By: Dale Weckbacher
Psalm 119:56
This is my practice:
I obey your precepts.
I obey your precepts.
(CSB)
God’s Word is unique in that is has given comfort and hope to
people for thousands of years. While the
establishment of the compiled text we now call the Bible occurred in 397 AD at
the Council of Carthage, its beginnings date back to 1400-400 BC with the
writing of the books of the Old Testament.
(1) While the psalmist of Psalm
119 did not have the completed cannon of Scripture as we do today, what he
had gave him comfort (Psalm
119:50) and hope (Psalm
119:49). What makes the Bible unique
is the realization that many of us have received comfort and hope reading the
same words as the Psalmist.
The writing of Psalm
119 is believed to have occurred around 444 BC as a manual of devotion by
Ezra. Perhaps one of the portions of Scripture
providing hope for Ezra was Psalm
23 authored by David around 1015 BC.
(2) While this manuscript is over 3000 years old,
it still gives comfort today to people reading it. Psalm
23 reminds us that no matter how dire the circumstances, God is with us. There is no greater hope or comfort available
then the knowledge that God our creator is with us.
Psalm
24 also provides a great source of comfort and hope for it reminds us of
who God is. It begins by reminding us
that God is the creator of all that we see (Psalm
24:1-2). While Psalm
24:3-4 reminds us that only those with clean hands and pure hearts can
ascend to the mountain of the Lord and stand in His holy place, through Jesus Christ,
we all have that opportunity. Finding
comfort and hope begins with reestablishing a personal relationship with God
our creator. The good news is that Jesus
Christ completed the work of reconciliation through his death, burial, and
resurrection. All we must do is confess
Jesus as our Lord and express our belief in His death, burial and resurrection
(Romans
10:9-10). I invite you to pray with
me now to reestablish this vital relationship.
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, was
buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.
While there will still be difficult times (John
16:33), Jesus death, burial, and resurrection demonstrates how Jesus overcame
the world by conquering the greatest enemy of all death. This powerful demonstration of power means
that the words of Scripture are not just empty words on a page but living words
of power inspired by the one who overcame death. There can be no greater comfort than reading
these words and why we must read them often.
In Psalm
119:49-56 we see the psalmist,
1)
Asking God to remember His Word to his servant (Psalm
119:49) – This request is curious for God has a perfect memory, something
most likely known by the psalmist. We
can therefore surmise that this request is a declaration of faith for the psalmist
goes on to declare how these words have given him hope. The psalmist is remembering the hope God’s Word
has given him.
2)
Praising God for the comfort received through
the Word of God (Psalm
119:50) – The comfort of God’s Word and its promises are a source of life
for the psalmist. When we read the Words
of Scripture, it is like having God with us.
In Psalm
23:4, the psalmist reminds us that even when we walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, God is with us. Even
though we cannot physically see God, we have His Words of comfort along with
the hope that one day we will see Him face-to-face.
3)
Turning to God’s Word even though unpopular (Psalm
119:51) – While the popular belief is that one can work hard and overcome
any obstacle thrown at them, the truth is we all need God and the guidance of
His Word.
4)
Finding comfort in God’s past judgments (Psalm
119:52) – While God’s Word tells us not to judge others, this is because we
are imperfect and therefore our judgments are imperfect as well (Matthew
7:1). However, God’s judgments are
perfect and something in which we can find comfort.
5)
Expressing righteous anger (Psalm
119:53) – Even Jesus expressed righteous anger at seeing how His Fathers
House, the Temple was desecrated (Matthew
21:12-13). While the temptation is
to lash out in anger at the people living in disobedience to the Word of God, we
instead should pray for them for as long as they are alive, they have an
opportunity to receive salvation by turning from their sin and receiving Jesus
as their savior.
6)
Declaring God’s Word as the theme of his life (Psalm
119:54-55) – To receive full understanding and benefit from God’s Word, it
must become the theme of our lives.
Simply attending a church service or Bible Study once a week is not
making God’s Word our life’s theme. It
is only through daily time in God’s Word, and living in obedience to what it
says, that we make it our life’s theme.
7)
Making obedience to the Word of God his life’s
practice (Psalm
119:56) – It is said that practice makes perfect. I life in Phoenix Arizona and during March we
have spring training for the upcoming baseball season. While veteran major league baseball players
already know how to play baseball, they must take a month to practice and hone
their skills for the upcoming season.
Daily time studying the Word of God along with the commitment to obey
its precepts is how we practice obedience to God.
I urge everyone reading this to dedicate themselves to the
practice of study and obedience to the Word of God. Just as a baseball player hones his skills in
spring training, we must hone our life skills for a world ruled by evil and
ungodliness needs Godly people dedicated to making the practice of obedience to
the Word of God the theme of their lives.
Will you join me in this?
1. Comfort, Philip W.
www.christianitytoday.com. How We Got Our Bible: Christian History Timeline.
[Online] Christianity Today. [Cited: February 25, 2018.] http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-43/how-we-got-our-bible-christian-history-timeline.html.
2. Blue Letter
Bible. Probable Occasion When Each Psalm was Composed. www.blueletterbible.org.
[Online] Blue Letter Bible. [Cited: February 25, 2018.]
https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/parallel/paral18.cfm.
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