2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The sixteenth Hebrew letter, ayin, is believed by Jews to suggest the “eye of God.” We find the perfect scriptural basis for this observation in PS 33: 18-19, “The Lord watches over those who have reverence for Him, those who trust His constant love. He saves them from death; He keeps them alive in times of famine.” Another way of looking at this is that the eye leads to insight which leads to enhanced understanding. This could be interpreted as separation and deliverance through the word. Now, let’s look at PS 119: 121-128, which gives us the spiritual meaning of the letter, ayin. “I have done what is right and good; do not abandon me to my enemies! Promise that you will help your servant; do not let arrogant men oppress me! My eyes are tired from watching for Your saving help, for the deliverance You promised. Treat me according to Your constant love, and teach me Your commands. I am Your servant; give me understanding, so that I may know Your teachings. Lord, it is time for You to act, because people are disobeying Your law. I love Your commands more than gold, more than the finest gold. And so I follow all Your instructions; I hate all wrong ways.”
In (121), a plea for justice is registered. The emotion behind this plea is made more understandable when we think of the continual harassment from Saul that David had to endure and the constant threat of warfare with the Philistines. Yet, even if David were not the author of this Psalm, we would have to ask if this applies to us. Are we besieged by enemies from which we want to be separated? When we look at our lives, our enemies might not be political oppressors, but we certainly do have the enemy of materialism, addictions, greed, criminal behavior, gratuitous sex and violence, foul language, and many more worldly forms of evil around us. Satan is behind all of it, so in him we have an adversary from which we seek separation and plead to God for swift justice. So, the answer is that what is written in this passage most definitely applies to us. The Psalmist’s righteous life is the fruit of his salvation and is thus a proper basis for him to make this plea with God not to abandon him to his oppressors. God is the right One to Whom to direct this plea. Isaiah understood that in IS 45: 21, “Come and present your case in court; let the defendants consult one another. Who predicted long ago what would happen? Was it not I, the Lord, the God Who saves His people? There is no other god.”
The words of (122) demonstrate the Psalmist’s belief that God is a Surety, the One Who stands for another representing him. He wasn’t yet allowed to know that we have the Son, Who acts as a Surety to plead our cases for us. HE 5: 5-6, “In the same way, Christ did not take upon Himself the honor of being a high priest. Instead, God said to Him, ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.’ He also said in another place [PS 110: 4], ‘You will be a priest forever, as the Successor of Mechizedek.’ “ HE 7: 24-25, “But Jesus lives on forever, and His word as Priest does not pass on to someone else. And so He is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through Him, because He lives forever to plead with God for them.” We are so blessed that Christ lives to plead our case throughout our lives and restrains the arrogant oppressor.
The tiredness that comes from waiting for God’s timing is demonstrated here in (123) by our Psalmist. We can all relate to that, because one of the hardest lessons for us to learn is that God’s timing, while often different from ours, is perfect. When we feel anguish or pain, we want it to be over with ASAP. Our Psalmist’s awareness of a need for evil to be vanquished is heightened by his faith and the understanding of its destructive qualities that he acquired from what he has learned from the Lord. His plea in (124), “treat me according to Your constant love,” is a plea for mercy and grace. God’s mercy is discussed by Solomon in PR 16:6, “Be loyal and faithful, and God will forgive your sin. Have reverence for the Lord and nothing evil will happen to you.” EPH 2: 4-5 speaks to us of our Lord’s mercy and grace, something that I believe will be made available to those who died in faith from the past. “But God’s mercy is so abundant, and His love us is so great, that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience He brought us to life with Christ. It is by God’s grace that you have been saved.”
In verse 125, our Psalmist pleads, “I am Your servant; give me understanding…” When we pray and study the Scriptures, our Lord reveals Himself to us. We gain a better understanding of both Him and his teachings. When a servant knows His Master well, he is more able to please Him and be useful to Him. I have often said before that God has initiated a relationship with us, one that He wants to be real and personal. He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit by means of the Scriptures, prayer, our congregations, and our circumstances. God wants to do His work through us. Sometimes it is necessary for Him to bring us to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action. That makes us aware of and motivated to make whatever major adjustments in our lives which must be accomplished to enable us to do God’s will. The process isn’t always easy, as evidenced by the Psalmist’s experiences and those of others in the Scriptures. But, the Psalmist would be the first one to say that we experience God as we obey Him. In case we have any question how important obedience is to us, look at 1 PET 1: 2, “You were chosen according to the purpose of God the Father and were made a holy people by His Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be purified by His blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure.” The suffering that is evident in the Psalmist’s writing is an example that in different forms we all must endure. What makes sense of this is revealed in HE 5: 8, “But even through He [Christ] was God’s Son, He learned through His suffering to be obedient.” The bottom line is that we must be obedient, so that God can carry out His will, which is always in our best interests, through us.
Our Psalmist’s love for God’s commandments, which he characterizes in (127) as more precious than the finest gold, is a measure of his spiritual maturity. This verse begs us to ask ourselves how much time do we spend with the Scriptures? What is our attitude toward them? How precious are they to us? Each individual must deal with that question before God for himself. We must ask ourselves how willing are we to follow all of God’s instructions? Join me in this prayer while you ponder these questions:
PRAYER: O Lord, when we take the time to empty our spiritual vessels of our individual agendas and put Your agenda first, You never abandon us. You are our Protector, our Teacher, and the Source of our deliverance from evil. Your compassion for us extents to granting us justice, mercy, and grace. You really do stand in the gap for those who remain faithful to You in the face of temptation, persecution, and even martyrdom. Your love for us is constant, and we can rely on that. The sacrifice of Your Son on the cross to make a way for our salvation is ample demonstration of that love. We pray that the time won’t be long before we hear the sound of the shofar (ram’s horn) that will call us to be gathered to Christ in the rapture. In the meanwhile, we dedicate ourselves to having reverence for You, listening for Your commands and valuing them, and trusting You enough to obey those commands without equivocation. Lord, we adore, worship, magnify, glorify, praise, and honor You. In Christ’s name, amen.
When the “eye of God” is upon us, we gain insight, which leads to enhanced understanding. That is the way that God equips us to be victorious in spiritual warfare and to move forward in the sanctification process. Our Lord wants to reveal Himself to us through study of the Scriptures and prayer. That is how He can keep His eye on us. His arms are outstretched in love to each and every one of us. Feel blessed, because we are. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn