Thursday: Your Testimonies Are Very Sure
Daily Lesson for Thursday 18th of January 2024
Read Psalms 19:7; Psalms 93:5; Psalms 119:165; Psalms 1:2,6; Psalms 18:30; and Psalms 25:10. What common thread runs through them all?
The Lord’s supremacy in the world as the Sovereign Creator, King, and Judge has theological implications for the reliability of His testimonies. The testimonies (Hebrew ‘edut, “decree,” “law”) refer to the body of laws and ordinances with which the Lord governs the religious and social life of His people (Exodus 32:15).
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They are “very sure” (Psalms 93:5), reflecting the stability and permanence of God’s throne and the world that God created and sustains (Psalms 93:1-2). The Hebrew word translated as “sure” (the English word amen derives from this word) conveys the notion of reliability, faithfulness, and firmness (2 Samuel 7:16, 1 Chronicles 17:23). God’s laws are unchangeable and indestructible.
God vouches for the integrity of His promises and commands. God’s faithfulness is both wholly reassuring in guaranteeing the unchangeable character of His rule and wholly demanding in asking the people’s responses of trust and obedience to God.
At the same time, the lack of justice in the world is poetically described as a shaking of earth’s foundation (Psalms 18:7, Isaiah 24:18-21). God’s law instructs the people in the way of righteous life that can withstand God’s judgment. The righteous, thus, shall not be shaken because they are firmly rooted in God’s law, which provides stability and security, and their hearts are steadfast (Hebrew kun, also, means “be firm,” “be secure”) in the Lord (Psalms 112:1,6-7). Nothing causes those who keep God’s law to stumble (Psalms 119:165), which signifies God’s protection and guidance in life (Psalms 1:2-3,6).
God’s Word is depicted as the lamp to the psalmist’s feet, and so, it protects him from the enemies’ hidden snares (Psalms 119:105,110). Great peace, which is enjoyed by those who love God’s law (Psalms 119:165), obviously does not result from a total absence of trials (Psalms 119:161). It rather derives from abiding in God’s presence and having a wholesome relationship with Him.
What are practical ways that keeping God’s laws and rules and testimonies have helped you in your life? On the other hand, what have you suffered from violating them?
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Most of us in this forum rejoice in the assurance of God's testimony and like the Psalmist we can sing God's praises until the sheep come home. The difficulty is that after the last psalm has been sung we have to go out into the real world and face the cacophony of being ignored, or worse, ridiculed. In the days when I attended Church conventions, I used to sit through the big Sabbath meetings participating in powerful music and listening to heartwarming sermons about the goodness of God and the richness of salvation, then I would go home to be faced with a small church whose members were bickering about worship style or the role of women in the church. Some of the gloss of the big emotional meeting quickly wore off as I faced the reality of where people are in their spiritual journey.
It is easy to feel good on the mountain top but we have to carry some of that joy into the valley where people live and where we interact with them. I feel some empathy with the disciples who were on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus and had their faith assured by a supernatural encounter, only to come down from the mountain to find that their colleagues were unable to heal a demon-possessed boy.
Jesus told the disciples they lacked faith. The implication is that faith is more than just wishful thinking the impossible can happen.
The question we need to ask ourselves is how can we pass on the assurance of Jesus to those who are most in need of it?
That's an interesting scene, Maurice...I'd never thought before how Peter, James and John felt coming off a mountaintop experience with Jesus, down to their fellow believers struggling with faith, perhaps seeing them caught up in an argument or challenge with the demon-possessed boy's father.
When we look back at the Garden of Eden scene, we see actual events as well as typology of the Great Controversy throughout all time. There is Adam ..... who is the first Adam because Jesus is called the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45,47)....and there is Eve, the bride of Adam.....who represents the Church, the Bride of Jesus Christ (Rev. 19:7-8). So the dialogue between Eve and the Serpent is a foreshadowing of a dialogue between the Church and Satan that has gone on through time. The spiritual war happening in Eve's mind and heart is the same spiritual war between good and evil going on in the Church at large.
What is this war over? Changing God's Words. Just a few changes. Satan said, "Did God say that you shouldn't eat of the trees of the garden?" That's not what God said! Eve corrected him. Then Satan changed it again. "Oh, if she'll argue with me then she is ready to entertain a direct contradiction of God....Eve, you will not surely die if you disobey God's old, outdated warning. You are becoming wiser than God's Word." Very subtle dance. That's always been Satan's ammo, to rob our Lord of His glory by changing the message....little by little. Cherry-picking verses to fit human pride and desires. Twisting truth to make it sound restrictive and confusing. Eventually directly contradicting. Babel. Get the Church arguing with some demons so that they're left in the "valley of the shadow of death" missing the Glorious Big Picture ....get their eyes off of The Sovereign Jesus Ruling Over All Things (Matt. 17:2).
God the Father breaks the spell and brings the dialogue back to where it should be... only between God and us. Don't argue with demons. Don't discuss with the Devil. Pray and fast (Matt. 17:21). Our Father says, "This is my beloved Son, ....hear ye HIM (only)" (Matt. 17:5; John 10:27-28; Matt. 4:4,10; Phil. 4:8-9; 2 Cor. 2:11). We will pass on the assurance of Jesus when we remain face-to-face with God in dialogue with Him about His testimony, and His glory reflects off of us, just like happened with Moses (Ex. 34:29-35 KJV).
By showing lots of love to those who are most in need through our acts of caring AND sharing with them our own personal experience and testimony of how Jesus responded to us when we needed Him the most to perform a miracle in our lives.
Thank the Lord.
Suffering is everywhere and can happen at any time. While we are here on this planet, this is certain. It can always be understood as the consequence of God's Law trespass. The difference is how we react to it. Turning to God is the safest way to face suffering and overcome it as growth.
The Lord protects those who fear Him and keep His laws,how safe to feel that He is always near us ..Amen
The fact is that God's Law does not "Convert the soul." God's Law can only do "Two things," 1. it can only Justify or 2. It can only Condemn. The only thing that can "Convert the soul," is God Himself via The Holy Spirit and what His Son Did at Calvary 2,000 plus or minus years ago and paid for "The Wages of sin for all humanity," and what Jesus is doing now at His Fathers' right hand of power to continue his work of Justifying us and sanctifying us on a day by day basis and by faith on our part on those facts of truth.
It is a metaphor, Pete. Just as a cabinet maker uses a saw to make a piece of furniture, so God uses us law to convert the soul.
Yes,GOD's faithfulness towards His children, including myself is indeed profound!