2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
Today, it’s the ninth letter, tet, which takes the spotlight. It’s spiritual meaning allows us to see how priceless God’s word is in both good and evil times. This is revealed in PS 119: 65-72. “You have kept Your promise, Lord, and You are good to me, Your servant. Give me wisdom and knowledge, because I trust in Your commands. Before You punished me, I used to go wrong, but now I obey Your word. How good You are-how kind! Teach me Your commands. Proud men have told lies about me, but with all my heart I obey Your instructions. These men have no understanding, but I find pleasure in Your law. My punishment was good for me, because it made me learn Your commands. The law that You gave means more to me than all the money in the world.” In previous messages, I have made the point that God asks us to live a lifestyle that can present some pretty difficult problems for us in today’s worldly society. However, He never asks us to do something for which He hasn’t equipped us to do. We get a measure of where our Psalmist is in his walk with the Lord from verse 65. He had begun to obey the Lord’s commands and is reporting his recognition that God is good to him and keeps His promises. We may assume he knows what God’s promises are, which would suggest some familiarity with God’s teachings (herein called the law). This is far more significant to us than simply an intellectual exercise. When others to whom we can relate report their experiences, particularly favorable ones like this, we pay attention and want to share in these experiences for ourselves.
In verse 66, our Psalmist makes an important plea, “Give me wisdom and knowledge, because I trust in Your commands.” It is certainly possible to have knowledge without wisdom. Knowledge is nothing more than raw data. Wisdom is the ability to process that data in way which is righteous, compassionate, and which is effective in bringing about good in ourselves and for others. God, through Solomon, reveals His attitude toward wisdom in PR 4: 5-8, “Get wisdom and insight! Do not forget or ignore what I say. Do not abandon wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will keep you safe. Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do. Whatever else you get, get insight. Love wisdom, and she will make you great. Embrace her, and she will bring you honor. She will be your crowning glory.” Let me share something that strikes me as an incredible demonstration of lack of wisdom. You notice the use of the feminine gender in this citation. Some people took this to mean they should worship the Greek goddess of wisdom, Sophia. They even went so far as to set up a conference attended by women from several Christian denominations right here in the Twin Cities several years ago with the intent of asking these churches to consider changing their theology to include this kind of worship. That wasn’t all. They wanted to substitute milk and honey for the bread and wine of the sacraments and make other equally non-Biblical changes. We are blessed that their assertions were never taken seriously, but had they been, this lack of wisdom could have lead churches to certain spiritual disaster. To God’s glory, real wisdom protected these churches. There seems to be no limit to what Satan will try to get his way.
Verse 67 brings out another very important principle for us to consider. “Before You punished me, I used to go wrong, but now I obey Your word.” Look at HE 12: 11, “When we are punished, it seems to us at the time something to make us sad, not glad. Later, however, those who have been disciplined by such punishment reap the peaceful reward of a righteous life.” Before God gave Israel the Law (Ten Commandments), mankind had no way to know the difference between what is right and what is wrong. RO 7: 7 makes that clear. Because we were born in sin, thanks to the original sin of Adam (GN 3: 6 & RO 3: 23), we had no choice but to sin. Christ’s death on the cross made it possible for us to be forgiven for that sin, as we learn in RO 3: 24-25. “But by the free gift of God’s grace all are put right with Him through Christ Jesus, Who sets them free. God offered Him, so that by His death He should become the means by which people’s sins are forgiven through their faith in Him.” God has to punish sin for the same reason any responsible parent must correct the inappropriate behavior of his child. RO 3: 26, “God did this in order to demonstrate He is righteous. In the past He was patient and overlooked people’s sins; but in the present time He deals with their sins, in order to demonstrate his righteousness. In this way God shows that He Himself is righteous and that He puts right everyone who believes in Jesus.” Imagine the chaos in our lives if there was never any punishment for mankind’s misdeeds. Our Psalmist’s comment here also reveals his (and our) relationship to the Father. RO 8: 15-16 explains this. “For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, ‘Abba! My Abba!’ God’s Spirit joins Himself to our spirits to declare that war are God’s children.” Yes, we who are faithful are adopted!
When the Psalmist says, “Proud men have told lies about me” and “These men have no understanding,” he is describing people without the wisdom and the discernment that studying, believing in, and living according God’s teachings gives. Anyone who has ever been a believer living in today’s world can relate to this problem. One example that comes to mind is the business person whose boss orders him to do something that he knows isn’t moral. He is faced with the decision, “should I do what I’m told or face losing my job, because I refuse?” When we have families to support and bills to pay, that decision isn’t always easy. However, if we take the example set for us by the Psalmist, a man who finds pleasure in God’s law, then the way is made clearer about what to do. He follows by saying in verses 71 & 72, “My punishment was good for me, because it made me learn Your commands. The law that You gave means more to me than all the money in the world.” God asks us to examine our lives, because He loves us enough to want us to move forward in the sanctification process so that we may be perfected and eventually be glorified. We need to keep that larger Godly agenda in mind when we make decisions for ourselves and our families. Reaching toward God’s perspective always benefits us. His teachings are of great value in dealing with the temptations and evil in this world.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have only our best interests in mind when You use the Psalmist to make us think about the difference between knowledge and wisdom and encourage us to gain wisdom. While we must live in a fleshly world where we are simply tent-dwellers, You equip us through Your teachings (law) to deal with it. We are blessed that You are preparing us for permanent citizenship in Your Kingdom in heaven. The sacrifice You made of Your Son on the cross is an act of unparalleled grace for which You deserve our eternal thanks and loyalty. You feel our suffering when we are subjected to the evils of this world. That is because You are our Abba Who loves us unconditionally and wholeheartedly. You even sent Your Son to feel our pain, so that He might relate and be equipped to be our Advocate and Intercessor. What greater love can there be! You sometimes punish us to demonstrate Your righteousness, but always as a loving Parent Who administers that punishment with justice & mercy. We adore, honor, praise, and worship You for being the force for good in our lives that You are. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will delve into the spiritual meaning of the tenth Hebrew letter, yod. I am hoping that this series of messages is bringing you, as it is me, a greater understanding of the rich spiritual heritage that Judaism has lent to Christianity. When we realize that our Psalmist didn’t have the benefit of Christ’s teachings at the time he wrote, we see a demonstration of the love which our Lord has for all who are faithful, regardless of when they were born. His love extends to all of us and is both consistent and real. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn