2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
We have reached the seventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet, zayin. The number seven has considerable significance in the Bible, because it is God’s number of completion and perfection. It comes up very often, particularly in the book of Revelation, but in many other places as well. However, it is not my point to get into the numerology here, but rather to discuss the spiritual meaning of this letter as it is revealed in PS 119: 49-56. What we see here is rest and comfort through the word. “Remember your promise to me, your servant: it has given me hope. Even in my suffering I was comforted because your promise gave me life. The proud are always scornful of me, but I have not departed from Your law. I remember Your judgments of long ago, and they bring me comfort, O Lord. When I see the wicked breaking Your law, I am filled with anger. During my brief earthly life I compose songs about Your commands. In the night I remember You, Lord, and I think about your law. I find my happiness in obeying Your commands.”
I have had the experience of being called a “religious freak,” because of the dominant place that God has taken in my life. There is no question that when you have strong faith, you run the risk of coming across to others who don’t share that faith as obnoxious, self-righteous, or overly pushy. That notwithstanding, there is no question that God can and does “transform a person (willing to come to faith) by the renewal of his mind” [RO 12: 2]. Our Psalmist shows us the effect of this process on him (and I would like to think, on me). One of the most precious results of having real, God-driven faith is the hope that we share in the resurrection and in an eternal life of fellowship with the Father as joint-heirs to His Kingdom with Jesus Christ. RO 6: 5, “For since we have become one with Him in dying as He did, in the same way we shall be one with Him being raised to life as He was.” RO 8: 17, “Since we are His children, we will possess the blessing He keeps for His people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for Him; for it we share Christ’s suffering, we will also share His glory.” When the above-mentioned epithet was delivered by a relative, the power that God has over me kept me from reacting in anger. Instead, I felt a peace about my faith that could have only been God through the Holy Spirit working on me. This is rest and comfort in God’s word, or should I say, Word.
In verse 51, our Psalmist reports, “The proud are always scornful of me, but I have not departed from Your law.” Can you imagine what the prophet, Jeremiah, must have felt when he was put down into Prince Malchiah’s well [JER 38: 5-6] with King Zedekiah’s permission? Put yourself in Job’s place with all the tests that God allowed Satan to level at this man’s faith [Job 1: 8-12]. Consider the scorn leveled at an obedient Isaiah as he went around for three years naked to demonstrate a sign of what was to happen to Egypt and Sudan [IS 20: 3]. One of God’s great prophets was Elijah. In 1 K 17: 17-18, he is confronted by the evil King Ahab and called “the worst troublemaker in Israel.” We must think about the suffering that Paul had to endure as described in 2 COR 11: 23-33. Yet, God equipped every one of these faithful people to remain steadfast in his faith. I fervently believe that every one of them will be richly blessed in when God’s Kingdom is established. We already know that Job’s health, family, and prosperity was restored to him [JOB 42: 12-13]. Elijah was translated into heaven [2K 2: 11-12].
Our Psalmist remembers God’s judgments of long ago and has been given the wisdom by God to know that he can take comfort in them. That’s what real faith does for the believer; it brings him comfort. Christ taught that in MT 11: 28-30, “Come to Me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the burden is light.” The is followed by the Psalmist’s words, “When I see the wicked breaking Your law, I am filled with anger.” I think it’s important to make the point that this is not self-righteousness, but instead is righteous indignation. It’s the same feeling that believers get when they turn on the TV and see gratuitous violence, sex, foul language, and outright disrespect for God. It’s the same feeling that computer users who are faithful have when they have to deal with the mean-spirited and evil vandalism of viruses that unzip their hard drives and send attachments to everyone on their address lists. We are allowed to see Christ’s attitude on this issue in RO 15: 1-3, “We who are strong in the faith ought to help the weak to carry their burdens. We should not please ourselves. Instead, we should all please our brothers for their own good, in order to build them up in the faith. For Christ did not please Himself. Instead, as the Scripture [PS 69:9] says, ‘The insults which are hurled at You have fallen on Me.’ ”
Our lives can be rough at times, but the Lord has given us music to help soften the blows. Having sung in choirs and soloed for 40 years until my asthma forced me to stop, I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without music. While I’m not singing now, it still has the power to uplift me and connect me to the Lord unlike anything else. That is why I love the praise song portion of our services at Woodbury Lutheran the way I do. Our Psalmist obviously had the same feeling. Since God gave him the talent to compose music, it was one way that he could worship our Lord. How many times I have heard the adage: singing is like offering up a double prayer. I believe it. Our Psalmist’s assertion in verse 56, “I find my happiness in obeying Your commands,” is something the apostle Paul felt. He expressed it in 1 TIM 4: 8, “Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is valuable in every way, because it promises life both for the present and for the future.” When we put this whole passage together, we can’t help but come to the conclusion that our completion is found in God. In Him, we can find lasting, real, and eternal joy, something not found from any other source.
PRAYER: O Lord, when we serve You, we are given hope. There are times when our service to You brings us suffering. In Your infinite compassion, You comfort us through Your teachings, through music, through the Holy Spirit’s guidance, through Your responses to our prayers, and through the discernment and perspective You give us when we are scorned. You bring us together in congregations to support each other and to be unified in serving and edifying the Body of Christ. These are the actions of a loving Abba, Whose care for His children is not limited by selfish agendas. There are times when You wake us up at night or interject a command at times which don’t appear convenient for us. But this is never done without our best interests at heart. We acknowledge Your supremacy, sovereign rule in our lives, and Your infinite wisdom. Our lives can never realize completion without placing You at their center. We humbly offer our thanksgiving, adoration, praise, and willingness to keep our eyes focused on You, Dear Lord. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at the spiritual meaning of the eighth Hebrew letter, chet. In the meanwhile, keep in mind that whatever difficulties we must face, we never have to face them alone. Our loving Abba is there to root for us and to guide us. He offers us comfort in His word and never withdraws His love when our circumstances become painful to us. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn