Verses 145-152
WEEK: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
October 19: Verse 152--"Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever." In the middle of a life filled with hardship and enemies, the psalmist declares the ground on which he stands and has been standing. This reminds me of Peter's statement in John 6:67-69, "...Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life..."
October 18: Verse 151--"But you are near, O LORD, and all your commandments are true." Is God's nearness related to his truth? They seem to be, but how?
October 17: Verse 148--"My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise." I wish I could say this. Now, I do wake before dawn and meditate on God's Word, but that is not the reason I wake before dawn. I wake that early in order to get to work in a timely manner. I guess I am hoping--praying--that the behavior will begin to modify my desires. I do know that I prefer to cultivate the practice while life is easier. When/If life gets hard I don't want Lady Wisdom laughing at me.
October 16: Verse 147--"I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words." On weekdays, I get up and out of the house VERY early in the morning--usually around 5:30 am. I get up because public transit takes awhile and because my brain works well that early in the morning. The psalmist gets up early to cry. The pre-dawn hours are a good time to cry.
October 15: Verse 150b-151a--"...they are far from your law. But you are near, O LORD..." Too often it is easy to think of righteousness and rightness as matters of propositional truth. Yes, propositional truth is important, but righteousness is much more than having the facts straight. Righteousness is also having a heart that tends toward God--a heart that is near to his. In these verses, the psalmist sets up this contrast. Those with an evil purpose are far from God's law. In contrast, God is near to the psalmist. Questions arise. It seems that the psalmist is saying that not being near God is our choice, while God's being near us is God's choice. Sovereignty upholds this, but there is more. The almighty, sovereign Lord of the universe makes himself near to us. That is an amazing thing.
October 14: Verse 149--"Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O LORD, according to your justice give me life." There is a chiasm here: steadfast love ~ justice & hearing my voice ~ giving me life. The first thought is that steadfast love and justice are not parallel, but with God they are. Without his justice--giving to his enemies what they deserve--his steadfast love would be hollow. For the other half of the chiasm, it is in our intercourse with God--calling and being heard--that life is found, for he is the source of life. His breath made us living beings. So, all of life--both the very existence of it and our experience of it is in his hands. We are tied to God. If we are not tied to God, we are not truly alive.
October 13: Verses ALL--The psalmist continues to weep over those who are far from God's word.
All verses are quoted from the ESV.
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