Sunday, September 16, 2012

Blessed Assurance (Psalm 119:121-128)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/16/2012 7:49:30 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Blessed Assurance

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm 119:121-128

 

            Message of the verses:  121 ¶  Ayin. I have done justice and righteousness; Do not leave me to my oppressors. 122  Be surety for Your servant for good; Do not let the arrogant oppress me. 123 My eyes fail with longing for Your salvation And for Your righteous word.  124 Deal with Your servant according to Your lovingkindness And teach me Your statutes. 125 I am Your servant; give me understanding, That I may know Your testimonies. 126 It is time for the LORD to act, For they have broken Your law. 127 Therefore I love Your commandments Above gold, yes, above fine gold. 128 Therefore I esteem right all Your precepts concerning everything, I hate every false way.”

 

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that for the first time in this psalm we see the word oppressors or oppresses as they are found in verses 121, 122 & 134.  The word means that there is someone who is oppressing or taking advantage of the underprivileged in Israel which goes against the Law of the Lord that is found in Lev. 25:14, 17; Deut. 24:5-22.  Dr. Wiersbe writes at the end of his introductory commentary on this section these words, “Often, God’s people suffer oppression while the guilty go free.  When that happens, we need to remember the Lord and what He does for us.”

 

            The Lord is the Rewarder (v. 121):  “. I have done justice and righteousness; Do not leave me to my oppressors.”

 

            This verse reminds me a bit of Job as he also states his case to the Lord that he was innocent of any wrong doing as the psalmist does in this section.  He wants to see those who are oppressing him to receive justice from the Lord as all believers want to see.  When God rewards His children this will be a sign to those who are not His children that there will be a day when they receive their just rewards too and that will be in the form of God’s perfect justice.

 

            The Lord is our Surety (v. 122):  “122  Be surety for Your servant for good; Do not let the arrogant oppress me.”

 

            I don’t see any words that are speaking of God’s Word in verses 121 & 122.

            Surety is seen as an example from the book of Genesis when Jacob did not want Benjamin to go to Egypt his son Judah willingly became surety for him stating that if anything happened to Benjamin Jacob could do something to Judah’s children. The Bible teaches that we are not to be surety for another person’s debt, but it also teaches that the Jews were to lend money to other Jews without any interest charged.

            Jesus Christ became surety for those who have trusted Him as Lord and Savior, “so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant (Heb. 7:22).”  Dr. Wiersbe writes “No matter what people do to us and no matter how we feel, our Surety is secure and we remain in the family of God.  Jesus has taken the responsibility for our salvation, and He will never fail.”

 

            The Lord is our Master (vv. 123-125):  “123 My eyes fail with longing for Your salvation And for Your righteous word.  124 Deal with Your servant according to Your lovingkindness And teach me Your statutes. 125 I am Your servant; give me understanding, That I may know Your testimonies.”

 

            When people attack believers they are attacking the Lord and an example of this can be seen in the ninth chapter of Acts when the risen Lord as Saul of Taurus why he was persecuting Him, and because Saul was persecuting the children of the Lord he was persecuting the Lord.  Now this does not mean that the Lord stops all people from oppressing His children, but when He does allow this He has a good reason for it, and will one day give justice to those doing the oppressing.  Dr. Wiersbe states, “God’s servants do not live by explanations; they live by promises.”

 

            The Lord is the Final Judge (vv. 126-128):  “126 It is time for the LORD to act, For they have broken Your law. 127 Therefore I love Your commandments Above gold, yes, above fine gold. 128 Therefore I esteem right all Your precepts concerning everything, I hate every false way.”

 

            This is the verses that believer can take hold of when they are being oppressed for in these verses the psalmist is asking the Lord to act upon those who have broken His Law.  Now we know that the Bible teaches that we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but it also teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Law perfectly while He was on earth and because of this all of those who belong to Him, because they are “in Christ” have also fulfilled the Law.  The psalmist is speaking of those who are unbelievers in this section who have broken the Law of God and desires the Lord to give justice to them.  We have to remember that God’s ways and God’s times are not always the same as ours.  We see from Hebrews 6:12 that faith and patience go together “so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes with these words, “If we love the Word, we will hate the wrong paths of sinners and stay away from them.  We do not even put one foot on the path of the wicked! (Prov. 1:13).”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Loving God’s Word and not putting one foot on the path that the unbelievers tread is something that I desire to do.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue in my memorizing the 13th chapter of 1Cor, which speaks of what love is so that I can practice real love.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13:1-7

 

            1 ¶  If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3  And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

    4 ¶  Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5  does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6  does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 

9/16/2012 8:26:27 AM

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