Psalm 119:161-164 ESV
Princes persecute me
without cause,
but my heart stands in awe of your words.
I rejoice at your word
like one who finds great spoil.
I hate and abhor
falsehood,
but I love your law.
Seven times a day I
praise you
for your righteous rules.
Apostate faith is stealing true faith from people’s hearts
and minds. For, it is a traitor to the true gospel of our salvation. It is a
deserter of true faith. For, it refuses to continue to follow Jesus Christ and
to obey his commandments. And, it is leading many astray.
It is lying to people, and it is telling them that God no
longer demands that we follow his commandments. It is telling them that they
can believe in Jesus, have heaven guaranteed them, but that their lifestyles
don’t really have to change all that much, or that lifestyle change is
optional.
So, they are persecutors of the true faith. They are rebels
who want to go their own way, and to do what is pleasing to their flesh rather
than to do what is pleasing to God. In fact, they are teaching people that they
don’t have to do anything to please God, for he is already pleased with them,
no matter what they do, or no matter how much they rebel against him.
But, we are to reject this apostate faith that so many are
handing out to the people these days. And, we are to hold on to and to embrace
the true gospel of our salvation. We are to study the Word of God so that we
know what it teaches us so that we can do what it says. And, we are not to
depend on other humans to tell us the truth, for many liars and deceivers
abound these days who are leading many hearts astray from pure devotion to
Jesus Christ.
Psalm 119:165-168 ESV
Great peace have those
who love your law;
nothing can make them stumble.
I hope for your
salvation, O Lord,
and I do your commandments.
My soul keeps your
testimonies;
I love them exceedingly.
I keep your precepts
and testimonies,
for all my ways are before you.
If we love Jesus Christ, we will love his Word, and we will
do what it says. We will make keeping his commandments our practice, and his
commandments are not burdensome. His yoke is easy and his burden is light,
because he is the one who paid the price so we can go free. And, he is the one
who empowers and who strengthens us to be able to obey him.
We don’t have to obey all those Old Covenant laws that the
Jews had to obey, for Jesus set us free from that. But, we do have to walk in
obedience to God’s moral laws which he summed up into two laws: “’Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This
is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.’” (Matt. 22:36-39 NIV)
But, this kind of love is not human love. It is not based on
how we feel. We can love even when we don’t feel like it, for this kind of love
has to do with preference, a choice of our wills to demonstrate love to others.
And, it prefers what God prefers, which is what is holy and righteous,
therefore it will do nothing to take advantage of others or to cause them harm.
And, when we are walking in obedience to our Lord’s
commandments, in his power and strength, we do have great peace. And, we will
be able to resist Satan, and to flee temptation, and to draw near to God in
full assurance of faith. For, when we follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his
commands, we will not walk in the darkness, but we will have the light of life
(Jn. 8:12).
Psalm 119:169-172 ESV
Let my cry come before
you, O Lord;
give me understanding according to your
word!
Let my plea come
before you;
deliver me according to your word.
My lips will pour
forth praise,
for you teach me your statutes.
My tongue will sing of
your word,
for all your commandments are right.
What is my cry? It is that so many people, in the name of
Christianity, are being led astray from pure devotion to Jesus Christ, and they
are continuing on in their sinful practices (lifestyles), for they have bought
into a lie of Satan. And, that lie is telling them that God is not concerned
about their sins any longer or that his grace covers them all so it doesn’t
matter how much they sin against God. Thus, many are still wandering in their
sins.
Many people are claiming faith in Jesus Christ while they
make sin their practice (their lifestyle). Thus, we have many broken lives.
Many people are still in bondage (prison) to their flesh, to do whatever it is
that their flesh desires, no matter who gets hurt in the process. Therefore,
the gatherings of the church are filled with people, including their leaders,
who are still living to please the flesh.
Families are falling apart. Marriages are being wrecked by
pornography, adulteries, unfaithfulness, and the like. Children are being taken
advantage of and they are being abused. Lying to one another has become common
practice. Stealing from one another is common place. Human lives are being
destroyed because so many people are following after a lie rather than
following after the truth.
So, we need to be calling on the Lord in truth. And, we need
to be praying for the truth to come out. And, we need to be sharing the truth
of the gospel with others so that their eyes can be opened, and so they will be
turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they
can receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by
faith in Jesus Christ (See Acts 26:16-18).
Psalm 119:173-176 ESV
Let your hand be ready
to help me,
for I have chosen your precepts.
I long for your
salvation, O Lord,
and your law is my delight.
Let my soul live and
praise you,
and let your rules help me.
I have gone astray
like a lost sheep; seek your servant,
for I do not forget your commandments.
If we do follow the Lord’s commandments, though, and if we
do share the true gospel of our salvation with others so that they can be
delivered out of their bondage to sin, we will be hated and persecuted for
righteousness’ sake. We will come up against much opposition. And, we will have
our voice squashed in an attempt to silence us and to keep us from speaking the
truth.
So, we will need to call on the Lord for help, and for him
to give us his counsel and wisdom in these matters. We will need his strength
and courage to keep on in sharing the truth despite all opposing forces coming
against us. And, we will need his help, too, so that we do not go astray out of
fear of what others might do to us or say about us, or because we have caved to
the pressure to accept apostate faith as true faith.
We need to keep on in loving God and in walking in obedience
to his Word, despite what is going on all around us, and despite common trends
to dilute the truth of God’s Word in order to appease human flesh. We need to
stand strong in our faith despite all temptation to compromise with the world
and with the devil. And, we need to long for God’s Word and to make it our
delight rather than to shy away from it for our own comfort and enjoyment.
We need to not yield to the temptation to follow the crowd
and to compromise with the world. But, we must remain steadfast in faith and in
purpose and in our love for our Lord and for his Word. He alone should be who
we serve with our lives. He should be the sole desire of our hearts, too, from
which all else flows. And, we should long to be with him, to share in his Word,
and to do what he says, because we love him, because he first loved us.
As
the Deer / Martin J. Nystrom
Based
off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth
after You
You alone are my
heart's desire
And I long to worship
You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my
spirit yield
You alone are my
heart's desire
And I long to worship
You
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