PSALM 119 MEDITATION: WEEK FIFTEEN I hate the double-minded, but I love your law.

Verses 113-120

WEEK: I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII
XIV

September 21: Verse 120--"My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments." Funny that. Love and fear combined. I come boldly, but I do indeed come before a throne. Let me never forget that.

September 20: Verses 118-119--"You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain. All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies." This seems to me a very strange logical connection. How is it that God's spurning and discarding of the wicked is cause for my loving his testimonies? Maybe it's cultural pollution or a skewed sense of (human style) justice. Now, intellectually, I get it. Emotionally, it's a hurdle... at least today. Maybe on another day, it will be different. Emotions are like that. Question is, how will my perception of God's justice be brought into line with God's perception? This is where God's Word comes in. For me, right now, the Tuesday Gathering study of Revelation and the Talbot classes in Ephesians and the Torah may be just the corrective I'm looking for. Yeah, I know there is wickedness and I am so glad that God is just and punishes the wicked. Today, I'm just not feeling the connection with loving his testimonies... but then, love is not a feeling, so what am I talking about?

September 19: Verse 118--"You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain." It's useless to try and trick God.

September 18: Verses 116-117--"Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope! Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!" The psalmist is already down; when one is down , it is hard to obey. God is the only one who can give us the ability to obey. We're too weak.

September 17: Verse 115--"Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God." So, how much do evildoers hamper our keeping God's commands?

September 16: Verse 114--"You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word." Which came first the hiding place or the hope? Good queston. I propose that the answer is, "Yes." Now, obviously God's nature is first because he is infinite. But from our experience, there is no first. We recognize him as trustworthy when we hope in him. We continue to hope in him because he is trustworthy.

September 15: Verse 113--"I hate the double-minded, but I love your law." It is strange to me how the bible tosses about the terms 'hate' and 'love'. Even as I say this, I realize that my term ('tosses about') reveals much more about me than about the Bible. There are things to hate and things to love. We must not be wishy-washy, lest God barf us up.

All verses are quoted from the ESV.