2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
Today, we will look at the spiritual meaning of the twelfth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, lamed as outlined in PS 119: 89-96. There are times when we ask ourselves why it is so necessary for God through the writers of the Scriptures to repeat certain themes over and over again. The older I get, the clearer the reason for this is. Mankind often requires repetition of important precepts as evidenced by their penchant for repeating mistakes in judgment and action over history. From God’s point of view, we are a hard study. Yet, He loves us enough to keep trying to drive His points home with us. In this passage, we will see the eternal nature of God’s word. “Your word, O Lord, will last forever; it is eternal in heaven. Your faithfulness endures through all the ages; You have set the earth in place, and it remains. All things remain to this day because of Your command, because they are all your servants. If Your law had not been the source of my joy, I would have died from my sufferings. I will never neglect Your instructions, because by them You have kept me alive. I am Yours-save me! I have tried to obey Your commands. Wicked men are waiting to kill me, but I will meditate on Your laws. I have learned that everything has limits; but Your commandment is perfect.”
When the Psalmist begins, “Your word, O Lord, will last forever; it is eternal in heaven,” we need to reach for the deeper understanding of that which is revealed in JN 1: 1-4. “Before the world was created, the Word already existed; He was with God and He was the same as God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. Through Him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without Him. The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to mankind.” This passage gets right to the heart of any misunderstanding about Who Jesus Christ is. That is why it is entirely appropriate, even though our Psalmist wasn’t allowed yet to know Jesus Christ when he wrote this magnificent work, for us to capitalize the “W” on word. When we study God’s Word, we are studying Jesus Christ. This issue is so important that I must cite four more verses for emphasis; God insists on it. JN 14: 9 [Christ speaking to Phillip], “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father….” JN 14: 11, “Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. If not, believe because of the things I do.” 1 JN 5: 20, “We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we know the true God. We live in union with the true God-in union with His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and this is eternal life.” IS 9: 6, “Unto us a child is born! A Son is given. And the government shall be upon His shoulders. He shall be called Wonderful! Counselor! Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
The bottom line is that God’s faithfulness is displayed in His Word and in His works. We can see this in looking at the history of all mankind’s generations and the orderliness of nature (His creations). We need to have a profound understanding of our relationship to our Creator. One place this is eloquently revealed is in DN 4: 17, the theme verse for the book of Daniel. “….So then, let all people everywhere know that the Supreme God has power over human kingdoms and that He can give them to anyone He chooses, even to the least important of men.” Daniel had no idea he was prophesying the future coming of a seemingly insignificant man who lived in material poverty but was the incarnate form of Deity. This man, Who called Himself the “Son of Man” is the same man who Daniel speaks of once again in DN 7: 13-14. “During this vision in the night, I saw what looked like a human being. He was approaching me, surrounded by clouds, and He went to the One Who had been living forever and was presented to Him. He was given authority, honor, and royal power, so that the people of all nations, races, and languages would serve Him. His authority would last forever, and His Kingdom would never end.”
In verses 91 & 92, our Psalmist demonstrates his spiritual maturity in acknowledging God’s supremacy, sovereignty, and protection. This is wholly different from the relationship that slaves have to cruel human masters. This is a love relationship that is real and personal. It is the kind of relationship where the created being understands he is not in charge of things, but that his Master Who is in charge is completely righteous, compassionate, loving, and protective. The servant also understands that his Master is the Source of everything that grants and sustains life itself. Looking at this begs for us to examine our own personal relationship to God and to the Son.
When we examine our relationship with God, do we understand the eternal nature of the Word and His role in creating and sustaining life as the Psalmist does in verse 93? Look at 1 PET 1: 23-25. “For through the living and eternal Word of God you have been born again as the children of a Parent Who is immortal, not mortal. As the Scripture says [IS 40: 6-8] says,’ All mankind are like grass, and all their glory is like wild flowers. The grass withers, and the flowers fall, but the Word of the Lord remains forever.’ This Word is the Good News that was proclaimed to you.” The spiritual maturity of the Psalmist or of any of us reveals that after salvation from the penalty of sins, we still need to be saved day by day from defilement and damage that comes from the battle between our fleshly outer selves with our spiritual inner selves, as well as from outside temptation and evil perpetrated by the devil. Understanding and believing in God’s precepts (His Word) make us aware of this need for present-day salvation. They also allow God to reveal his very nature to us, so that we might know what truth is. Once we know that God and the Son are perfect, we will chose to trust and obey.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have opened the treasure of Your Word to us and have shown us its eternal nature. When You asked us to put our riches in heaven, You asked us to see a far higher, more important perspective than the material things or fleshly pleasures of earth can provide. Through prayer and meditation on the Scriptures, You have allowed us to know that eternal life is there for us if we will only seek it in faith, reverence, and humility. The greatest treasure of all is Your Son, Who though His death on the cross, has made the way open to us for eternal forgiveness, joy, fellowship with You, and has even granted us life itself in heaven. You inspired our Psalmist and many others in the Scriptures to reveal the eternal nature of Your Word. That is an act of unconditional love that we should never ignore. Because of Your compassion, You equip us to do battle with the adversary and to be victorious in it. When we trust and obey You, even if we experience pain and humiliation, You protect us from defeat and ease our pain through Your Word. We adore, glorify, magnify, worship, and praise You. In Christ’s name, amen.
What an awesome Being our God is! The words He puts in my mind hardly do Him justice. So many of the OT and NT men of faith suffered pain, and yet they were never defeated. Our Psalmist who had to suffer threats to his life and humiliation from his enemies (and God’s) is victorious due to the joy and protection granted him eternally by God’s Word. I find great comfort in that and hope you do too. Tomorrow, we will look into the spiritual meaning of Hebrew letter 13, mem, as revealed in PS 119: 97-104. Peter and I send you our heartfelt love in Christ.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn