LOVING HIS LAW
Psalm 119: 161-168
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A PRESBYTERIAN PSALTER - by Pastor Max A Forsythe |
In the early thirties in Germany, Hitler and his Nazis were gaining strength to capture their own government. The high command of the German Army was not amused. The former Bavarian Corporal was not considered a desirable candidate for high office. And yet, the worst fears of the decent hard working staff officers came true. Hitler and his Nazi thugs came to power.
The Army remained for a while the only German agency that did not prostrate itself wildly before Hitler's feet. However, by the middle thirties the fat was in the fire. Hitler and his Gestapo stopped at nothing to undermine the authority of the Army leaders and even managed to drive out key personnel in disgrace. Even General of the Army Ludwig Beck was eventually forced to resign. In his resignation speech he declared that an honest man should not turn his conscience over to the keeping of leaders like Adolph Hitler.
It was not Beck alone who made his stand. Von Lettow, Canaris, Rommel and a host of others resisted the absolute tyranny of the Nazis. Not all, but several of these men had their faith in Christ as a common thread uniting their abhorrence of Hitler. In fact the Kreslau Circle, the center of resistance to Hitler at the highest levels, had begun as a Bible Study. And those men were persecuted for their belief and their stand without mercy. Almost all of them paid with their lives.
Once, a feminist asked a PCA pastor why he dared to belong to a denomination that didn't ordain women as leaders. He looked her in the eye and said that he and his fellow presbyters were more afraid of the God of heaven than all the harpies from hades.
Such has been the situation of those who follow in the footsteps of King David who argues our point here today. Our psalmist, like many through the ages has found a great treasure. And in that finding he finds cause for rejoicing in the promise of God.
In this context we can well understand the opening words of our Psalm portion today: "Princes persecute me without cause, But my heart stands in awe of Your word." This is why the Church of Christ has produced so many martyrs down through the centuries. Those who have an awesome respect of the Lord God Almighty are unlikely to fear any mere human.
This fact sets him apart from his world. King David who reigned in Palestine was surrounded by a society that delighted in lying. In fact, prior to the giving of the law there was little encouragement to avoid the practice. Indeed an Oriental's only disappointment in being caught in a lie was in the fact that he had been unsuccessful at it.
We have had only to hear of the Iraqi reasoning for invading Kuwait to appreciate that the Middle East has not developed overly much from David's time. Indeed, the Kuwaiti government's practice of allowing drilling sideways into the Iraqi oil fields has only fueled the coming of the current crisis.
Further east in New Guinea there is still told an old story of a cannibal who worked for years to gain the trust of a neighboring chief. Finally, when trust had been finally achieved the new friend was invited for dinner. The tribe joyfully celebrated the underhanded deceit of many years as they dined on the flesh of the victim.
The way of his princely friends is abhorred by David. He turns from them and their lies to the solid law of his God. For this law, he regularly praises God. He also celebrates the great benefit of knowing and loving the law of God. And what is that benefit: "Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble."
This was the peace that fired the souls of some German generals who died for their precious faith. This is the peace that can be ours today in the midst of a world that prefers the lies of humanism over and above the truth of God's law.
An older version of this verse has this variation: "Great peace have those who love Your law: And nothing causes them to stumble." We would do well to note this translation because, like David there are many time when we could easily stuble or we could easily cause others to stumble within Christ's kingdom.
As we progress in the faith, like David we should always remember that we are waiting for the glorification of our souls at the end of the age. Once we have believed we have not come to the end of salvation. We are still waiting for God to finish that work through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And as we wait, like David we ought to follow the commands of the Lord our God. Not only must we hate and abhor falsehood, we must also practice purity as we follow His commands.
"Lord, I hope for Your salvation, And I do Your commandments." In these words we should see salvation by grace and then the fruits thereof. C.H. Spurgeon comments further on this verse with these words: "Those who place least reliance upon good works are very frequently those who who have the most of them".
David the king was in a tight spot when he wrote this section of our psalm. He was unjustly persecuted, he was in trouble, yet his confidence was in God. Whenever we find ourselves in similar straits we ought to duplicate David's response. First we must hope in God and second we must do that which is right. However, doing simply what is right is not sufficient alone. We see in the next verse that there must be a certain sincerity in our obedience:
"My soul keeps Your testimonies, And I love them exceedingly."
Very much of the Church unfortunately seems to emphasize a false holiness where individuals put on the outer forms of behavior without first learning to love the statues, commandments and precepts. The forms of holiness do us absolutely no good without the true love of Christ in our hearts. Remember we are waiting for the working out and the completion of our salvation!
We may grudgingly give the Lord's tithe, we may rearrange the habits of our lives and live in misery to prove the form of holiness. But, this will not do. We must first learn to love the law before we can sincerely obey His statutes. Yet, even this is not enough, we come to the last verse where David reveals even more of the mind of our God. "I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies, For all my ways are before Your".
Not only does the Lord want us to love the statutes we learn to obey, He also wants us to love the precepts that we believe. The same Churches that are usually so insistent upon doing minutely the commandments of our God are also usually very free with their interpretation of the doctrines cataloged in the Holy Word.
David, the king tells us the same ideas we confess. If you look carefully at the Shorter Catechism you will note that the first thirty-eight questions outline what the Scriptures teach us to believe. The rest of the Catechism goes on to describe those things we ought to do as a result of our beliefs. Both precepts and statutes are of vital importance and why is that?
Look at the last words of this psalm portion. The Lord knows our innermost hearts. He knows why we believe and why we obey His law. He cannot be fooled because all our ways are known to Him. May we today affirm in our hearts that we will not put on the form of godliness nor even believe the doctrines of the faith unless we love them and the Lord of life behind them. Amen.
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Resources Used: |
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Kidner, Derek. |
Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms. | |
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Spurgeon, C.H. |
The Treasury of David. | |
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Foundation for Reformation. New Geneva Study Bible . (1995) Thomas Nelson, Inc. New King James Version. (1982) | ||
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Psm 119w |
05 August 90 & 26 August 95 | |