A letter from Anthony...
“Do good to your servant,
and I will live; I will obey your word.
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your
commands from me. My soul is consumed
with longing for your laws at all times.
You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed and who stray from your
commands. Remove from me scorn and
contempt, for I keep your statutes.
Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on
your decrees. Your statutes are my
delight; they are my counsellors.” Psalm 19:17-24
We live in an age where there seem to be more regulations than ever before. We have Safe Church requirements that are designed to help us keep children and vulnerable people safe. We have WHS requirements which are designed to make us aware of physical dangers on the church grounds so that no one is injured or hurt. And in more recent times we have seen the introduction of Covid restrictions, that have been given, and then constantly adapted in an attempt to prevent the spread of Covid 19.
Most of us would agree
that rules can be good things, that can keep us and others around us safe, but
at the same time rules and regulations can at times be a source of
frustration. We want the protection, but
we don’t always want to follow the rules.
In this section of Psalm 119 the Psalmist speaks of the rules and regulations of God with great affection. The Psalmist is recognising that God is good and that He is the One who gives good gifts to His people. “Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word.” With these words the Psalmist is acknowledging that he is helpless. The Psalmist recognises that apart from the Lord’s blessing, he cannot have life. He turns to God’s word and searches it for truth; he seeks wisdom and guidance and finds them in God’s law.
The Psalmist declares “I will obey your word”, he understands that God’s word is good, and following it leads to life. But even as he acknowledges the truth of God’s word, and the wisdom of God’s law, he also knows that he cannot obey it in his own strength. We aren’t very good at following the rules, there is something inside each of us that still wants to do what is right in our own eyes. And so, to combat this very human problem, the Psalmist writes “open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law… do not hide your commands from me.”
The Psalmist knows that God’s word is trustworthy and true, but he also knows that he is not. So rather than finding his confidence in his own ability to understand or obey, he trusts in the One who has the power and authority to give him life. He trusts in God’s word declaring, “Your servant will meditate on your decrees. Your statutes are my delight; they are my counsellors.”
Romans 3:20 says, “Therefore no-one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” God’s law, His rules and guidelines are a faithful counsellor to those who believe, because it is God’s law that reveals God’s holiness and our inability to measure up. It is His law that points us to our need of a Saviour.
Through the law we come to understand the depth of our sin, and now through faith in Christ we have been set free from our sin and shame. God has done good to His servant; He has given us life. He has given His law to point us in the direction of our need for forgiveness, and then His One and Only Son, who is the way, the truth and the life.
In Christ, Anthony
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