"I remember, Lord, your ancient laws, and I find comfort in them....Your statues are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart....Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands give me delight." (Psalm 119:52, 111, 143, NIV)
What are you "going through" right now? I don't mean a "season" you are in, or some long standing, "trouble and distress," but right now, in this moment as you read this, do you need, "comfort.., joy.., delight"?
I have found over the last almost 45 years that, "comfort," and, "joy," and, "delight," are not feel good nouns, and don't come to me in great meetings, gatherings, etc. If people base their "religious experience" upon such, they are in for very great disappointment. "Your ancient laws,...Your statutues,...Your commands," are empowering; what more can I say? You may not always get duck bumps when you read them. You may actually get bored while reading them, or don't understand them, or think, "O, I have read these words so many times and nothing has changed." All are lies of The Enemy, lies which our finite minds are all too many times willing to embrace.
Today I simply repeat perhaps what you may think I have said far too many times, but here it is again. The, "ancient laws," the, "statutes," the, "commands," of the Word of God, Jesus, have sustained me to this very moment. "I find comfort in them....They are the joy of my heart...and...give me delight." I am not aware of how Jesus does this or how "it works," but I can tell you that whatever, "comfort.., joy.., delight," I have today comes from Jesus', "ancient laws,..statutes..,commands."
I have no doubt that this is the reason so many in Christendom fell prey to the hermeneutics which came out of Germany in the latter half of the 19th century. It came in the form of high sounding words such as "form criticism" and "higher criticism." One can debate various legitimacies of this approach to the Bible, but after I went through them, after "much learning" in the university and graduate school, the passing of our son brought me back to the thinking/living of our text. I found indeed, "....Your ancient laws...comfort."
I had and still do not have satisfactory answers for those who keep asking questions about the Bible, e.g., "What good is it to read Leviticus, or the genealogies, or the outdated ceremonial laws," and, "How do we really know if the documents are reliable and not changed by men over the centuries." To quote an old movie line, "Frankly, my dear, I don't____" I was and still am a desperate person, prone to sin, doubt, and uncertainty about life as much as many. But this one thing I know, and by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, I will never depart from It/Him, "I REMEMBER YOUR ANCIENT LAWS, AND I FIND COMFORT IN THEM."!! Try an experiment today. If you have never done this, pray through Psalm 119. I'm sure you will find a prayer for whatever you are going through.
Father, in Jesus' Name, I may not know nor understand much. But this one thing I know, You and Your Words, "comfort." Amen.
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Our Mission to Berlin/East Europe is tentatively set for the month of March, 2015. Also, don't forget our plans for the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation in Germany, October 2017
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
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
