PSALM 119
Aleph
January 4, 2006
(Psa 119:1 KJV) Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
How different from what we hear today! The sirens of today sing us a different song. They tell us of the happiness of the worldly reveler. They glorify the great achievement of self-indulgence. They proclaim the glory of independence. They glorify the virtue of self-determination. They teach us to be assertive, regardless of right or wrong. By contrast, the soul that is yielded to God is looked upon as weak, simple, dependant, and concerned of right and wrong.
Jesus said it; He said that in their generation, the children of the world are wiser than the children of Light (Luk 16:8). Paul also affirmed it when he said that God chooses the poor, foolish, weak and despised nothings of the world to prove its foolish prideful arrogance (1 Cor 1:27-28).
Now my friend, which will you listen to? Which will you give heed to? Remember we live in evil times where the bad is proclaimed good and the good proclaimed bad. Will the boat of your life crash against sharp reefs as you are being lulled by the songs of the sirens of Babylon, or will you make it safely to the harbor as you stay the course instructed in God’s Word, adhering to the Law of love and grace that permeates the songs of Zion?
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
(Jam 1:27 KJV)
January 5, 2006
Psa 119:2-4 KJV Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. (3) They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. (4) Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
When God asked the children of Israel for their exclusive worship, He first gave them His “resume”. He reminded them that He was the God that had done for them more than anyone else could have ever done; He gave them His “credentials” (Ex 20;2-3).
You may not be one of those who crossed the Red Sea as dry land; you may not be one of those who ate manna from desert, drank water out of a rock, or one who was led by a cloud by day, and fire by night. You may not have witnessed the fiery mount of God, nor the heat of His judgments against those who arrogantly defied Him. But you are witness to greater than that--you are witness to something about which even the angels hush. You are witness to your own redemption and salvation, not from Egypt, but from the clutches of the devil who would have you enslaved in the fear of death. You are witness to coming from death to life. Who is the only one who can, has, does and will deliver you from the oppressive “pharaonic” demons of depression, addiction, sickness, and from all the other fruits of hell, Jesus. Who faithfully takes care of supplying your needs even in time of “desertic” penury? The Lord. And who helps you fight your own demons of doubt and fear and takes you by the hand into the heavenly Promised Land? Jesus.
These are your testimonies. Seek and remember them daily and you will be blessed. Seek to wholeheartedly bring them back to your mind, and they will help you to do no iniquity and to walk in his ways. This is the key to Godly purity, to meditate on His testimonies, that is why He commanded us to keep them diligently.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
(Jos 1:8 KJV)
January 6, 2006
Psa 119:5-6 KJV O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! (6) Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
In another place, this author of this Word tells us that he was born in sin; another Bible author tells that we are altogether filthy.
What honesty emanates from this Word! What desire to follow his Lord! Sin and disobedience always end us in shame; David had first hand experience of that! This Word is the desperate cry of a man who has experienced the death-pit of straying, of a man determined to keep his life in harmony with his Creator, a man in love with his God.
Do you pray for the Lord to direct your ways to keep His statutes? Do you ask Him to help you have respect unto all His commandments? Remember, David lived in Old Testament times, when the Jewish religion consisted of six hundred and thirteen commandments to follow. This is a lot of commandments to have at least some knowledge of, and adhere to. Today, it is a lot easier. We live in a time when all the commandments of the Law are written in our hearts (Jer 31:31-33), a time when the Holy Spirit living within us reminds us all the things that Jesus taught (John 14:15-17; 16:13-14).
In spite of this easing due to Jesus paying the price of our sin, are you desperate to walk as close to Jesus as you can? When you come before the Judge of all the earth, are you, like Peter, going to be ashamed of having followed“afar off ” when the One who saved your life needed you the most? (Mat 26:58)?
Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
(1Co 11:1 KJV)
January 7, 2006
(Psa 119:7 KJV) I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
Do you know what to praise the Lord for? Do you know what to thank Him for? Jesus asked if we sometimes may mistake the bread He provides us for a stone, and that the fish He may give us for a serpent (Luk 11:11-13)!
Now, what about this situation you are struggling with? What about these issues that are not working out? This disease that is not going away, this weakness, which makes you desperately cling to the grace of God (2 Cor 12:7-9). Do you think that these could be the “bread” and “fish” that He promised, but that you can’t see them because you are looking at them with eyes of “flesh” instead of with the eyes of the spirit?
George Matheson, the well-known blind preacher of Scotland, now with the Lord, says: "My God, I have never thanked Thee for my `thorn'! I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my `thorn'; I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross as itself a present glory. Teach me the glory of my cross; teach me the value of my `thorn'. Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbow."
When you apply yourself to learn the righteous judgments of God, to learn what He considers to be the right and blessed events in your life, to learn to trust Him for what He gives or withholds. When you have learned to totally yield your life and sprit to Him, giving up the controls, then, oh yes, then, you will see the “bread” and the “fish’, and be able to praise Him for His many blessings.
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1Th 5:18 KJV)
January 8, 2006
(Psa 119:8 KJV) I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
Billy Graham's daughter was being interviewed on the Early Show and the host of the show, Jane Clayson, asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" regarding the 9-11 tradegy.
Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe that God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman that He is, I believe that He has calmly backed out.
How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand that He leave us alone?"
In the Word above, King David acknowledges the conditional elements of getting answers to prayers. This old time warrior who saw many battle-field dangers, who often had his life on the line at the sole mercy of God, knew that one cannot ask for God’s sheltering hands while at the same time living far away from Him and that we cannot expect God to honor His promises of protection in our lives if we live in disobedience far away from Him.
In your daily fight of life, do you stay within God’s “earshot” of obedience and of the keeping of His statutes, so you claim His protection?
Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
(Psa 143:9 KJV)
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