Friday, January 19
A Faithful Life
Psalm 119:105-112
NUN
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
106 I have sworn and confirmed That I will keep Your righteous judgments.
107 I am afflicted very much; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word.
108 Accept, I pray, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, And teach me Your judgments.
109 My life is continually in my hand, Yet I do not forget Your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not strayed from Your precepts.
111 Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, For they are the rejoicing of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, to the very end.
Psalm 119:105-112 is the fourteenth stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the fourteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet “NUN”, in the Hebrew Bible. Over my past 50 plus years the biggest blessing I believe that I have received as a pastor is to have “faithful” people in my congregation. You could count on them to be there, to be on time, to be ready to serve year after year after year after year. It has well been said that the greatest ability is availability along with dependability, and this especially applies to the Christian life. We want God to be faithful to us, so is it wrong for God to expect us to be faithful to Him? Faithfulness is an evidence of faith, and faith comes from hearing and receiving the Word of God (Rom. 10:17; 2 Thess. 2:13). From this stanza we learn several areas of our lives as believers that we should be faithful in.
We should have faithful feet (v. 105). Two familiar biblical images combine in this verse: life is a path (vv. 32, 35, 101, 128; 16:11; 23:3; 25:4) and God's Word is the light that helps us follow the right path (v. 130; 18:28; 19:8; 36:9; 43:3; Prov. 6:23; 2 Peter 1:19). The ancient world did not have lights such as we have today; the people carried little clay dishes containing oil, and the light illuminated the path only one step ahead. We do not see the whole route at one time, for we walk by faith when we follow the Word. Each act of obedience shows us the next step, and eventually we arrive at the appointed destination. We are told that this is "an enlightened age," but we live in a dark world (John 1:5; 3:19; 8:12; 12:46; Col. 1:13; 1 Peter 2:9) and only God's light can guide us aright. Obedience to the Word keeps us walking in the light (1 John 1:5-10).
We should have faithful words (vv. 106-108). Making vows constantly to the Lord will not lift us to the highest levels of Christian living (Rom. 7:14-8:4), but when we do make promises to the Lord or to our friends, we should keep them (Matt. 5:33-37; Num. 30:2; Deut. 23:21; Eccl. 5:1-7). The Holy Spirit can help us fulfill new resolutions if we depend on His power. What we say when we are praying (v. 107) should also be truthful. To talk to God piously without being willing to obey Him in the matters we are praying about is to bring hypocrisy into our fellowship with God. After we have prayed, are we available to be a part of the answer (Eph. 3:20-21)? Perhaps the highest use of speech is in the worship of the Lord (v. 108), and we must see our words as sacrifices offered to the Lord (Hos. 14:1-2; Heb. 13:15). Do we sing to Him from the heart (Eph. 5:19)? Do we mean the words that we pray, sing, and read aloud from the litany? If worship is the highest use of words, then to be careless in worship is to commit a great sin.
We should have a faithful memory (vv. 109-110). The Old Testament believer did not have a pocket Bible that he could consult at will, for the Scriptures were written on large scrolls and deposited with the priests. This meant that the people had to listen carefully to the public reading of the Word and remember what they heard, an art that has almost vanished today. One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to bring God's Word to our remembrance when we need it (John 14:25-26; 16:12-15), but we cannot remember what we have never heard and learned (v. 11; Heb. 5:12-14). The psalmist was taking risks, just as we all do as we walk through the mine fields of this world, but he knew the Word would direct him.
And finally, we should cultivate a faithful heart (vv. 111-112). What a precious treasure is the Word of God! (vv. 14, 72, 127, 162; 61:5). It is like a deep mine, filled with gold, silver, and precious gems, and we must take time to "dig" for these treasures (Prov. 2:1-9; 3:13-15; 8:10-11; 1 Cor. 3:9-23). A mere surface reading of Scripture will not put spiritual treasure into our hearts. Mining treasure is hard work, but it is joyful work when we "mine" the Bible, as the Spirit guides us into truth. Then, the Spirit helps us to "mint" the treasure so we can invest it in our lives by obedience and be a witness in the lives of others.
My friend, once our hearts are set on obeying the Word, our lives will “faithfully” be on the right course “to the very end” (Matt. 6:33; Prov. 4:20-27).
God bless!