Friday, December 30, 2016

A Meditation upon Psalm 119:148: "My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.”


            The psalmist here declares his determined purpose to meditate upon the statutes of the Lord.  His declaration, I will meditate, is not a simple prediction of an action that will of necessity occur at some point in the future, as one might say, “I will read a grocery list,” but a determined purpose of heart: I will meditate.  Yet this was not just a determined purpose, done simply as an action of a disciplined will—although such a determination and discipline appears in his declaration—but an expression of his love, of his passionate desire for Jehovah’s statutes.  They are thy commandments, which I have loved.  He is determined to meditate upon them in the future, for they are the joy and rejoicing of his heart.  He would have no contentment without this meditation.  The lack of it would be to him a tragedy, a failure to fulfill a heart famished for Divine milk and meat.  Nor is his love the fleeting sprout of a minute, but a living, growing thing which extends back in years to the time He first knew the Lord in truth, and which continued to develop to the time of his present prayer—he can say I have loved—and also something which will yet further flourish, a hunger and thirst for His Savior’s statutes which will grow the more it is fed—for he yet will meditate and will lift up his hands to his God’s commands.  These statutes are precious to him because of their author—“They are thy statutes, oh my God, therefore I do love them.”  Nor is his love selective, so that he would have certain of these statutes, and not the others—all the commandments and statutes are his meditation, love, and delight.  To all of them he will lift up his hands—he yearns for them, desire them, values and blesses them; he stretches forth his hands to them all, out of love for them (cf. Ps 63:4; Lam 3:41; the only other OT vv. where lift and hands are conjoined).  He expresses this love, not to his neighbor only, or to the people of God in general—although he would also gladly sing this section of the hymnbook of Israel with them—but to the all-seeing God, He who searches and tries the reins and the heart.  No half-heartedness, no secret reservations, are possible, for all things are exposed to the One with whom he has to do.  He freely confesses his feelings toward the Word to its Author, as to one who already knows and can verify the truthfulness of his declaration of love, and the determinate purpose of his future resolves with respect to it: My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.


Oh my soul, how is it with you?  Is it your determination to say, I will meditate?  Have Jehovah’s statutes been your burning passion since the time of your conversion to this time?  It must be so, to some degree, if ever you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.  Is your respect to all his statutes, or are there certain which you would only halfway embrace?  Search your mind and heart.  Can you join the psalmist in his prayer, or sing this portion of the inspired songbook to the Lord?  Oh for grace that it might be so, now, and for ever more!



2 comments:

  1. I miss my old church. It was small country church about 80-100 people on Sunday morning.Most of the people attending there had been members for 20+ years. One particular lady in her 90's had attended her entire adult life.
    I miss my pastor , he was my friend and stood up for me in my wedding 17 years ago.
    The hardest part for me when our church split was watching my 10 kids losing all there friends and trying to make new friends somewhere else. I've been to 5-6 Baptist churches in the last year, but its not the same as my old church.
    For people that think that Bible translations is some kind of game , you are sorely wrong. It rips my heart out when I think about it.
    I stood up for what I believe in, and so should you. However, now I do it with tears in my eyes and with a broken heart.
    " I will lift up my hands" not to smit my brothers, but to love the commandments of God.
    For those that want a real life example of this watch the James white , Steve Tassi debate on Calvinism and you will see what I mean. Its to long for most people to watch , so fast forward to 1hour and 57 minutes into the debate where Steve starts to choke.
    I know Kent B has taken alot of criticism on this blog for what he says. I can't say that I personally know him, but I knew his dad. He was one of my highschool football coaches and Bible teacher. There was not a arrogant bone in that mans body.
    He was the real deal (Kent's dad). The fruit doesn't fall very far from the tree either.
    In not an educated person , but I know people and I know how things work, and I promise you that Kent's role in this Bible debate can not be underestimated.
    Thanyou craig

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  2. Thanks Craig. My dad and mom are still alive and in our church. They both taught in our school here in California and he was principal of our school too for many years. I'm sorry about the church split you went through. Have a great new year.

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