soaking in the word

We were once part of a Christian fellowship in which there were times when some people would practice “soaking in the Spirit.” It was what today is called “charismatic” and I believe God was moving and helping people during such times.

What I myself try to practice on a daily basis is more like what I would call soaking in the word, God’s written word of Scripture. In that word we find light and life, and ultimately the Word himself, Jesus.

There are plenty of ups and downs in life. Disappointments along the way, along with difficulties. But we can get our bearings and much more if we stay in God’s word day and night. That is frankly a challenge, a discipline that as disciples of Christ we need to undergo. But the alternative is worse, left to ourselves and our own thinking and devices. Instead we need to be “thinking God’s thoughts after him.”

We must beware of the idea that as we’re doing so we’ve arrived, or something of the sort. The word itself will help us from that foolishness, having plenty that will challenge us and help us see that we need God’s direction anew and afresh in our lives.

All of this given to us in and through Jesus.

a kind of summation of Psalm 119

ת Taw

May my cry come before you, Lord;
give me understanding according to your word.
May my supplication come before you;
deliver me according to your promise.
May my lips overflow with praise,
for you teach me your decrees.
May my tongue sing of your word,
for all your commands are righteous.
May your hand be ready to help me,
for I have chosen your precepts.
I long for your salvation, Lord,
and your law gives me delight.
Let me live that I may praise you,
and may your laws sustain me.
I have strayed like a lost sheep.
Seek your servant,
for I have not forgotten your commands.

Psalm 119:169-176

One can see the last part of Psalm 119 as a kind of summation of this great psalm. There is a mix of faith, hope and love; a dependence on God in looking to God to do what only God can do. But an expectation along with that, that God surely will. And with that, an anticipation of what will come as a result: God’s goodness, and the response of praise to God for such. This is always the tension at play in our lives in God.

The end is appropriate. There is a sense of lostness, the psalmist’s fault and yet almost an inevitable part of our lives in this life now. We do stray along the way, but our response should be the same as the psalmist: a cry to God to find us, to come near to us, since in our heart we want to obey God’s commands. In and through Jesus.

 

 

God’s law set in our hearts

ש Sin and Shin

Rulers persecute me without cause,
but my heart trembles at your word.
I rejoice in your promise
like one who finds great spoil.
I hate and detest falsehood
but I love your law.
Seven times a day I praise you
for your righteous laws.
Great peace have those who love your law,
and nothing can make them stumble.
I wait for your salvation, Lord,
and I follow your commands.
I obey your statutes,
for I love them greatly.
I obey your precepts and your statutes,
for all my ways are known to you.

Psalm 119:161-168

There may be a secondary and maybe even basic way in which God’s law is set in the human heart by creation, with the sense of right and wrong that comes with that. But since humans are so flawed in their sin, the primary way is surely in the promise in Jesus of a new covenant in which God will write God’s law on the human heart. God’s people in the first covenant experienced a good measure of that as is evidenced here in the psalmist’s words.

I say that to say this: God’s love as evident in “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5) sets the agenda for this law, with specifics spelled out along the way in God’s written word: Scripture. We can be sure by God’s Spirit that has God not only written his law on our hearts, but that God confirms it day after day. It’s always in the way of love, bringing righteousness, peace and joy. And when we experience it, we long for it all the more in our hearts and lives. In and through Jesus.

 

 

God’s help upstream

ר Resh

Look on my suffering and deliver me,
for I have not forgotten your law.
Defend my cause and redeem me;
preserve my life according to your promise.
Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek out your decrees.
Your compassion, LORD, is great;
preserve my life according to your laws.
Many are the foes who persecute me,
but I have not turned from your statutes.
I look on the faithless with loathing,
for they do not obey your word.
See how I love your precepts;
preserve my life, LORD, in accordance with your love.
All your words are true;
all your righteous laws are eternal.

Psalm 119:153-160

Oftentimes we feel like we’re rowing upstream, in other words, against the tide. While so many others are going with the flow, doing what everyone else supposedly does. And we can be looked on as strange and even estranged as a result.

During such times we need to hold on to God’s word and God’s promises, and not be moved from them. It’s all too easy for us to forget them for a moment in reaction to our trouble and troublers. Instead we need to continue to look to God and his word. Believing that God will help us to continue on in his will and way in and through Jesus.

 

 

grace to obey

ק Qoph

I call with all my heart; answer me, LORD,
and I will obey your decrees.
I call out to you; save me
and I will keep your statutes.
I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I have put my hope in your word.
My eyes stay open through the watches of the night,
that I may meditate on your promises.
Hear my voice in accordance with your love;
preserve my life, LORD, according to your laws.
Those who devise wicked schemes are near,
but they are far from your law.
Yet you are near, LORD,
and all your commands are true.
Long ago I learned from your statutes
that you established them to last forever.

Psalm 119:145-152

There is no question that the psalmist is completely dependent on God. That dependence includes ability to obey. Although the cry evidently is for deliverance from enemies, I think there is something more going on when God so rescues. It’s God’s work, and with that work there’s a grace that is all about living in God’s love and out of that love, in God’s will. Often what happens in the Old Testament is relegated more or less to the physical, and in the New Testament to the spiritual. That is probably an artificial distinction which doesn’t play out in either Testament.

God’s work in Christ is comprehensive. And even though the psalmist lived before Christ and before the coming of the Spirit through Christ, yet the Spirit was present and at work in the Old Testament. People were still not only declared righteous by faith, but had a change of heart and life which accompanied that. Of course Christ’s coming brought the fulfillment of everything. But it’s evident in the Old Testament as we can see from this passage that God’s people had a mind and heart to obey God. And the help they received was not partial, merely physical. It gave them the heart, will, mind and strength to carry on, regardless of what else, as they looked to God. For us today in and through Jesus.

the needed difference

צ Tsadhe

You are righteous, LORD,
and your laws are right.
The statutes you have laid down are righteous;
they are fully trustworthy.
My zeal wears me out,
for my enemies ignore your words.
Your promises have been thoroughly tested,
and your servant loves them.
Though I am lowly and despised,
I do not forget your precepts.
Your righteousness is everlasting
and your law is true.
Trouble and distress have come upon me,
but your commands give me delight.
Your statutes are always righteous;
give me understanding that I may live.

Psalm 119:137-144

It seems like those who are in the know are the ones who seem to lack heart in listening to God. When one has been given something of a heart to listen to God, they come to realize what little they know, that actually they are completely dependent on God for the knowledge they need for life. Such knowledge is given by revelation, in other words revealed to us humans by God.

Those not privy to this are cast on their own devices and lack of knowledge, but often with seemingly little lack of self-confidence, completely or largely unaware of what God can give. And therefore not understanding those who do receive this revelation from God.

For those of us who have, we know the needed difference it makes in life to fulfill the righteousness of God given to us in and through Jesus.

 

 

 

the light that gives life

פ Pe

Your statutes are wonderful;
therefore I obey them.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple.
I open my mouth and pant,
longing for your commands.
Turn to me and have mercy on me,
as you always do to those who love your name.
Direct my footsteps according to your word;
let no sin rule over me.
Redeem me from human oppression,
that I may obey your precepts.
Make your face shine on your servant
and teach me your decrees.
Streams of tears flow from my eyes,
for your law is not obeyed.

Psalm 119:129-136

Jesus is called “the true light that gives life to everyone” (John 1:9). In context that certainly means to all who have faith at least as the primary meaning. Scripture also is called light (Psalm 119:105; Proverbs 6:23-24; see also Philippians 2:15-16).

We need the light of God’s word to shine on our darkness. All of this is in an interactive relationship with the God who is light (1 John 1:5-7). Instructive words for life. In and through Jesus.