Month: December 2017

214. Live

 Psalm 119:77

Let thy tender mercies come unto me,

That I may live;

For thy law is my delight.

 Tender mercy is once again counted on as the core characteristic that makes up God’s essential nature. God is always merciful; that mercy is tender; that mercy is manifold so that there are thousands of manifestations of God’s mercy experienced in each individual life. Many go unnoticed and unappreciated.

The promise of tender mercies is not in doubt; it is assumed. What may be in doubt is whether those mercies will come to me in my present circumstance. This is my prayer. “I know God is love, but does He love me. I know God loves me, but does He love me now. I know God loves me now, but is He here to give mercy in my need?”

I meet the condition: I delight in the Law of the Lord; I love God’s Word and I sincerely desire to keep all God’s commandments; when I fail daily I repent and come to Him in faith for forgiveness and restoration. Therefore, O God, hear my prayer and let your mercies come to me in my present situation. Forgive my sin and make all things right.

When God hears my prayer and comes to me in mercy (which He does every morning) then I have this promise: “that I may live.” When His mercy is actively working in my spirit I am really alive, living life to the full, and enjoying every moment in His merciful presence. Life is lived in the promised abundance when sin and death are defeated and overcome. With God’s mercies my sin is continually forgiven and I may bask in the sunshine of His goodness to me. And by faith I am truly alive and my delight is to live in obedience to the Law of the Lord. If faith in Jesus and delight in His Law should wane then my living fully wanes as well. The Good News is that I can always come back any time, for mercy and life are always there for me.

213. Merciful Kindness

 Psalm 119:76

Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort,

According to thy word unto thy servant.

Merciful kindness is God’s essential nature and core characteristic. He shows mercy and acts kindly toward us when we don’t deserve anything good. This promise is according to His nature: out of the central core of who God is He acts in love, mercy, and kindness. This promise toward us is always there for us and always available, and the death of Jesus has earned God’s favor and blessing.

This kindness comes to us according to God’s Word and Promise. The prayer that I need to make, however, is that His kindness will be for my comfort; that is, that He will apply it to my particular need of the moment. I always have the kindness of God whether I am aware of it or not, but I do not always enjoy the comfort of that kindness acting in my behalf to soothe the discomforts of life. This is my prayer: comfort. Comfort me with your word of promise; comfort me with your act of mercy; comfort me with your expression of kindness; comfort me with your Gospel message applied to my specific, unique, present discomfort.

When we want to comfort a family member or friend in a moment of pain or loss or depression we don’t always know what to say. God knows us so well He always knows exactly what to say and do. We know His promise; now we pray for His merciful kindness to be the word, touch, or act of comfort that we need right now. We know the character of our Lord; be bold and believing to ask Him to apply the needed comfort in every time of need.

212. Do Good

 Psalm 119:68

Thou art good, and doest good;

Teach me thy statutes.

 God is good. God is good in every way imaginable and in imaginably wonderful ways. God’s goodness is beyond our comprehension. All things come to us from God and all these things come from His goodness as the source. The promise is that this good God does good things. Not only does He have pleasant and lovely thoughts toward us, He thinks good things of us; He wills good things for us; He feels good about us; He acts on those feelings and does good things for us.

Some of the good things He does for us are miracles, unexpected and unnatural blessings; some of the good things He does for us are simply natural workings of created life and nature: i.e., a sunset is a good thing done by God. The miracles are rare, only a few in a lifetime, but they make a memorable splash; the natural things are common and daily they are always happening around us and in us. These good things are so many that we take them for granted and we can’t even remember them to give God thanks.

The greatest good thing that comes from God’s goodness is our salvation in Christ Jesus, the gift of eternal life, and the resurrection from the dead. That is doing good. Now I want to express my thanks and enjoy His life; therefore I want to know His laws, rules and guidelines for my life for they will be very good.

211. Portion

 Psalm 119:57

Thou art my portion, O Lord:

I have said that I would keep thy words.

 I keep your words: therefore, the Lord promises to be my portion. Portion = Lot. Portion or Lot means my destiny, fortune, purpose, design, or plan for my life. Not only is there a purpose for my life and my lot in life is a good portion, but also God Himself is my portion. If I have the Lord I have all I ever need. It can’t get any better than that, nor can I have more than that.

“Lot” comes from the casting of lots to apportion out the Promised Land to each of the tribes and then assigning land lots to the various families. No one complained of their lot because to each family it was a portion of God’s Promised Land. No one’s portion, or family plot, was considered better than another’s, for each one received a portion of God’s Promise, so it was all good. “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen in pleasant places: indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” [Psalm 16:6].

What God has won, reserved, set aside, and given to me is good, pleasant, and beautiful because it is a part of God’s Promise and a part of God Himself. Furthermore, having a part of God is really the same as having all of God, for He fills everything with everything. Each portion is filled with all of God and He holds nothing back from us. The promise: God gives me His Life: “I have God.”

210. Liberty

 Psalm 119:45

And I will walk at liberty:

For I seek thy precepts.

 The promise of freedom is tempting for people who realize they are not free. The condition, again, is seeking His law. The more we want to, and actually do, keep the laws of God the more liberty we will enjoy. Every human wants liberty if it means he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and to whomever he chooses. Every human wants to have more things under his control, which is construed as liberty. This is not the kind of freedom the Bible promises.

The freedom of the Word of God is freedom from sin, death, and the devil; freedom means no evil force or tyrant can control our lives and make us do things inherently sinful that we basically don’t even want to do; it is freedom from bondage and slavery. My thought, will, and emotions (my soul) are enslaved to base passions and evil desires. I need to bring every thought captive to Christ for Satan plants thoughts and roams in all my thoughts; my will is bound in sin and I do not have the ability to choose for good or for God with my own reason or strength; my emotions are inextricably bound up with selfish ambition and selfish desire.

I cannot set myself free for I myself tied the unbreakable chains. Liberation must come from the outside; it comes from Jesus’ death and resurrection; He breaks the chains and sets me free. Now I “walk at liberty.” 2 Corinthians 17: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom (liberty).” Once the Spirit has come in by faith and removed the strong man He settles and lives in my spirit, and now I can walk at liberty and freely make wise and helpful choices. Before the Spirit of liberty came and broke the bondage of the will I could only choose the wrong way. Subsequent to faith in Christ my will is free so that it can also choose the right way. The Gospel of Christ has changed my attitude to God’s Laws: instead of fighting them I desire them; therefore the promise comes true: I will walk at liberty.

209. Quicken

 Psalm 119:37, 40, 50, 88, 93, 149, 156, 159

Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;

And quicken thou me in thy way.

Behold, I have longed after thy precepts:

Quicken me in thy righteousness.

This is my comfort in my affliction:

For thy word hath quickened me.

Quicken me after thy lovingkindness;

So shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.

I will never forget thy precepts:

For with them thou hast quickened me.

Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness:

O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment.

Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord:

Quicken me according to thy judgments.

Consider how I love thy precepts:

Quicken me, O Lord, according to thy lovingkindness.

 The conditional promise in these 8 verses is that the Lord will quicken us if we obey the Law of God. One of the consequences of keeping covenant, obeying the Ten Commandments, is that we shall be quickened, or made alive. Making alive in this sense of quickening does not immediately refer to resurrection from the dead; quickening means healing the sick, strengthening the weak, perking up the lethargic, energizing the tired, refurbishing the worn out, binding up the injured, lifting up the depressed, and giving new hope, new joy, new love to those who need a message that quickens or makes alive.

Life is good, but our enemies seek to diminish life and take away the goodness of it. Ever since sin came into the world through Adam death reigns and it seeks constantly to weaken the joy of life. With the coming of Christ, sin is forgiven, death is defeated and all the joy and goodness of life is available once again. Since Christ came the believer lives to two worlds: death and life; and when a part of life is diminished or under attack he needs revivification; this quickening comes from believing the Word of God as the Holy Spirit makes it come alive in us.

We need to go to our special, prepared place and listen to the Lord speak the words of the Gospel to us and quicken us again. The Lord wants to say something like: “I love you like this: I gave you my only Son, that if you believe in Him you have eternal life.” And many other such words does Jesus speak: listen and be quickened.

208. Wondrous Things

 Psalm 119:18

Open thou mine eyes,

that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

 There is a wonderful conditional promise given here that wondrous things will be revealed to us out of the Word of God when He opens my eyes. If my eyes are opened, then I will see wondrous things. God has many beautiful insights ready for us that will make sense out of life, deliver an abiding joy and a certain hope to our spirits, and help solve intractable problems with which we dealing. Insights into the Word are wondrous things. They are not only luxurious, comforting thoughts but also are almost necessary to living, at least to living well. We need wisdom, wisdom from God the Creator, for daily living and for current problems. We need guidance to know and decide the right way to go on many issues. We need encouragement to keep us firm in the faith for difficult days.

The condition “open my eyes” is not something I do but something the Holy Spirit does. He opens my eyes when I hear and read and think about the Scriptures, and then I will find truth and love in the Bible, things that I could not learn by myself or from anyone else. God does it all, but the implication is that I am doing something: hearing the Word and opening the Bible. When I read, hear, study, meditate, reflect, and discuss the Word of God the Holy Spirit comes upon that word to reveal some wonderful and useful insights that will affect my faith and life. Bible study produces wonderful things for our soul even if we do not see them right away.

The Holy Spirit wrote, and caused the writing of, the Word and no one knows better than He what it means and what it means for me. We need God to speak to us and we need to know He speaks through the Bible. “You have the anointing.” [I John 2:27]. Listen and learn.

207. Not Ashamed

 Psalm 119:6

Then shall I not be ashamed,

When I have respect unto all thy commandments.

 On the condition of respecting and paying attention to God’s Commandments I shall not be ashamed. The conditional promise of “no shame” means that God has respect for me, He honors me, He holds me in esteem, and He regards me highly. I shall have a good reputation (not ashamed) before everyone and in view of God Himself. I can hold my head up high and be confident within my self.

“No shame” also means not disappointed: I will not be let down for God who always keeps His word has given me His word and promise. Though I do not see it yet I can believe it. I will not be ashamed for believing in God and His Word because He cannot disappoint. If God gave me a hope it must be true; if I made up some hope like a wish then I can be disappointed and ashamed because it didn’t come from the Lord and it may not come true.

“No shame” also means no guilt. There are on earth two kinds of cultures: shame and guilt. We in the West know guilt clearly, but we also are acquainted with shame. Shame has to do with the honor and regard that others think of me; guilt has to do with the internal conscience regarding what I think of myself. The promise for me is that “there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” No condemnation, no guilt, no shame is upon me because Jesus lived a life of obedience for me. Thus, in Christ, I have respect unto all His commandments.

206. Blessed

 Psalm 119:1, 2

Blessed are the undefiled in the way,

Who walk in the law of the Lord.

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,

And that seek him with the whole heart.

 Psalm 119 contains 176 verses all about the Law, or the Word of God. The Law is great and wonderful and gives blessed consequences to all who obey it. This truth begins the Psalm and runs throughout the whole long psalm. Blessings come upon the obedient and curses come upon the disobedient. Those who walk in the Law and keep the commandments will be greatly blessed.

This is a prime example of the conditional promise: If you keep the law, then you will be blessed. We can understand this conditional promise in two ways: 1) Specific and Earthly: Specific and Temporal blessings about prosperity and health and such material and physical good things; 2) General and Eternal: Spiritual and Eternal blessings about the prosperity and wellbeing of the soul. The second type of blessed promise is guaranteed to us through the blood of Christ. His righteousness is given to me to meet the condition for receiving eternal blessings. The first type of conditional promised blessing is more directly related to our behavior. Actually keeping the commandment results directly in a blessed life. A murderer, an adulterer, a liar, and a stealer do not have a blessed life. Good behavior does result in good consequences. Sinful behavior results in bad consequences.

The child of God actually can improve his life by walking in the law, but he cannot do it by trying to keep the commandments. Trying will always fail. Repenting and hearing the Gospel is the only method that works: drowning and dying in the water and then rising unto newness of life actually works because Christ lives in me. My flesh will not change or improve; it must die. Then the new man comes forth and walks in newness of life, the Christ who lives instead of me. I cannot effect that transformation by trying to be really repenting and believing or by just trying to do better. The transformation can only be accomplished when the Holy Spirit living in me does it. I do give the Spirit access by hearing the Word and believing it. Then the Spirit cleans up and straightens up my life so that I enjoy the consequent blessings.

205. Strength, Song, Salvation

 Psalm 118:14

The Lord is my strength and song,

And is become my salvation.

 The Lord is my strength and song. The very nature and character of God is to be strong and joyful; the strength and joy of the Lord is also shared with us. God shares His life with us; strength and joy is a part of life. God’s strength is my strength; His joy is my joy. God is not only for me; He is me. He is for me everything I need; when I need strength He is there; when I need a lift He is there. There can be no stronger strength and no greater joy.

And the Lord is become my salvation. Salvation is not a characteristic, but it is an activity. When I need salvation He gives it to me. He saves; He saves from every trouble; He saves us from the messes we get ourselves into; He saves from sin and its consequent problems. He becomes my salvation for the minute when it is needed, and He will always be there.