2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last night, I went to hear Jacob Damkani, the founder of Trumpet to Salvation for Israel, a ministry of Jewish believers in Jaffa, Israel, speak at our church. Jacob was born in Israel and raised in traditional Judaism. In the path of finding himself in life, he ended up first in Haiti and then in New Jersey where he ran a jewelry shop for awhile. During that time, a customer making repeated visits introduced Jacob to the New Testament, and God did the rest. At last, Jacob could no longer deny that Jesus Christ is indeed the Messiah of the OT. I remember how I felt when I came to that realization myself. It truly is a veil lifted from one’s eyes that allows the Light in for the first time. God had a God-sized assignment for Jacob, one which Jacob has the courage to fulfill. Shortly afterward, Jacob realized he had to return to the country of his birth and begin reaching out to other Jews, who like all of us need to hear the Gospel and know there is a way, the only way, open to them through faith in Christ. Jacob’s story is in his book, “Why Me?” which I hope you will read. Today, he is a powerful speaker and soldier for Christ. He and his workers have brought a number of traditional Jews to faith, thus making them “completed Jews.” You may wonder why I mention all of this here. The reason is that today’s message is about the spiritual meaning of the eighth Hebrew letter, chet, as revealed in PS 119: 57-64. This is significant because this eighth letter represents new birth in God’s infinite grace. What happened to Jacob or anyone who comes to Christ is that he is “new creation” [2 COR 5: 17]. COL 3: 1-4, “You have been raised to life with Christ, so set your hearts on the things that are in heaven, where Christ sits on the throne at the right side of God. Keep your minds fixed on things there, not on things here on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ and God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too with appear with Him and share His glory.”
PS 119: 57-64 is also about perseverance in the word. That is certainly something that Jacob and his workers must have in the face of the opposition to their task by the ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel. It is also something we must have. Here are the words of this passage: “You and all I want, O Lord; I promise to obey Your laws. I ask You with all my heart to have mercy on me, as You have promised! I have considered my conduct, and I promise to follow Your instructions. Without delay I hurry to obey Your commands. The wicked have laid a trap for me, but I do not forget Your law. In the middle of the night I wake up to praise You for Your righteous judgments. I am a friend of all who serve You, of all who obey Your laws. Lord, the earth is full of Your constant love; teach me Your commandments.” With these words, we can see that our Psalmist has emptied his vessel of his own agendas and made room for God’s to take precedence. His devotion to God’s law is exposed for us to see and as an example for us to follow. We find in verses 57 & 58, the Psalmist’s acknowledgment that we alone are insufficient; the Lord is sufficient. This is surely supported by 2 COR 3: 5-6, “There is nothing in us that allows us to claim that we are capable of doing this work. The capacity we have comes from God; it is He Who made us capable of serving the new covenant, which consists not of a written law but of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.”
Yes, we do need to continually seek guidance from our Lord and ask for His mercy. When we do this with a “clean heart” and an open vessel, He is only too glad to grant us the desire of our hearts. RO 10: 9-10, “If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from death, you will be saved. For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved.” What beautiful words of mercy these are! They lead me to reread PS 51 and ask you to do the same. This gorgeous plea for God’s mercy that includes the words, “create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit within me,”[ PS 51: 10] always stirs my emotions. This is particularly true, because I personally know what mercy God has given me in lifting the veil from my eyes.
PS 119: 61 tells us, “The wicked have laid a trap for me, but I do not forget Your law.” Temptation to stray from what we have been taught is right is all around us. We need only pick up a magazine or turn on the television to know that. I have taken a pretty hard-lined attitude in my own life about watching the news-magazine shows or reading the tabloids at the check stand in the grocery store. These are things I filter out of my life, because they are written and presented to titillate and reach the worst, most fleshly desires of people. Sound bites with insufficient information and medical scare stories are included in my “things to filter out” attempts. It gets more difficult every day to figure out which things are really important and which need to be deleted from my attention. My best defense is the discernment the Holy Spirit gives me through the Scriptures. I beg forgiveness if this comes across as self-righteous rather than righteous; it is not meant to do so. Yet, it’s something that I feel needed saying.
PS 119: 63, “I am a friend of all who serve You, of all who obey Your laws.” This is best explained by returning to RO 10: 11-13, “The Scripture [IS 28: 16] says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’ This includes everyone, because there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles; God is the same Lord of all and richly blesses all who call to Him. As the Scripture [Joel 2: 32] says, ‘Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.’ “ The actual words of IS 28: 16 read, “This, now is what the Sovereign Lord says, ‘I am placing in Zion, a Foundation that is firm and strong. In it [Him] I am putting a solid Cornerstone on which are written the words ‘Faith that is firm is also patient.’ “ (The capitals and insertion of “Him” are grounded in my faith in Jesus Christ, something the veil over traditional Jewish eyes delays these people from seeing). Joel 2: 32, “But all who ask the Lord for help will be saved. As the Lord has said, ‘Some in Jerusalem will escape; those whom I choose will survive.’ “ These people will inherit the Kingdom.
The Psalmist’s comment in verse 62, “In the middle of the night I wake up to praise You in Your righteous judgments,” is exemplified by Paul and Silas in prison in Phillipi a long time later in AC 16: 25. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Proof that believers won’t be disappointed came to them shortly afterward when the doors to the prison fell open and the chains dropped from the believers in there [AC 16: 26]. Our Psalmist ends this section with the warmest, most beautiful message of all, (64) “Lord, the earth is full of Your constant love; teach me Your commandments.” Reading this section and knowing that we are “new creations” in Christ, surrounded by our Lord’s love is a great way to face our day and to look at our lives.
PRAYER: O Lord, the example set by the Psalmist’s devotion to your word and his perseverance in it is a wonderful reminder of how merciful and loving You are. When we follow His example, You never disappoint us. You ask us to listen for Your commands and to empty ourselves of personal agendas so that You can do Your work through us. When we obey You, You bless our lives abundantly with the things that transcend the grave. You protect us from the traps laid for us by the wicked by giving us discernment through the Holy Spirit, the teachings of the Scriptures, and prayer. Sometimes You wake us from our sleep, but never without a righteous reason. You cause us to feel a hunger for Your commands that we cannot always explain, but which always keeps us on the path to righteousness. By Your example, You teach us what unconditional love is and show us the way to extend it to others. Because You are so holy, our lives are blessed beyond human imagination for having You in them. Thank You, Dear Lord. We humbly worship, adore, praise, honor, glorify, trust, and obey You. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at the ninth Hebrew letter, tet, for a better understanding of it’s spiritual meaning. Know that our Lord’s greatest desire is to see His children glorified and enjoying eternal fellowship with Him in heaven. We never have to go a day in our lives without the agape love He has for us. Hallelujah! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn