Psalm 119 - Beth

Having expressed in the first stanza his passion for walking in God's ways, the psalmist comes to an important question at the beginning of the second stanza. He has observed others who have walked uprightly, and he wants to know how such a walk is possible for him. "How can a young man keep his way pure?"

Although he asks the question (v. 9), it is apparently rhetorical, as he knows and supplies the answer. He will be able to walk uprightly when he follows God's Word. It is the Bible that will keep him from wandering and keep him from sin (vs. 10-11).

Extended thinking about this concept may pose some confusion. After all, our world is filled with multitudes of people who grew up with the Bible but are not walking uprightly. In addition to many who simply no longer care about God, far too many of those who were brought up within Christianity have yielded to heinous sins or have completely turned their backs on God.

The reason for this defection cannot be a lack of exposure to Scripture. These people were in church midweek and for three services on Sundays. They sat in daily Bible classes and in chapel services several times per week. They memorized hundreds of verses. They were part of family devotions and were encouraged to have personal devotions. Some of them taught Sunday school classes and preached sermons. With so much inundation of Scripture, how could these people leave God's paths?

The psalmist uses a number of words and phrases that reveal the key ingredient that must be included.

"With all my heart I have sought You" (v. 10). The Word was so important to him that he devotedly and whole-heartedly sought it from the center of his being.

"Your word I have treasured in my heart" (v. 11). He held the Word as worthy of esteem and valuable to hoard and store up.

"I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies"  (v. 14). The Word was so precious to him that it brought him great joy.

"As much as in all riches" (v. 14). He counted the Word as valuable as the accumulation of all riches.

"Regard Your ways" (v. 15). He looked on God's ways intently and with pleasure because of what they were.

"Delight in Your statutes" (v. 16). He was pleased to gaze upon the wonder of God's Word.

What do these phrases reveal about the psalmist as he thought about God's Word? In summary, he placed immense value on it. Far from bringing drudgery, the Word was a source of delight and rejoicing because of its unmatched worth. When the Bible is viewed with that level of devotion and admiration, there are some things that will happen.

"Teach me Your statutes" (v. 12). Since the Bible is so valuable, the follower of God will want to learn all of it and will want to comprehend the things that he has not yet mastered.

"With my lips I have told" (v. 13). This follower will be so enthused with the valuable truths that he will want to talk about the treasure he has received.

"I will meditate on Your precepts" (v. 15). Because the truths are so precious, he will want to think about them at all times and to ponder them deeply in order to appreciate their full worth.

"I shall not forget Your word" (v. 16). Certainly something of such value must not be forgotten. God's words need to be remembered.

This stanza reveals critical truth about a Christian's interaction with the Bible. The attitude toward the Word is far more important than the specific actions that are done. Listening to teaching and preaching, reading the Bible, memorizing passages - none of these can be done as a matter of routine. They cannot be done simply because they are expected actions. Instead, they must be the natural results of a heart that holds the Word in high estimation and values it above all treasure. A heart with that kind of devotion will enable a Christian to walk faithfully in God's ways.

"I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches." Psalm 119:14 (NASB)

Psalm 119 - Aleph

Psalm 119 is a wonderful psalm about a man who wanted to go on to higher ground in his walk with God; in particular, he recognized the crucial role the Scriptures must play in such a quest. This lengthy psalm is divided into stanzas, with each stanza representing a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

While God may have inspired the author to write the psalm all at once, the content of the psalm represents a lifetime of growth. Each stanza represents a different stage in the author's life or a different lesson that he learned. For each of these learning moments, he records the truth that he has captured. By the end of the psalm, we see the life-long testimony of a man who sought to walk in God's ways.

The journey of the psalmist starts with a goal. His goal is based on a passion that has been ignited in him by others he has observed. He has seen others who "walk in the law of the LORD" (v. 1). He states in verses 1-3 that these people are blameless, they observe God's testimonies, and they seek God with all their heart. They do no unrighteousness, and they walk in God's ways.

The psalmist is not observing perfect people, because the Bible clearly states that there are none. What he does see are people who are committed to following God and who have testimonies of consistent obedience. The author's estimation of these people is that they are blessed, a word he uses in both verse one and verse two.

This young man is filled with admiration and respect for the godly influences in his life. He recognizes the wonderful blessing of their position. Verse four expresses the significance of what these spiritual leaders are doing. They are doing what God has intended for them to do. God desires for His people to obey Him diligently.

The examples of these spiritual heroes inspire the psalmist to long for the same experience, stability, and spiritual success that they enjoy. He earnestly expresses his own desire in the final four verses of the psalm. He wants to be able to walk according to God's Word. He desires to keep God's Word to the extent that he is not ashamed by failures. He expresses his intent to thank God after his goal, which he clearly believes to be possible, is achieved. The stanza closes with a firm statement of intent and a plea for God's help.

This stanza is a great challenge to any Christian in two respects. First, it calls for evaluation. Is he living in a way that would inspire others to want to live for God? Is he faithfully keeping God's commandments? Is he earnestly seeking God? Would people look at his spiritual experience and believe him to be blessed? Does his testimony encourage others to long for a deeper walk with God?

Second, it calls for commitment. Does he have a heart-felt desire to walk in God's ways? Is he determined to keep His commandments? Does he long for an increasing intensity in his Christian life? Does he want to move from where he is to achieve the same blessing that his spiritual heroes have received?

The psalmist's words of prayer are a tremendous guide for supplication by God's people today. It is certainly appropriate to echo these intentions, aspirations, and longings. It is also appropriate and necessary to ask for God's help in the pursuit.

"Oh that my ways may be established to keep Your statutes!" Psalm 119:5 (NASB)

I Would Be Like Jesus

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.'" Matthew 16:24 (NASB)

The previous posts have looked at discipleship based on Romans 12:1-2. The concepts given there are common throughout the Bible. The above verse gives the same teaching through the words of Jesus Himself. What must a disciple of Jesus do?

First, be not conformed - "he must deny himself." A follower of Jesus does not live to serve himself or to satisfy his own pleasures. Rather than battling for and insisting on the pleasures and comforts of this world, he denies himself those distractions and weights so that he can follow Christ.

Second, give reasonable worship - "take up his cross." The disciple's life is about service to his Savior. A dedicated follower makes himself a slave to Christ, to do whatever labor or whatever service that would exalt and honor God.

Third, be transformed - "follow Me." A disciple has a pattern to follow, and he knows who that pattern is. There is only one Person to follow, to imitate, to fashion his life after. Where the footprints of Jesus go, there goes he.

The hymn "I Would Be Like Jesus," written by James Rowe, aptly expresses the heart-felt desire of a true disciple. Below are the first verse and chorus, which speak of denying the allurements of the world in order to be like the Savior.

Earthly pleasures vainly call me;

I would be like Jesus;
Nothing worldly shall enthrall me;
I would be like Jesus.

Be like Jesus, this my song,

In the home and in the throng;
Be like Jesus, all day long!
I would be like Jesus.

Be Transformed

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2 (NASB)

The verse opens with a negative (Not Conformed), but quickly turns back to another positive: "be transformed." As a Christian considers how to give his life in a sacrifice of worship to God (verse 1) and how that sacrifice cannot look like the world, this instruction to be transformed indicates how to accomplish both. When a Christian is transformed, his life becomes a sacrifice appropriate to be given to God. When he is transformed, he will not be conformed to the world.

Transformation is a change - a dramatic change, in fact. After a transformation, someone or something looks entirely different  than it did before. What is the "before" picture? Conformity to the world. This is especially evident in the lives of many people who are saved as adults. Prior to their salvation (and perhaps immediately afterward), they looked exactly like the world. There is a very logical reason for this: prior to their salvation, they were indeed part of the world. They looked like what was their nature.

In addition to a "before" picture, transformation also includes an "after" picture. What does a Christian look like after transformation? He looks like a life that is wholly given in an act of worshipful service to God (Reasonable Worship). He looks like someone whose nature has been changed, so that his life no longer reflects the world that surrounds him. In fact, his nature has been changed; he is now a new creation and no longer part of the world.

This transformation is possible because a believer is placed into a new family. As a member of the family of God, he begins to look like his Father. He starts to look like Jesus, who provides the best example of what a transformed Christian should look like. Romans 8:29 tells us that those "whom He [God] foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son." Christians are therefore to be conformed - but to Christ, not the world.

Placing Jesus as the example can help a Christian to make decisions. Such an example provides clarity in making choices and establishing patterns for life. Considering what Jesus looks and acts like assists in knowing what appropriate speech is like. It helps in discerning which influences would be detrimental. It helps in choices about music, dress, entertainment, activities, and so much more. A Christian who is transforming asks questions like "Would Jesus do this?" and "When I do this, do I reflect Jesus?"

Sadly, too many Christians do not have a good idea of what Jesus is like. Instead of looking to Christ's true character, their imaginations invent a character that is palatable to them and permissive of what they desire. Such evaluations are often prefaced by words like "I don't think Jesus would . . ." or "I can't believe that God would . . ." With such statements, a Christian complacently believes himself to be Christ-like when he may, in fact, be very far from reflecting Jesus.

How then does a Christian know what Jesus is really like so that he can conform to that image? The answers can be found only in the Bible. Romans 12:2 states that a Christian is transformed by the renewing of his mind. Prior to salvation, his mind was corrupted by the world of which he was a part. Now the Christian must learn to think in a new way. He must develop new patterns for thinking. He must establish new truths as the basis for his decisions and as the guidelines for life.

 

The Bible is filled with truth about what Jesus is really like and about what God wants His children to look like. As a Christian faithfully reads and studies God's Word, he will learn truth. As he submits and conforms to that truth, he will be transformed into a beautiful living sacrifice that reflects the nature of Christ.