2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Upon first inspection of today’s passage, a person could assume that the Psalmist is thinking he is smarter, wiser, and more righteous than his enemies, teachers, or those with long life’s experience. However, when it is put in the context of what he has already said, we know that he really gives God the glory for any wisdom and discernment he has. Today, we will look at PS 119: 97-104 which reveals the spiritual meaning of the thirteenth Hebrew letter, mem. A good title for this would be wisdom through the word. “How I love Your law! I think about it all day long. Your commandment is with me all the time and makes me wiser than my enemies. I understand more than all my teachers, because I meditate on Your instructions. I have greater wisdom than old men, because I obey Your commands. I have avoided all evil conduct, because I want to obey Your word. I have not neglected Your instructions, because You Yourself are my teacher. How sweet is the taste of Your instructions-sweeter than honey! I gain wisdom from Your laws, and so I hate all bad conduct.”
The love that our Psalmist has for God’s law demonstrates that he believes that divine revelation is sufficient for belief and practice. We can take a lesson from that, because of the victories he reports from making God the Lord of his life. Who wouldn’t want to be wiser than his enemies, or understand more than his teachers? Who wouldn’t want to have greater wisdom than people older than him? This may sound like the Psalmist has stepped over the line between righteousness and self-righteousness, except that he makes it clear this is coming from meditating on God’s commands and obeying His instructions. The comment he makes, “Your commandment is with me all the time..,” is very revealing. The other day I offered my view that people from OT times might not have had the Holy Spirit indwelt in them constantly as we who believe in Christ do, but I believe the Spirit is certainly with them at times. This sort of reminds me of a contestant on “Do You Want To Be A Millionaire?” who is reminded by Regis Philbin that he has his “life-lines with him.” God is our Life Line; we and the Psalmist know this. When we look at our lives, we have been given prayer, the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit to help us have the discernment we need to avoid sin or bringing others into sin. Just as Regis reminds a contestant having a tough time with a question to use his life lines, God is reminding us to use ours. The difference between Regis’ life lines and God’s is that those from God don’t go away once they are used. They can be used over and over again.
Isaiah spoke about the guidance God gives us in IS 30: 19-21. “…The Lord is compassionate, and when you cry out to Him for help, He will answer you. The Lord will make you go through hard times, but He Himself will be there to teach you, and you will not have to search for Him any more. If you wander off the road to the right or the left, you will hear His voice behind you saying, ‘Here is the road. Follow it.’ “ Even more of God’s attitude is revealed in IS 58: 11 about His offer of guidance. “And I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things. I will keep you strong and well. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring of water that never goes dry.” When we put this in the context above, we can see that the benefits of making God the Lord of your life don’t produce egotistical boasting, but instead produce a life that is blessed with God’s wisdom and protection.
When John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, prophesied the coming of the Savior, God revealed His power to guide us through this man’s words. LK 1: 78-79, “Our God is merciful and tender. He will cause the bright dawn of salvation to rise on us and to shine from heaven on all those who live in the dark shadow of death, to guide our steps into the path of peace.” The apostle John also spoke of God’s guidance in our lives. JN 16: 13, “When, however, the Spirit comes, who reveals the truth about God, He will lead you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own authority, but He will speak of what He hears and will tell you of things to come.” When Solomon wrote the Proverbs, he understood what the Psalmist does about the Source of all that is good in our lives. PR 3: 5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and He will show you the right way.” What sage advice that is!
In verse 103, our Psalmist uses a metaphor that gets his point across, “How sweet is the taste of Your instructions-sweeter even than honey!” This is another way of saying what is said in RO 8: 28, “We know that in all things God world for good with those who love Him, those whom He has called according to His purpose.” This same metaphor was used in REV 10: 9 when God wanted the apostle John, who had the vision that is the book of Revelation, to ponder the contrast between the fate of those who obey God and those who don’t. “I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, ‘Take it and eat it; it will turn sour in your stomach, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.’ ” The sour condition of the stomach from eating the scroll signifies God’s judgments in the Tribulation and represents the eternal doom that awaits those who reject God (and the Savior). The sweet taste in the mouth is the initial feeling a person has when he begins sinning and thinking he need only rely on himself-that he doesn’t need God’s guidance.
The conclusion our Psalmist comes to in verse 104 is that he eschews all bad conduct because of the wisdom he gains from God’s laws. That is certainly in keeping with Paul’s revelation in RO 6: 6, “And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on His cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin.” The more I delve into the Psalmist’s writing here, the more I have to believe that he will be given the chance to accept Christ as his Savior at the final judgment. I think I know what his choice will be.
PRAYER: O Lord, when we obey You, You allow us to experience joy, peace, and discernment unavailable to us from any other source. This does not mean that things will always be easy for us. We will face detractors and unbelievers. There will challenges before us that are natural part of our lives. However, You have seen fit to give us guidance through prayer, the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit that will see us through our difficulties and keep us on the path to eternal life and fellowship with You. Your guidance equips us to be victorious in spiritual warfare and to be assured, through our faith in Your Son, of our salvation. When we keep our lives grounded in You, You reveal Your excellence, righteousness, compassion, and love to us. We adore, glorify, honor, praise, and worship You, Dear Lord, for loving us enough to be there for us. We have no greater need in our lives than for You. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look into the spiritual meaning of the fourteenth Hebrew letter, nun, as revealed in PS 119: 105-112. As we work through the challenges of our lives, we need never feel like we are alone. Our Lord is always there, eager to be sought out and anxious to guide us through them. We are surrounded by the warm embrace of His love for us. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn