By: Dale Weckbacher
Psalm 119:89
Lord, your word is
forever;
it is firmly fixed in heaven.
it is firmly fixed in heaven.
(CSB)
Change seems inevitable and something we all must deal with
in our lives. Much of the change we see
in our society today are technological innovations with some of them bad, and
some of them good and beneficial.
However, we all need something in our lives that gives stability and
does not change. For Christians, that is
the Bible, the Word of God.
An example of a potentially bad technological innovation not
ready for implementation yet are self-driving cars. The recent fatality of a pedestrian in Tempe
Arizona by a self-driving Uber car (1)
led to suspension of the program nationwide.
(2) While technology has demonstrated the ability
of a car to drive itself and arrive at a destination, the unpredictability of
other drivers and pedestrians on the road make its implementation unsafe based
upon current technology.
However, not all technological innovations are bad or
untimely. The innovations of the
personal computer, internet, and smart phones make it possible for us to
receive and send information instantaneously and communicate with each other
from and to anyone in the world. With
these innovations we have been able to develop conveniences like social media
allowing individuals and families spread all over the country or even world to communicate
instantaneously. While we may have
concerns about the lack of face-to-face connectivity among people, sometimes
such connectiveness is impossible with social media filling the gap.
The psalmist of Psalm
119:89-96 understood the need for something stable and unchanging in his
life and found that something in the Word of God. His delight in the Word of God stems from it
being,
1)
Forever fixed in heaven (Psalm
119:89) – We live in a constantly and rapidly changing world. While many of the technological innovations
such as the computer from which I am writing this post serve to make our lives better,
we also need something giving stability in our lives that never changes. For those of us believing in Jesus as our
savior, that is the finished work on the cross and the unchanging Word of God.
2)
The firm faithfulness of God illustrated through
creation (Psalm
119:90) – Throughout its history, Earth has witnessed many things. Much of human history is war and man’s
inhumanity to man. Yet, despite these
many atrocious acts, the earth stands form as an illustration of God’s
faithfulness.
3)
God’s firm judgments through illustrated through
creation (Psalm
119:91) – The root cause of sin is the worship of creation above the creator
(Romans
1:18-25). The practice of Atonism in
Egypt and its worship of the sun makes the sun a deity for worship. (3) The moon is also an object of worship in many
cultures (4)
and astrology is worship of the stars. Even
though most do not worship the sun, moon, and stars today, we may worship
things we created like wealth, career, or education. Any created thing, whether God created it, or
it was our own creation, that we place above God in our lives will ultimately
change and disappoint us.
4)
A matter of life or death (Psalm
119:92-93) – The psalmist expresses praise to God for His Word stating he
would have died in his affliction without it.
He then reminds us that the eternal and unchanging precepts of God are
what give us life.
5)
An illustration of the benefits of surrender to
God (Psalm
119:94) – Study of God’s precepts have led the psalmist to surrender of his
life to God. While modern culture and
its emphasis on individual independence and freedom views surrender as a
negative, surrender to God whose plans for us are always for our good and not
our destruction (Jeremiah
29:11) is a positive. Surrender to
God is not a surrender of freedom or liberty but instead a surrender leading to
a hopeful and bright future. If you are
reading this and believe your future is bleak or even nonexistent, I encourage
you to surrender to God by praying with me now and enter into a life of hope
and a bright future of eternity with God (John
3:16),
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.
6)
Beneficial through continual meditation on It despite
persecution and oppression (Psalm
119:95) – Once again the psalmist makes reference to attempts on his life
for his beliefs. While scripture does
not give any details of the attempts on the psalmist’s life, they are
unimportant for the psalmist is teaching the importance of continual
contemplation, even in the middle of adversity.
7)
Perfect in an imperfect world (Psalm
119:96) – The standard of perfection is an unattainable standard in our
world today with us getting into trouble when we think we can or have attained it. The standard of perfection is reserved for
God and His Word for we all need the firm stability of the perfect standard of
God and His Word in our lives.
A rapidly changing world and culture needs something stable. My prayer is that those reading this will
find that source of stability in God and His Word. May God bless everyone reading this.
1. Wakabayshi, Daisuke. Self-Driving Uber Car
Kills Pedestrian in Arizona, Where Robots Roam. www.nytimes.com. [Online]
The New York Times, March 19, 2018. [Cited: April 1, 2018.]
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/technology/uber-driverless-fatality.html.
2. Anita
Balakrishnan, Deidre Bosa. Uber halts self-driving car tests after first
known death of a pedestrian. www.cnbc.com. [Online] CNBC, March 19,
2018. [Cited: April 1, 2018.]
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/19/uber-self-driving-car-fatality-halts-testing-in-all-cities-report-says.html.
3. Britannica,
Editors of the Encyclopedia. Sun Worship. www.britannica.com. [Online]
Encyclopedia Britannica. [Cited: April 1, 2018.]
https://www.britannica.com/topic/sun-worship.
4. Fenney, Dee.
Religions and Cultures of Moon Worship. www.greatdreams.com. [Online]
[Cited: April 1, 2018.] http://www.greatdreams.com/moon/moon_worship.htm.
No comments:
Post a Comment