May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word." See there in verse seventy-four where our hope should be? Not in ourselves or in the counsel of our own wisdom. Our hope is in the Lord and in His word to us. Once when I was in Europe I met another American tourist who was overjoyed to see the little cross pinned to the lapel of my jacket. We had a very joyful conversation because we shared a trust in the Lord our God. So it is in our work of witness, the Holy Spirit of our Lord goes before us and those who are prepared to hear His voice rejoice when we come in His precious and holy name.
Before we go out to witness let us remember to pray for the reception of our witness. And what shall that witness be? In the next verse we see the psalmist rehearse his own witness. "I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me." There it is, all so very simple. We must share our life experience. There is a twofold emphasis here. The righteousness of God and His laws and the presence of His hand upon our hearts and lives. This is what people are looking for: the evidence that God does indeed care for His people. A theological treatise and argument may comfortably be ignored. But, a life story is another matter. Each person's story is different even though the Author of our experiences is the same! And isn't it true that the same Author is in control of the lives for which we care?
We know how much resistance there is in the world today to the words of theology and redemption, especially to the words of providence and predestination which we may cherish! Certainly, those words may be the skeleton upon which we organize our understanding, but it is the comfort of the next verse for which the world hungers to hear: "May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant." Both providence and predestination are present in this verse, but they point to the key ingredient which comforts our soul. That is the love of God. May that love be our comfort is the prayer of our psalmist and there is real hope in praying this because it is within the promises of our God and Father.
We should note well the shift in the prayers of this portion. From a rehearsal of his witness the psalmist has returned to consider his own relationship with the Almighty Creator. This is the proper focus! "Me and Thee" in the older primitive language of the Elizabethan saints. Because of His compassion we live and move and have our being. An acquaintance once had an expensive piece machinery that was completely worthless without an owner's manual. So is our life and especially the lives of those who know not their Creator, unless, the law of God becomes our delight. This delight is not understood by the worldly. After all, the world wonders who can delight in a word that rebukes us, in a Lord who afflicts us when we break His precepts.
The world little cares about the Lord of life, but when His people begin their work and witness in His Name the arrogant turn their anger against Him against us. This fact the psalmist notes in verse seventy-eight. "May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause; but I will meditate on your precepts." This is the worldly reaction to the Gospel of God's love, but the psalmist continues in his meditation just as we must continue.
He is a sovereign Lord whom we adore and praise and He will gather together His own saints. "May those who fear you turn to me, those who understand your statutes." Until this century, leaders in the midst of battle would rally their troops around the colors of the Battalion. The red - white - red flag of the Hapsburg dukes originated in a white coat spattered with blood above and below the wide belt which was hoisted upon a lance in the midst of a terrible battle for the survival of the Empire hundreds of years ago.
Today we battle not with swords nor guns but with the very Word of our God. And just as the psalmist king prayed that God's own might rally to his witness to God's word, so should we pray that once again, God might rally His Church into faithful units of worship and witness. If this prayer is to be possible we must also pray as our psalmist does in the last verse of this portion: "May my heart be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be put to shame." What is it that God's people are attracted to? Is it us? Or is it lives that are changed by the empowering of His holy word? The psalmist has lifted high the banner of God's Word in the midst of spiritual warfare. His urgent prayer is that this is God's precious will! A few year's ago there was a popular phrase "What if they should have a war and nobody came?" Is this the echo of our hearts? What if we would have a Church and nobody came? Churches are formed very often our country today. The success rate is only fifty per cent. Not much better than the starting of a secular business!
There is an earnest need for prayer in the sense of this last verse. "May my heart be blameless toward your decrees," This should be our primary concern in our work of witness. We saw in verse seventy-eight that the arrogant will be put to shame. As a preservative from this shame our psalmist seeks a blameless heart. A heart in tune with God's word. Remember, to what are God's own people rallied? Is it not to His own word? Is it not sensible that our relationship to that word is the key to our success in His Name? Would you witness, would your work for the growth of His eternal Kingdom. It is all so very simple that the wise of the world miss the secret of success so completely. We who are His must become conformed to His will and His word.
Today, in the sense of this portion of Scripture I would ask in the words of Paul. Will you "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Cor 10:5) For the sake of those you love, for those you hope and pray will come into the Kingdom, you must. If we would learn to love His law, then by God's grace others may learn to love Him because of our loving witness. May the Holy Spirit of our Triune God impower you with this Grace. Amen.
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Resources Used: |
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Bridges, Charles. |
Psalm 119 | |
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Spurgeon, C.H. |
The Treasury of David. | |
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IBS: The Holy Bible, New International Version (1984) | ||
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Psm 119l |
04 February 95 & 01 June 97 | |