"Meditations on the Excellencies" of His Excellency

"I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments." (Psalm 119:7)

The title for Psalm 119 from the online Bible I am using today is:  "Meditations on the Excellencies of the Word of God."  Can't improve on that.  I pray our little "meditations" will be a blessing, strength, and break through for you.

The word translated in our text, "learn," is translated in another text as, "accept."  I have often said that Biblical faith, belief, obedience starts with an acceptance of, "the Words of God," recorded in our text as, "Your righteous judgments."  For far too many people the whole concept of faith, belief, etc., is a mental strain, a sort of spiritual "bearing down," as in child birth.  If I just strain, bear down, push hard enough, maybe some sort of "faith" will come.  No.  If I just start with, "when I accept Your righteous judgments," aka, "The Word of God," Jesus Christ, and everything He says, i.e., The Bible, faith and belief must follow.

Can I encourage you today to relax and, "learn, accept"?  As our Lord Jesus Christ says, "Take My yoke upon you and learn (one variation of the Greek word here means "learn from use and practice") from Me,..and you will find rest for your souls."  When we, "learn from [Jesus]," then we will be able to, "praise You (The Blessed Trinity) with uprightness of heart....This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil."  Excuse me, GLORY!  

Father, in Jesus' Name, "I accept Your righteous judgments."  Amen.

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* Taking reservations for September 26 participation in the "David's Tent" gathering just outside the South Lawn of the White House.  Let us know if you will go so that we can secure adequate transportation.

* Sarah and I at the David's Tent gathering, October 28 to November 5

* Dinner meeting in Grand Rapids, MI., with Eric Metaxas, author of, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Prophet, Martyr, Spy, October 24.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"Shame on You" Or Deliverance From This

"You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently.... To keep Your statutes!  Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commandments." (From Psalm 119:4-6)

Different psychiatrists which I have read say that shame is "the quintessential human emotion....All extravagant behaviors are reactions to it....It's the root of dysfunction in families....After decades of obscurity-- spent, confused with and over shadowed by guilt-- shame is increasingly recognized as a powerful, painful and potentially dangerous emotion,-- especially for those who don't understand its origins or know how to manage it."  Okay, then, I guess we should deal with it.

When one looks, "into all [His] commandments," there is nothing left but shame, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  But the purpose of God is not to produce a shame which has no remedy.  His purpose is to bring us to repentance and acknowledgment of our sin, surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and experience the power of His Most Precious, Cleansing, Delivering Blood.

Our text, as all Scripture, deals with the problem of shame, as well as every other "dangerous human emotion."  The first verse of our Psalm declares who are the, "Blessed;" they are, "the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord!"  Today's text reiterates this, and you and I know this to be true.  You and I know that if our life would have been dominated by Him Who is, "The Word of God," Jesus Christ, our life would have been a shameless life, a life free of guilt, a life of purity.  Now too many religionists tell people this is impossible.  So I guess what they are really saying is that God has given to humanity, in both Old and New Testaments, an impossible way of life.  On the contrary, the only impossibilities of life is life without Jesus Christ and obedience to His Words.  "But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." 

Many events and people in our lives have brought shame upon us.  Only One Person, Jesus Christ, can bring, "Then I would not be ashamed." 

Father, in Jesus'  Name, I am thankful to You that through the Blood of Jesus Christ and obedience to, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," and in us, "Then I would not be ashamed." 
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* Please pray for us and the resources for our DC Mission,            October 28-November 5, 2012

* Read, "Carolyn Glick: Israel on the Eve of Us Elections" at:
    www.jerberwash.blogspot.com

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

Psalm 119 Study

"You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently.  Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes."
(Psalm 119:4, 5)

Paraphrase: "'You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently.  Oh, that' we may do it."  Psalm 119 is a Psalm about what the Bible refers to as, "the words of God," e.g., "precepts,.. statutes,.. commandments,.. judgments,.. testimonies,..word."
Remember, a Great Name of Jesus is given to us in the last Book of the Bible, "The Word of God."

People who talk of the Law of God, "precepts,..statutes," with disparagement are lawless people.  They want a volunteer religion, a religion with, "no condemnation," which is code for "I want to do only what I want to do," you know, a sort of pick-and-choose religion.  They only see the,"precepts," and, "statutes," and, "law," and, "judgments," as restrictive.  Yes, but only restrictive to their fleshly desires and passions.  If  I want to continue to justify sin in my life, the last place I want to go is Psalm 119; I would avoid it like a plague.  In fact, maybe this is the reason so few people regularly read the Bible.  It destroys the lies of the Devil about, "Your precepts,..Your statutes," and proclaims, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and light to my path."

Psalm 119 is rich in revelation of the Heart of the Living Triune God.  The Holy Spirit moves on the psalmist, not as an automaton, but just as you and I may experience, a person who has found what verse 97 declares, "Oh, how I love Your law!  it is my meditation all the day."  In Psalm 119, we discover a love for, "the Words of God," value them, feed on them, because as Jesus said, "You search the Scriptures (a reference to, "precepts,..statutes"), for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me."  What greater endorsement of, "Your precepts,..Your statutes," can there be?!?

Father, in Jesus' Name, others may disparage, "Your precepts,..Your statutes," but I cannot, because I know that You have dealt, "bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word."  Amen.
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At the Chick Fil A , just East of the Westmoreland Mall, today @ 13:00
News, Commentary: www.jerberwash.blogspot.com

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"Preached...To All Nations, And Then The End Will Come"

"Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." (Psalm 119:18)

I read a most disturbing report this morning about an unreached people group in China.  As you know, I daily post an Unreached People Group to one of our Blog sites.  I encourage you to save that Blog address so that you can pray for one of these groups daily (www.unreachedpeoples.blogspot.com) 

Many of the notices which come each day say that there are "a few" Believers in Jesus in that particular group, very few though there may be, but at least a few.  Here is what I read today: 

"The Chrame are one of the most unreached people groups in China.  There has never been a single known Chrame church or Christian believer.  No Christian presence of history among the  Chrame provides little point of reference for Christian witness."  

Yes, we have heard of the many visitations of Jesus to Muslims and other unbelievers, but I pray that we as the Church of Jesus have the same attitude as Paul, "I am under obligation both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish."  The ache which I felt (feel) in my heart for these people is that of the Godhead, "For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."  And so may we.

Our text today was a little "relief" to me in this "burden."  I pray, "Father, in Jesus' Name, 'Open Thou [their] eyes, that [they] may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.'"  One might say, "Well, how can they do that without, 'Thy law'"?  I don't know, but I still pray that.  He is God of mercy, the God, "of all comfort".  Please join me today in praying that the Chrame People Group 

will come to know Him Who is, "....The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort...."  And, "Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." 

Father, in Jesus' Name, Your Words are my life.  I don't know how people can live without, "The Word of God," Jesus Christ, and Your Words.  Show me what to do.  Amen.

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$540.00 so far for the October/November DC Mission 

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

What Do People Really Want From Religion? (Prayer Concern Below)

"Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!  They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways." (Psalm 119:2, 3)

The only way to, "do no iniquity," is to, "keep His testimonies,..seek Him with the whole heart," and, "walk in His ways."  But the objective in our text is clear:  "Do no iniquity," or, "do not compromise with evil" (NLT), "they do no unrighteousness [no willful wandering from His precepts]; they walk in His ways" (Amplified Bible).   

Some approach the whole matter of sin with the belief, cognizant or not, that it is something the human race just has to put up with.  It is the age old sin-ask-forgivness-sin-ask-forgivness cycle.  You just cannot get such belief, however, from the Bible.  "Sin shall not have the dominion over you," Paul tells the Roman Church.  If you read the Epistles of John, you encounter even a more "radical" approach to sin.  But alas, it is just easier for all of us to say in the words of the humanist song of the 1950s, "Though it makes him sad to see the way we live, he'll always say, 'I forgive.'"  Is that what you and I really want?  Do you want to continue the justification, excuse of the over worked cliche, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven"?  Forgiveness without perfection, my friend, is not a Biblical objective.

Jesus shed His Most Precious Blood on that Cross to open the door to not only the forgiveness of sin, but another great promise, "that He might destroy (loose, untie, release) the works of the Devil" (1 John 3:8).  To paraphrase, our Lord Jesus Christ declared "total war" on the Devil and sin.  Sin is nothing but destructive.  It mars our fellowship with the Blessed Trinity, as well as with others, as well as with our own well being.  Again, is this what we want, a just going-to-confession-once-a-week religion?  Do we have to put up with this?  Our Lord Jesus said, "Therefore you shall be perfect (I know, "complete," but this can also be a translation which gives us "a break"), just as our Father in heaven is perfect."  Someone once said to Ern Baxter, "Baxter, you're preaching perfection."  To which Baxter replied, "Do you want me to preach imperfection?"  

I never had peace in sin.  That is a big reason God wants it out of me.  What we have read in our text today is a theme throughout this Psalm, indeed throughout the Bible.  William Law described it in a book which he wrote in the early 18th Century, and which I saw my Dad reading when I was a teenager---- A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life.  As the psalmist said, "I have a goodly heritage."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I have not valued holiness as I should.  It is just too invasive of my selfishness.  I pray for continual conviction, grace, and empowerment in the Holy Spirit to live "a devout and holy life."  Amen.

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Open Doors writes, "Ethiopia: A church (building)...has been burnt down by Muslim[s]...for a second time in a short period.  The Muslim-dominated village is not please with the positive growth of Christianity in their area."  

 

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2