Trivia:
Do you know; Which of these major cities is part of the "Northeast Corridor"? Austin, Texas; San Francisco, Ca.; Boston, Mass.: Chicago, Mich. Make your guess!
Challenge:
Psalm 19:7-11 "The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them.
Last saturday we began our meditation on this Psalm. There we began to come to the understanding that this chapter disclosed three levels of revelation. 1) Last week we looked at verses 1-6 the special revelation that nature itself provides, now, today 2) we are looking at the special revelation that the Word brings to us.
This section focuses on celebrating the purity of God's Word in verses 7-11 then contemplates the great value it injects into the life of those who follow these sacred truths in verse 12-14.
In verse 9 it returns to speak of the acts of reverencing God through the reading, meditating, and then living consistently in harmony with these eternal truths. It emphasizes the reason for us to reverence Him and the Words that He speaks, they are pure and they are forever lasting. This word "pure" in Hebrew is "bar" and is only used 7 times (which is the number of perfection/completeness) in the entire Bible.
This word "bar" is derived from a verb that means to purify, to chose or select, or to make shine or polish. In verse 8 He reminds us that these pure words not only are right, and with out ever failing to be proven true, but they also bring a deep joy to the heart of those who live by their teachings.
As a young man I remember each Friday night, going to our grandparents house, and grandma frying hamburgers and my Uncle Ray providing a fresh gallon of A & W Root Beer and grandma telling stories of her family journeying to Oklahoma to live with her indian family on the reservation. Then Grandpa would break out his favorite Bible (large print) family Bible and read it and lead us in a discussion of these truths.
As a young boy I didn't fully understand the great value that these times of meditation invested in my life. Where my grandfather, dad, and Uncle Ray left indelibly instilled in my heart these truths. That very Bible later was the one that I chose for helping me to make a stand in my high school on the first day of school in my sophomore year of high school. Then we would all get down on our knees and pray through the thoughts of our meditation, and any other concerns that our lives brought to our hearts.
I will never forget sharing my loss of a close friend Steve Johnson to lukemia and me asking for prayer to take a stand in my testimony at school like he had. That night my grandfather, uncle and dad, had me kneel in the center of them, hold me, hug me, and pray for me in this time of loss and determination to live openly for God in my high school.
For the next few months on our Friday night meal gathering they would enquire at just how that daily testing was going. I would share with these men just what was transpiring. This support led me to start a daily reading of this big Bible, discussing it's message and then praying for its words to sink into our lives with 3 of my high school buddies.
This then continued to us starting a bible study at school, in the lunch room, then moving into a classroom, then the band room, then the auditorium, due to the number of kids attending. I will never forget having the kids of wealthy, influential people in our city coming to us for prayer for them and their families, and even other community leaders and their family members. We came to realize that even the most popular kids in school need prayer, and encouragement.
So we learned the words about the trustworthiness of His Word to be absolutely true. It made the simple to be seen as wise, brought to light the powerful influence of these words found in the Bible. It ultimately brought joy to our lives as we saw many answers to our prayers over those high school years. Then into my college days, and all of the ongoing ministry years up to today.
SO GO WITH GOD for He speaks life changing truth through our simple dependence of the pure instruction of His book the Bible. Cling to its simple but trustworthy, right, clear, pure, riches for they will illuminate His joy into your world, my dear ones. Stand strong in His Word today.
Not a clue.