Psalm 19
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
When we think of laws, we probably think of restriction. In America today, we find restriction on things that we maybe frown upon such as the amount of taxes that come out of our paycheck or we fight for restrictions to be put in place such as ending abortion. But in Psalm 19, we learn about God's laws which are perfect because He is perfect and holy. While we are not to be under Old Testament Jewish law because of the fact that Jesus came to fulfill the law, we can easily apply this treasure of a Psalm to our lives. While those in OT had to follow these laws to obtain righteousness, we have the Lord's sacrifice in which we believe to bring about our righteousness- it is imputed to us (or is put "on our account" like a credit) through Jesus death and resurrection (Rom. 4:22-25) and us trusting in Him. However, we know that being a child of Jesus, we are called to a life of separation by following God's laws in His Word. (I John 2:15-16) What should our response be to God's laws?
1. The law is perfect so it converts or strengthens the soul- without laws we don't know what's right or wrong. God is perfect, we are not. Showing us what we're doing wrong so we can be more like Christ is essential to growth.
2. The testimony of the Lord is sure- we can trust what the Lord says is sure and true so that when we base our lives on the Lord's direction, we can not fail. Our dependence on the Lord is the safest place to be because His will and His way are perfect, true, and never fail. When we feel overwhelmed in decisions or even daily life, we are made wise in the Lord's direction.
3. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart- we can REJOICE in the laws of the Lord because we know He will never fail us, leave us, or provide no direction when faced with difficulty. I can rejoice in the knowledge and hope I have as a result!
4. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. I know that I can't comprehend the pureness of the Lord because He is in reality completely and totally the definition of true purity. We are deep in dark sin, and the commandments of the Lord show us our need for Him! How totally not pure we are. Even though we have the choice not to sin in the Lord's strength as Christians, we have instances where we see how truly evil our hearts are as humans. If you don't see that, ask the Lord to enlighten your eyes to your impurity and seek the Lord's grace to purify! (While salvation is a one time thing that pays the penalty for our sin, we must seek the Lord's grace to truly change our motives and actions in growth as a Christian)
5. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. Respect for the Lord is inevitable as you come to know Him more- the infinite God who chooses to have a personal relationship with finite us!
6. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether! The Lord will judge sin- and like I learned this week, sin will either be judged by holding the person accountable for their sin in eternity or Jesus for his sacrifice which paid that price already for us. Maybe we believe someone should be judged for their wrong actions now. Maybe we think the Lord showed too much mercy or even grace. The point is that judgment for sin is the Lord's responsibility and his judgments are always what they should be. How can we say we are worthy to judge others when the Lord forgave us all? Leave judgment to the Lord.
7. Do we truly crave and desire all of the above like honey or the sweetest treat? Like winning a pot of gold? Do we look forward to the purification process through growth? Do we plead with the Lord to enlighten our eyes and make us wise through His direction? Do we see God's laws as simply restrictions? Oh how we should crave the Lord and His direction- the light on our path that we desperately need!
8. There is great reward promised when we follow the Lord. And can we not trust the infinite, all powerful God? He does exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think! (Eph. 4:20) On the other hand, we don't really have an excuse because we've been warned that the opposite will occur if we don't follow the Lord's direction.
9. v.12-13 sometimes we mess up and we don't realize it- we need to fervently seek the Lord's direction on this so we can become aware, repent, and ask the Lord's grace to overcome. Perhaps it's a sin in a relationship of the past that we hadn't grown enough to identify at that point. Be willing to repent when the Lord shows sin, and actively seek His direction on this and He will help you overcome.
10. V.14- I love how the Lord is described here- My strength which we must depend upon God's grace to follow the Lord's laws and direction. My redeemer- because we will fail but He has and will redeem when we repent and seek His mercy. David's plea here is of the heart and the mouth- He wants the Lord to change His heart to be the motivation God wants. He wants His actions to be led and motivated by God alone before sin even occurs. He also wants the words of His mouth to be pre-screened if you will by the Holy Spirit inside of Him. Can we not do great damage with our mouths?
O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer, please guide my heart and my mouth before acting and speaking so that I can have the strength, wisdom, joy, enlightenment, truth, and righteousness that you freely offer. Make my desire for them more than the most precious thing on earth to me! Amen!
