(selected verses from Psalm 119)
Psalm119:72-74, 81-84, 89-92, 96 NLT
Your instructions are more valuable to me than millions in gold and silver. You made me; you created me. Now give me the sense to follow your commands. May all who fear you find in me a cause for joy, for I have put my hope in your word. I am worn out waiting for your rescue, but I have put my hope in your word. My eyes are straining to see your promises come true. When will you comfort me? I am shriveled like a wineskin in the smoke, but I have not forgotten to obey your decrees. How long must I wait? When will you punish those who persecute me? Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven. Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created. Your regulations remain true to this day, for everything serves your plans. If your instructions hadn’t sustained me with joy, I would have died in my misery. Even perfection has its limits, but your commands have no limit.
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In G. K. Chesterton's brief but pithy book, Orthodoxy I've often found sanity. Chesterton illustrates the rationality of common faith in God. Through stories or elaborate senerios the book convinced me to centre my reason outside myself. Ultimately I am a poor starting point for my reality.
The author of Psalm 119 is convinced of many things. Primarily the Psalmist is sure of the absolute necessity of God's word but he quite rightly doubts himself.
As I read this passage I'm reminded of the rock solid things and caused to doubt the insecure.
For instance God is the creator isn't up for grabs. It is a given! Or the shakiness of our own personal faith is set against the clarity of God's unmoveable word.
Psalm 119 really casts into question nearly all the supposed givens of this world. Money isn't as valuable as God's word. There is no debate or lack of clarity on this point. But the writer's own faith is expressed as needing assistance. People of 'faith' are often offended if you question thier faith and even respond with strong emotion when they are questioned. We don't need to defend ourselves, especially when the truth is we are the least sure thing there is.
But that isn't too say we don't have a role as people who are convinced of God's word and it's absolute surety. The penman of Psalm 119 knew he could bring others joy through his faith in God's word. We all to often are prone to protecting the indefeasible and then throwing the baby out with the bath water. Just because we see the frailties of our self and our own faith we don't have to assume God is not there nor that we have no role. We can both view ourselves with healthy scepticism and be at once confident of God's ability. We can be sure of His ability to rescue and still cry out in anguish intensely in need of the rescue.
According to Psalm 119 the pain of life does not negate the sovereignty of God's plan. And the complexity of need did not unseat God as creator and sustainer.
I really resonate with this portion of the Bible. I highly recommend that you read the whole of this Psalm. I'd be very encouraged to hear from you what you make of it. I wonder if you too find the logic of this author refreshing and surprisingly lucid but markedly different from what we hear so readily from the world around us. It can be very reassuring to be different.
Are you ready to remove yourself from the centre of your logic.
