Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word. I have not departed from Your judgments, for You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119: 97-105, NKJV.
Gracious God, as we come together once again, around Your Word, we ask that Your Holy Spirit will come very close to us and bless our study, in the holy name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Friend we ask this blessing. Amen.
I thought it would be nice if we could linger a little longer in this fertile passage of the Word of God, and gleam the field. I am sure that there are other hidden blessings here for us! Yesterday, we went to Psalm 19, and discovered the same terminology that the psalmist used in Psalm 119, along with the benefits that can be reaped, if we make the Word of God our “meditation day and night.” That is, if we live, by His Word. We do need the teachings of the Bible, the way a ship needs a compass, if we are going to keep a straight course on the Sea of Life. So let us look at some more of the blessings mentioned by the psalmist, this time, in the text under consideration.
“You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me.” When we read verses like Isaiah 54: 17a, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper,” we seem to take it for granted that it is God, who will see to that. And He will. But it is also true, that there is more than one way, to keep the wiles of our enemies from prospering. The apostle, in his letter to the church at Corinth, introduced the topic on the importance of love, by using these words, “And yet I show you a more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12: 21c, emphasis provided). We would be surprised to discover how many plans to do harm, were frustrated because somebody decided to use love as a shield against the fiery darts of hatred. Christians, for time unending, have been using this armor with very good results! Many an enemy has become a friend, because a child of God decided that he or she would ” . . . not be overcome by evil, but [would] overcome evil with good” (Romans 12: 21). The Word of God not only makes one “wise unto salvation,” (2 Timothy 3: 15); it also makes us wise in living life from day to day.
“I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation.” Perhaps you heard me make this comment before, that there are some people who have quite a parade of letters after their names, but are as void of common sense, as a person could be. On the other hand, there are people, who, perhaps did not even make it through high school, but could teach a college course. I believe that many of them would fall into this group mentioned by the psalmist. Much of the profound insight that I have observed in others, or have experienced in my own life, came not only from sitting in a classroom, but most of all, from the moments that were spent sitting at the feet of Jesus, and meditating on His Word. When we submit our minds to the influence of the Holy Spirit, we are in for an extraordinary experience . That is why we never study the Word of God without first asking for guidance from the Author of the Word! He alone, knows what was intended when he inspired it! Not even our teachers can outdo that!
“I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts.” There is a wonderful practice at my former church, that has been kept alive by the love, and desire to serve others, of one of our sisters. It is called, “The Night of the Sages.” Whenever a young lady is getting married, the older ladies of the church are summoned to sit together and share with her some of the practices that we have found helpful in our own marriages. The principal reason for doing this is because we tend to equate age with wisdom. In most, if not all, mid-eastern cultures, the elderly are respected and treated with great deference.Their advice is coveted, and held in great respect. Do you remember the words of Elihu, after Job’s friends had ended their response? When he was about to give his speech, he began with the following words: ” ‘ “I am young in years, and you are very old; therefore I was afraid, and dared not declare my opinion to you. I said, ‘Age should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.’ But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. Great men are not always wise, nor do the aged always understand justice” ‘ ” (Job 32: 6b-9).
Elihu may not have been right in everything he said, but he surely spoke the truth when he said that it was the breath of the Almighty that gives him [people] understanding.” When it comes to the aged, and the “Ancient of days,” it is the latter who should have the last word. It is the entrance of His Word, that enlightens, and “gives understanding” (Psalm 119: 130).
We will continue.
This is just the pecfert answer for all of us
This is just the pecfert answer for all of us
A motivating discussion is definitely worth comment. I do think that you should publish more about this topic, it might not be a taboo matter but usually people do not talk about such subjects. To the next! Best wishes!!
A motivating discussion is definitely worth comment. I do think that you should publish more about this topic, it might not be a taboo matter but usually people do not talk about such subjects. To the next! Best wishes!!