OPAL OBEDIENCE
PSALM
119:113-121
ס
(Samekh)
Psalm
119:113 I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.
Susan: The
psalmist does not tolerate those who see-saw in their commitments to the Lord,
those who are wishy-washy wafflers.
Psalm
119:113 (HCSB) I hate those who are
double-minded, but I love Your instruction.
Susie: James
instructed us to ask the Lord for wisdom but cautioned that we must ask in
faith without wavering or doubting. The man who goes back and forth between
belief and doubt is double minded and, as James wrote, “unstable.”
James
1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Susan: Rather
than following suit with those who doubt, the psalmist holds fast to the word
of God, his instruction manual for life.
Susie: His
stability is found in trusting in and valuing God’s instruction, loving God’s
words to him.
Susan: The
psalmist is diligent to obey God’s word because he knows he can trust God’s
love.
Psalm
119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
Susie: Several
times in this psalm, the author mentions his trials, his afflictions,
and his enemies laying snares for him. He has found his safe place in the Lord.
Susan: He can
be completely vulnerable without fear because he is comfortable having total
intimacy with His God. We, too, should be completely honest with God because He
not only loves us as a father loves his children, but He already knows our
thoughts.
Psalm
103:13 (VOICE) An earthly father expresses love for his children; it is no
different with our heavenly Father; The Eternal shows His love for those who revere
Him.
Susie: God
hides us like a mother hen covers her chick with her wings, and our faith in
Him coupled with His faithfulness to us is a shield that quenches the darts
Satan sends toward us.
Psalm
91:4 (NASB) He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may
seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
Ephesians
6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Susan: God
does not need to prove Himself, but
He has demonstrated His faithfulness to the psalmist. Therefore, because He has
seen them fulfilled many times, the psalmist can confidently hope in the
promises found in Scripture.
Psalm
119:115 Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my
God.
Susan: The
psalmist renounces all those who refuse to obey the spirit and the letter of
God’s instruction. He is relentless in his own determination to pursue God and
His righteousness.
Susie: Even though
we are to be a light in the darkness and a witness to the world, we need to
avoid immersing ourselves in its evils. Sometimes that means withdrawing
completely from those in our lives who consistently reject the Lord’s ways and
try to influence us to follow their lead.
1
Corinthians 15:33 (CJB) Don’t be fooled.
“Bad company ruins good character.”
2
Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath
light with darkness?
Psalm
119:116 Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be
ashamed of my hope.
Psalm
119:116 (VOICE) Support me in keeping with Your promise, O God, so that I may
live; do not let my hope turn into shame.
Susan: Okay.
Here’s the Susan Slade paraphrase, “I’m telling the world You’ve got my back,
God. Don’t cause both me and You to be embarrassed by letting me down.”
Susie: You’re
right, Susan. The psalmist is being down-to-earth real with God. He knows the
Lord will take care of him because He has read the promises of Scripture, yet
he tacks on the plea that the Lord will not let his hope seem unfounded.
Isaiah
41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I
will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the
right hand of my righteousness.
Romans
14:4 (NIV) Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master,
servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them
stand.
Psalm
119:117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy
statutes continually.
Susie: We
just read in the cross-references that God upholds His children and enables
them to stand before Him. The psalmist is praying according to the promises of
God, praying what he knows is truth from God’s word which is an excellent
example for us to follow.
Psalm
119:117 (NET) Support me, so that I will be delivered. Then I will focus on
your statutes continually.
Susan: Since the
Lord carries him, the psalmist will have nothing to fear from the evil doers
who are taunting. Then his focus can be completely on the Lord and His holy
instructions.
Psalm
119:118 Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their
deceit is falsehood.
Susan: God
rejects those who do not obey Him, those who believe their own lies rather than
His truth.
Susie: There
are people who claim to believe the Lord but justify all manner of
disobedience. They are deceiving themselves, but they cannot deceive the
all-knowing Lord God.
James
1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue,
but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
Susie: We do
not earn salvation and a place in Heaven by obeying God’s word because we can
never be good enough to measure up to God’s perfect holiness. However, when by
His glorious grace, He redeems us and places His Holy Spirit within us, we are
enabled to obey Him and do good works. Our obedience is the result and evidence
of our trusting in Jesus. When we trust in His finished work on the cross and
believe God raised Him from the dead, the Lord declares us holy in His sight.
Daily, His Spirit gives us the power to live out this holiness in practical
ways.
Psalm
119:119 Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I
love thy testimonies.
Susan: Dross
is the impurities that are skimmed off the top after precious metals are
purified by fire and liquified. The dross is worthless. It is the unusable part
of the precious metal and is discarded. God will ultimately discard those unworthy
vessels who refuse to trust Him and persist in their sinfulness.
Matthew
13:49-50So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth,
and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace
of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Susie: There
will come a time when those who have never trusted Jesus, who have persisted in
the evil of not obeying God, will be separated from those who have been
justified by trusting in the shed blood of Christ. The psalmist rejoices that
God’s word, the testimonies of Scripture, instruct us in how to follow the Lord
and be saved from the fate of the wicked. He loves the word of God, for in it
he finds the words of life.
Psalm
119:120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.
Susie: The
psalmist’s hair was standing on end at the thought of what would befall the
wicked. He was certain of his own relationship with the Lord. However, he
shuddered to think of what was in store for those who did not trust God. The
thought of eternal punishment for those who never trust in Jesus should be a
scary thing, but it should also spur us to tell everyone we know the Good News
that they don’t have to go that route. Jesus died to free us from the chains
and the punishment of sin. The hair on our arms should stand up in fear when we
think of those we love being cast into fire like dross. When we see that
reality, we should be quick to share the Lord with them and pray for their
salvation.
Susan: The
idea of being completely and forever separated from God and all that is good
with absolutely no hope of being able to bridge that gap to have a relationship
with Him is horrible. Once the Judgment Day arrives, the time to repent will
have run out. No more chances, no more opportunity to surrender to God’s will.
There is no riding the fence because Jesus says, “He that is not with me is
against me,” (Matthew 12:30a). Habakkuk prophesied about judgment from God, but
he could rejoice because of his trust in the Lord.
Habakkuk
3:16-18 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice:
rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest
in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them
with his troops. Although the fig tree
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive
shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from
the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the
Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Susie: Don
Francisco set the words of Habakkuk to music with a great chorus of praise and
faith. You can listen to the song by following the link.
Points
to Ponder:
· We are
safe when we trust in the Lord.
· We
cannot run with wrongdoers and consistently obey God.
· God
supports us, literally and figuratively.
· We
need to respect and follow the instructions in God’s word.
· The
day will come when God will judge the wicked and discard them.
· We
should fear the judgement that will fall on those who do not trust Christ and
be compelled to witness.
Reflection
Question: We love to talk
about the love of God, and we should. However, we don’t even want to think of
what is in store for those who never surrender their lives to Jesus and trust
Him for salvation. Picture eternal separation from God, picture Hell. Now
imagine your unsaved loved ones, friends, or even acquaintances in that place
of torment. Does it make you shudder? Ask the Lord to use that image to remind
you of the urgency to share the Gospel with everyone you encounter.
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