Wednesday, February 15, 2017

WORD OF LIFE, PART 3 - THE TOUCH OF THE MASTER'S WORD

A 22 PART 21st CENTURY LOOK @ #PSALM 119
Have you ever been desperate for a touch of the “Master’s Hand”?  Do you sometimes wonder where God is, even while seeking and hoping for more and more of His Presence, His Power and His Might in your life? Sometimes He may not respond right away and we feel isolated on a small island of spiritual anxiety, in the midst of an ocean of corruption and despair. This is nothing new. Every Christian feels that way, at least once or twice in their lives and it is absolutely normal. Every strong man or woman of faith had not so much doubt, as questions. Fortunately, as we have questions, He has answers.  He is the God Who said “come let usreason together as men…
Psalm 119: 17-24 
Gimel

17  Deal bountifully with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word.
18  Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law.
19  I am a stranger in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
20  My soul is crushed with longing
After Your ordinances at all times.

21  You rebuke the arrogant, the cursed,
Who wander from Your commandments.
22  Take away reproach and contempt from me,
For I observe Your testimonies.
23  Even though princes sit and talk against me,
Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
24  Your testimonies also are my delight;
They are my counselors.


This portion of Psalm 119 (verses 17-24) reflects the condition of such a follower of our Great God! Holy Spirit put in the heart of the psalmist to cry out in his spiritual alienation for more Word, more revelation, more knowledge of the Holy. But as you read again, for the fourth time, even more closely, you will notice that what we have here is also an emotional condition.  While it is not severe desperation, we see the human condition of just the weight of the world coming at us in this passage and the immediate reaction to look up and cry out “Be good to Your servant!

Oh, that we would be like this ideal here. This is where the Word (the Bible) provides the road-map to a destination of true peace and joy.  Here is a person who is NOT living “under the circumstances” but with his soul and spirit resting on God Above. So naturally, he prevails!

Therefore, if the Christian can transcend horizontal and even introspective thinking, God shows us how to respond to the people and things which oppress, overwhelm or just simply beat us down. In verse 21, we can acknowledge that God resists the Proud and gives Grace to the humble. In verse 22, we are taught that we must let God handle those who persecute and hurt us, His people, because their day is coming….even if we never see it.  He Who sits in the heavens…scoffs at them because they have already eternally judged themselves deficient and lacking in standing for Judgment Day. 

Our one role (verses 23b and 24-"Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
Your testimonies also are my delight; They are my counselors") is to stay firmly planted in Truth. We are not just to believe the Bible or even read it from time to time but to let the Word of God be embedded in our "spirit-man" to the point where we can find the perfect bible verse for the time when the convenience store is out of our favorite candy bar!(No kidding). The Word should so invade every atom in our anatomy, that we shine with the glow of Scripture. The embedded Truth of the Bible is now our eternal and ever-present Counselor leading us to pathways of victory, joy and overcoming. The embedded Truth of the Word, at one time we viewed the commands and decrees of God only as terrifying and oppressive. Now, we love ALL of it because we know, now, from our Counselor, His Word equals true joy....and His Word brings us into the flow of a permanent and eternal vertical relationship with Him. 
Glory To His Name!

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