Meditations on Psalm 119

This past Sunday at ValleyView Baptist our worship service followed a slightly different form than usual. Our pastor asked me and another deacon to each select and read two sections of Psalm 119 and to add a few thoughts, or meditations as it were. The sections I chose and my comments were as follows:  

DALETH. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.
I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.
Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.
I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.
I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.
I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart. 
Psalm 119:25-32 (KJV)

The opening of this section relates the chasm between the despair of the unregenerate soul mired in the dust versus the soul that has been made alive by way of God’s word. As verse 25 puts it: quicken me according to thy word. In fact, this process of becoming aware of our desperate situation as a sinner before a most Holy God is something that we must all go through in becoming a Christian. Only when one has confessed their sinfulness and helplessness to God, will he be born again.  At that point, everything changes.  Suddenly the law of God is no longer a thing of dread, where once it was distasteful to us because it only condemned us continually. Now, being quickened by God’s word, we can, along with the Psalmist, honestly ask for understanding of God’s precepts and delight in telling of his wondrous works. 

ZAIN. Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. 

This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.
The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.
I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself.
Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.
Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law.
This I had, because I kept thy precepts. 

Psalm 119:49-56 (KJV)

Here again we find the connection between being quickened, or given life, by the promises of God’s word.  This is where our hope, our eager expectation lies. And for the Christian, the one who has been born again by the Spirit of God working through the word of God, this also applies to how, in times of affliction, our spirit may be refreshed by God’s word, bringing us great comfort.  In verse 51 we read that though the proud hold the Psalmist in derision, he has not turned away from God’s law.  This is especially relevant today.  Every day I hear the voices grow louder not only with insults directed toward Bible believing Christians, but calls to exclude us and a Christian world view from society.  Verse 52 goes on to remind us that at such times we can take comfort in remembering God’s past judgements, but along with that comfort verse 53 also points out that one cannot help but be horrified by the wickedness of the ungodly.  Horrified, or to be "seized by hot indignation", as the ESV translates it, which is probably conveys the original meaning better in this day. In verse 54 the psalmist tells us this: “Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.”  And just as songs can be an expression of worship and of joy and even of sound doctrine, so should the word of God be used by us as we travel through this life as pilgrims, awaiting our entrance into a heavenly country, our real home.

I pray that you might find this edifying. May God bless you and yours in this new year!

 

A Punch to the Gut

I felt like I just took a gut punch.  You know, like the unexpected one that doubles you over, partly because it took you by surprise and partly because the guy who did it is a tough guy who’s an experienced fighter. Yeah, a punch like that.

If you are a long time follower of this blog (there has to be one of you) you may recall that in the past I have posted a number of the undercover videos from the Center for Medical Progress, an organization dedicated to ending the uncivilized and gruesome practice of murdering babies in their mother’s womb.  Those videos caught various Planned Parenthood officials and executioners negotiating prices for the sale of the body parts of their victims.  One might be tempted to label them as ghouls, but technically ghouls were not involved in the actual killing of the victims, but only in robbing their graves and feeding on their corpses.  Certainly, Planned Parenthood has managed to even exceed the evil of those legendary creatures.

However, now Planned Parenthood has found allies and willing accomplices in the corrupt court system, and therein lies the gut punch. A San Francisco jury has found The Center for Medical Progress guilty of exposing Planned Parenthood’s illegal body parts marketing and levied 2.2 million dollars in “civil damages“ against the non-profit organization.  The judge, William Orrick, would have disqualified himself from presiding over the case in a world where judicial misconduct meant anything, since in the past he has personally founded and funded a Planned Parenthood clinic. Apparently Orrick missed that day in law school when they mentioned the concept of conflict of interest.

The list of Planned Parenthood’s egregious actions that were exposed during the trial were manifold:  Under oath, they admitted that the undercover videos ARE true, and not “doctored” as they had alleged (and the mainstream media dutifully reported).  They admitted that one of their branches attempted to sell the “harvested” babies’ livers for $750 each. And perhaps most disturbing, they admitted, under oath, that Planned Parenthood does not consider it a violation to deliver babies whole and alive for organ harvesting as part of partial birth abortions.

Despite being exposed for their illegal and immoral acts, Judge Orrick colluded with Planned Parenthood to block the jury from viewing the very undercover videos that the Center for Medical Progress was being sued for publishing as well as from asking witnesses about babies that were born alive and killed outside of the womb.  In fact, Judge Orrick went so far as to direct the jury to find The Center for Medical Progress guilty on claims made by Planned Parenthood.

Two scriptures seem particularly fitting here, one a descriptor:

But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.   -Proverbs 8:36

and the other a warning:

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! -Isaiah 5:20

Creation in Six Days

I was a bit shocked to see how long it has been since I have posted anything here; I guess time flies when you're having fun.  But it is not as though I have been relaxing in a care free imitation of an early retirement.  In fact it seems quite the opposite. Though I try to get the same amount done, I notice that despite efforts to the contrary, I do everything just a bit slower, so in effect I am busier than ever.

In any case, I thought I might post the sermon from that last time I preached at ValleyView Baptist, which turns out to be about a month ago.  I titled it "Creation in Six Days".  If you have time to listen, I trust you will find it edifying, or if not edifying, at least food for thought. Feel free to exercise your rotten tomato throwing arm in the comments section if you so desire.