2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Today, we will look at the spiritual meaning of the seventeenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, peh, as revealed in PS 119: 129-136. One way of looking at this is joy and communication through the word. First, read God’s words in this wonderful passage:
“Your teachings are wonderful; I obey them with all my heart. The explanation of your teaching gives light and brings wisdom to the ignorant. In my desire for your commands I pant with open mouth. Turn to me and have mercy on me as You do on all those who love You. As You have promised, keep me from falling; do not let me be overcome by evil. Save me from those who oppress me, so that I may obey Your commands. Bless me with Your presence and teach me Your laws. My tears pour down like a river, because people do not obey Your law.” Something kind of neat happened this morning when I was asking God for direction in writing to you about this passage. God directs me to give you a “two for one” by letting me see the amazing parallels between this passage and PS 42. I have always believed that Scripture is the best interpreter of Scripture anyway.
What does it mean when our Psalmist declares to God, “Your teachings are wonderful?” 2 TIM 3: 16-17 helps to answer this question. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that they person who serves god may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.” That means the word is always relevant, powerful, timeless, harmonious, pure, and sufficient-just like its Author. I would like to compare being ignorant to being hungry and thirsty in a way only God’s word can assuage. PS 42: 1-2 expresses it better than I can. “As the hart [deer] longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for You, the living God. When can I go and worship in Your presence?” In PS 119: 130, our Psalmist reiterates that God’s teachings bring light and wisdom to the ignorant. When the hart is dying of thirst, it recognizes a need to find a stream of cool water. When the faithful are humble and thirst for God’s presence, He renders us able to recognize He is our stream of cool water. JN 7: 37-39, “On the last and most important day of the festival Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, ‘Whoever is thirsty should come to Me and drink.’ As the Scriptures [EZK 47: 1; ZECH 14: 8] say, ‘ Whoever believes in Me, streams of life-giving water will pour out from his heart.’ Jesus said this about the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were going to receive. At that time the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been raised to glory. “
“Panting with an open mouth” (131) is what a baby who is thirsty does. I PET 2: 2 speaks of the spiritual aspect of God’s advice on this. “Be like newborn babies, always thirsty for the pure spiritual milk, so that by drinking it you may grow up and be saved.” God knows that His teachings have a sanctifying influence on the world. He wants us to seek them out and take joy in doing so. Now, read the words of PS 42: 5-8 for an example of this. “Why am I so sad [the man in exile asks]? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise Him, my Savior and my God. Here in exile my heart is breaking, and so I turn my thoughts to Him. He has sent waves of sorrow over my soul; from Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar. May the Lord show His constant love during the day, also that I may have a song at night, a prayer to God for my life.” This acknowledgment of God as the Source of relief from sorrow is demonstrated in both our PS 119 passage and in this one.
The plea for God’s mercy in PS 119: 132 is something we should never think is too repetitive. God never tires of our pleas for His mercy. This goes right to the heart of the two parallel truths of our universe, that of God’s sovereignty and mankind’s responsibility to respond to it. God is the Source for everything we need, including mercy. He is the all-sufficient Source. The Psalmist reminds us here that we are always in need of God’s grace. Verse 134 is not just another ordinary plea for God to save the Psalmist (or us) from oppression. It is “so I may obey Your commands.” Herein, we can see the Psalmist’s acknowledgment of the two parallel truths as they relate to him (and us). We should always know that God will never give us an assignment without also equipping us to do it. That doesn’t mean we won’t experience pain, inconvenience, thirst and/or hunger along the way. Those who know to take joy in their trials and tribulations know that it is when we are in the valleys of our lives, these are the times of our greatest opportunities to turn to God and experience spiritual growth. Robert A. Schuller said, “When we are in a deep valley, the only way we can look is up!”
When our Psalmist pleads in (135), “Bless me with Your presence and teach me Your laws,” he is saying never lose your thirst for the cool water of God’s word. It is quite all right for us to ask God for some token of His presence, favor, or power. There are times with God may even choose to grant this request. I can’t help but think of the many miracles Christ performed in his short, three-year public ministry, signs from God of Who this Son of Man is and how important His words are to us. In my own life, God let my husband know throughout the long period of unemployment he experienced that He would eventually provide. That was a sign I didn’t always recognize as God giving of a sign of the truth. Seeing it actually happen after so long has strengthened my faith and showed me the error of ever questioning that God is our Jehovah Jireh, God Who provides. When we are in a valley, the only way we can look is up.
When we read (136), “My tears pour down like a river, because people do not obey Your law,” Daniel’s magnificent intercessory prayer for the Jewish people including himself in Babylonian captivity in DN 9: 4-19, which I hope you will read, comes to mind.
PS 42: 9-11 is the same kind of plea from a faithful man regarding the ungodly people around him. “To God, my defender, I say, ‘Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go on suffering from the cruelty of my enemies? I am crushed by their insults, as they keep on asking me, ‘Where is your God?’ Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise Him, my Savior and my God.” What faith our Psalmist and Daniel had! What an example of humility and trust in the Lord they exemplify for us!
PRAYER: O Lord, Your teachings really are wonderful. They are spiritual food and drink for a hungry, thirsty world. When the darkness of ignorance, cruelty, or other evil comes in to our lives, Your word is the best source of light to chase it away. All that we are and all that we have is from You. We turn to You in humility and adoration with our pleas for mercy from the suffering we know in our lives, knowing full well that Your compassion for us is demonstrated every time we gain insight from your word. You are the wellspring of joy from which we must drink. When You bless us with Your presence and leadership in our lives, we are equipped to be victorious over our enemies. Your Son and Your Spirit lead us to the life-giving waters that can flow from our hearts which only You can provide. We dedicate ourselves to drinking deeply from them, so that we can be sanctified to Your satisfaction and help others to know You seek their salvation and sanctification too. Help us always to turn to You, even when we are in the valleys of our lives. In Christ’s name, amen.
What a blessing this magnificent Psalm is turning out to be for me! I hope it is for you too. Tomorrow, we will look at the spiritual meaning of the eighteenth Hebrew letter, tzaddi, as revealed in PS 119: 137-144. We need never worry about spiritual hunger or thirst if we will only turn to our heavenly Father. He is our Jehovah Jireh. Hallelujah! Peter and I also send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn