" May your unfailing love come to me, Lord,your salvation, according to your promise;
then I can answer anyone who taunts me,
for I trust in your word.
Never take your word of truth out of my mouth,
for I have put my hope in your laws.
I will always obey your law,
for ever and ever.
I will walk about in freedom,
for I have sought out your precepts.
I will speak of your statutes before kings
and I will not be put to shame,
For I delight in your commands
because I love them.
I reach out for your commands, which I love,
that I may meditate on your decrees."
vs. 41-48
When we take the time to break down the scriptures, we can see patterns and concepts repeated time and time again. This section of the psalm is no different. Again, we see that David has put his full trust and hope in the Lord and in his commands and precepts. Let's look at verse 42. "then I can answer anyone who taunts me, for I trust in your word". Think back to the story of Jesus in the desert being tempted by the devil for the 40 day wilderness season. Jesus did not withstand the devil's remark with a legion of angels or a two-edged sword. He silenced the enemy's taunts with nothing but scripture. On 3 separate occasions, Satan gives his remark, and Jesus rebukes his statement by quoting promises of God to the people of Israel back in the devil's face. In the same manner, this is what we as Christians should have the same mindset. If Jesus did not have the word steadfast in his heart, when the time came to defend his faith, he might have fallen short and fallen into the devil's trap. Because he not only knew the word, but had a deep relationship with the one who inspired the scriptures, he was able to pull from his spiritual armory and defend the attacks of the enemy. Imagine with me, if every person who calls themselves a Christian knew the bible so intimately that at a moment's notice, they could defend their faith, or even help someone in need going through a troubling time. How much more would the gates of Hell shake with fear on a daily basis? What would that do for our churches? Our Homes? Our Lives? Now, I want to make something clear. The pharisees back in the days of Jesus were Levites and priests in the Temple. They knew the scripture backward and forward, but they were judgmental, hypocrites who were more about enforcing a wrong that had been committed instead of showing the love of the Father to the people. How could this be? They had all the knowledge of the word. Shouldn't they have been the perfect example of a Christian? The problem was not the head knowledge they possessed, but the heart relationship that was somehow missed in their studies. You may be asking yourself, how do I know all the scriptures and not become legalistic? Good question. Here is the simplest answer I can give. Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength; then a desire to know his word will come. Not to become perfect people, to to grow deeper in our relationship with the Father. Have you ever read a passage in scripture at just the right moment n your life that it refreshed and refueled your weary soul? Knowing and reading the scriptures then becomes this releasing of shame and breaking of shackles that have pulled us down. We find ourselves in excited anticipation every time we go to open our bibles, because with every new day, God's living word teaches and shows us all the amazing promises and stories of times before when God showed up for his people who needed Him.
God gave us his word not only as a guidebook to live a godly life, but as a chance to look back on the history of God's people and the understanding that if God did it for them, he can do it for us just the same. God is a good of the past, present and the future, and he wants to see his children go through life free of shame and shackles that confine us to a prison of the mind. God has given us the key to unlock the doors, we simply need to reach out and grab hold of everything God is trying to teach us.
Adam Semple- a Young Man on a journey through the Psalms.
