verses 41-48WEEK: I II III IV V
July 20: Verses 47-48--"your commandments, which I love..." I wish this were true enough to declare, loudly, and in an open place. But it is not. It's not that I do not love his commands; it's that I'm okay with them. I don't have a passion for obedience. I think I should.
July 19: Verse 46--"I will also speak of your testimonies before kings..." This verse got me wondering. If David wrote this--and there is no clear indication either way--the verse takes on different meanings depending on whether it was written before or after he became king. Of course, if it was not written by David, this is wild wondering. Such is the nature of meditation.
July 18: I noticed this morning that compared to the previous sections, this one has very few verbs that refer to God's actions.
July 17: Verse 41--In The Message, this verse reads, "Let your love, GOD, shape my life with salvation".
July 16: Verse 45--Does following God's precepts really make a wide place to walk in? I have this theory called Monkey Bar. When I was in elementary school, we had monkey bars on the play yard. They consist of some sort of stable metal framework, firmly set in the ground. The monkey bars themselves are very stable--rigid even. Children playing on the monkey bars are an entirely different story. Those with the skill are able to fly around on the monkey bars in absolute freedom. The rigidity of the monkey bars makes this freedom possible. I think obedience might be like that.
July 15: Verses 42-43--the parallelism in these verses sheds some light on what the psalmist is expecting and claiming. He is expecting that he will have an answer and that this answer has to do with God's word continuing in his mouth. Having an answer to taunters is in direct relationship to having God's word in your mouth. Might this be meditation--muttering on the Word consistently? He is claiming to trust God's word/hopes in God's rules. This shows that his trust is not merely for the current situation, but for future situations AND for the completion of hope in God's presence. So, might it be that spending time mulling over, muttering, and cultivating a passion God's word is more than duty? Might it be that this begins to transform our souls to be able to comprehend and participate in God's kingdom? (Hmmm... sounds like Romans 12:1ff...)
July 14: Verses 41-42--In college group we have been living in hesed, steadfast love. As we travel through the story of God, we continually see that God's justice is always with his hesed, and his hesed is always with his justice. The theme runs throughout the story of God. These verses connect God's hesed with the ability to stand up under the enormous stresses brought on by enemies. It seems that without God's hesed, the trust in God's word will not result in having an answer for the taunters. The ability to stand come not from our own effort, but from God's hesed.
All verses are quoted from the ESV.
No comments:
Post a Comment