145 With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord!
I will keep your statutes.
146 I call to you; save me,
that I may observe your testimonies.
147 I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I hope in your words.
148 My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,
that I may meditate on your promise.
149 Hear my voice according to your steadfast love;
O Lord, according to your justice give me life.
150 They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose;
they are far from your law.
151 But you are near, O Lord,
and all your commandments are true.
152 Long have I known from your testimonies
that you have founded them forever. Psalm 119:145 E.S.V
The modern age in Christianity has brought a great reluctance to speak about the need for Christian obedience. It has made any mention of the ‘Law’ in the life of the believer a matter of mere ‘legalism’ and an attempt to bring them back into bondage to the Law.
It has had the effect also of making the Christian’s attitude to the Old Testament rather equivocal.
We take many of the lessons taught and examples of the ‘heroes’ of the faith for our guidance and comfort but the chapters of commandments and laws we shy away from.
While it is true that many of the ceremonial laws belonged only to that dispensation, laws such as the Ten Commandments and the principles behind them are still in force.
Jesus in the ‘Sermon on the mount’ reinforced the Old Testament as being God’s Word and indeed lived in obedience to it all His’ life and gave it the only perfect obedience in mankind’s entire existence. Our Salvation would have been impossible had he not done so.
So it may be difficult for the modern professor of Christianity to rise to the depth of emotion and zeal for God’s Word and revealed commandments of the Psalmist here. Remembering that the light of the New Testament had not yet shined, and God’s way of salvation was still shown only in types and figures.
Inasmuch as this great zeal and devotion was seen to perfection in Christ himself, we may need to periodically assess our own treatment and attitude to the Word and our use of it and its constituent parts.
Whole-heartedness?
How many things do we do and see done nowadays with our ‘Whole heart’?
Sporting endeavour. Rescue of those in imminent peril. Desperate searches for a cure, etc., etc.
Christianity and long been for many a leisure time activity.
It may on occasion make us laugh and smile, it may inspire high emotion and bring a tear to our eye, but usually, the effects are temporary and we lapse into our easy-going, laid-back attitude to it all.
The sorry state of much of the Church today could be attributed to this prevalent lack of wholehearted love for God and his Word and full-throated crying after his strength to obey God’s commandments.
How many early mornings have we spent hoping in the word and night watches spent meditating on it?
If we hear God’s Word and his speaking to us, He will surely hear us, especially in times of imminent peril.
When danger draws near is the best time to know that God is near us. It is here we vividly know the faithfulness and enduring nature of the truth of God and his Word.
The more we understand and obey the Word of God, we will find more and more the lovingkindness of God through Christ, to receive the ‘quickening’ we so desperately need for today.
Lost Horizon!
My cousin on Facebook mentions his being a fan of Ronald Colman.
He was also one of my favourites and the first picture I saw him in was ‘The Devil to pay’ with Loretta Young.
Among his great pictures was ‘Lost Horizon ‘ directed by Frank Capra.
He had started his career in England both on the stage and in silent films and became a success when he emigrated to the U.S. after serving in the First World War.
It was only with the coming of sound in films that he could take advantage of his magnificent speaking voice. It was he that Don Adams was imitating as the prince in one of his ‘Get smart’ episodes.
In ‘Lost Horizon’ Colman plays a man at the peak of worldly honour and achievement yet still seeking something to fill the emptiness that these things can never fill.
The mythical Shangri La, (whatever its pretensions) were it real, could never fill the void that dwells in everyone.
The garden of Eden and man’s yielding to the tempters’ suggestion proved that any earthly paradise could only leave man yearning for more and any attempt made by him to achieve it without God is doomed to bitter failure.
Colman, having been persuaded to leave Shangri La , sees his error and almost maniacally fights to return. Whether he does is left to our imagination and wish for a happy ending.
Our happy ending and eternal rest and bliss depend on our seeking to Christ by repentance and faith!
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granosalis 