More to Be Desired than Gold

Psalms 19:7-11 ESV

“The law of the Lord is perfect,

    reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure,

    making wise the simple;

the precepts of the Lord are right,

    rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure,

    enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the Lord is clean,

    enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true,

    and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold,

    even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey

    and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

    in keeping them there is great reward.”

The Law of the Lord

The law of the Lord is the word of God. All Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, and instruction in righteousness. It doesn’t mean that every instruction in the whole of Scripture applies to us today, for we are not under the Old Covenant, but all Scripture is beneficial to us.

Nevertheless, all Scripture in the New Testament under the New Covenant, including the teachings of Jesus, written for the church, does apply to our lives today. And we are given many instructions in the New Testament which, as followers of Jesus, we are commanded to obey.

Just because, as Christians, we are not under the Old Covenant ceremonial, purification, sacrificial, and liturgical laws and customs, it does not mean we are lawless or that we don’t have to obey our Lord’s commands. For, if we don’t obey our Lord, we don’t know him, and we will not inherit eternal life.

So, we still have laws we have to obey. They are the commands of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We must do what he says, for it is for our good. We must surrender our lives to him, die with him to sin, and live to him and to his righteousness, in his power and strength at work within us.

The Testimony of the Lord

So, the word of God is perfect in its original form because it is God’s God-breathed words, and he is perfect. And the word of God absolutely revives our souls if we listen to what it teaches us, and if we walk in obedience to what it says for us to do.

And, if we listen to the Word, and if we obey what it teaches us, under the New Covenant, we do gain wisdom and understanding. For, that wisdom comes from God, through his word, and through the Holy Spirit living within us who speaks truth to our hearts.

The precepts (principles, teachings) of the Lord are right (good, correct), and if we abide by them, and if we gain wisdom from them, and if we put that wisdom into practice in our daily lives, they do rejoice our hearts. For, the word of God applied to our lives brings much joy!

Yes, under the New Covenant, we still have to obey the commandments of our Lord. They are the ones which are repeated for us in the teachings of Jesus and in the teachings of the New Testament apostles, which Jesus summarized into two: Love God with your whole being and love your neighbor as you love yourself.

The Fear of the Lord

When we as believers in Jesus fear the Lord, it means that we honor him, we show him respect, we revere him, we worship him, and we are obeying him as a matter of practice (life course). And we worship him by surrendering our lives to him as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.

So, why do we still have rules we have to obey? It is because God loves us, and he knows what is best for us, and because Jesus died on that cross that we might be delivered from our slavery to sin and so we would now be slaves to God and to his righteousness.

So, the Lord gives us his commands as boundaries we are not to cross over, and as guidelines for Christian living, and because he died so that we could die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. His grace, in fact, trains us to say “No!” to sin and “Yes!” to God daily. 

Jesus also shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so that we would now honor him with our lives. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. So, the rules help us to stay within those boundaries, if we obey them.

Your Servant is Warned

The Scriptures have many encouragements for us, as believers in Jesus. They remind us of God’s promises to us, which are subject to our obedience, i.e., they are conditional based on the conditions that the Scriptures lay out for us to be able to claim those promises.

The Scriptures are also instructional in nature, for they teach us much about godly living, holiness, righteousness, purity, honesty, faithfulness, and the like. So, we have all kinds of instructions on things we are to put out of our lives and on the kinds of things we are to put on in our lives.

But the Scriptures are also filled with many warnings, and yes, many of these warnings are addressed to those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. And they are filled with conditions, too. For, if we say we know God, but we are not obeying his commands, we are liars. We don’t know God.

So, we need to take these warnings seriously. We are not saved from our sins and bound for heaven based upon lip service only, or on some one-time decision we made in our lives to believe in Jesus. For, if we profess Jesus as Lord, but if we are still walking in deliberate and habitual sin, we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God.

So, study the Scriptures. Learn what they teach. Read them in context, and compare Scripture with Scripture, too. Let the Holy Spirit teach you what the Scriptures say, and then follow what they teach (New Covenant). For, in keeping (obeying) the word of God, there is indeed great reward.

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

God is With Us

An Original Work / June 11, 2019

Based off Psalm 46

God’s our refuge. He is our strength,

A present help to us when in pain.

Therefore, we will not be afraid,

Although the earth beneath us gives way.

Though the mountains be moved to the sea,

Roaring waters abound so free,

And the mountains now tremble so,

We will not fear, God is near, we know.

God is with us and He makes glad

The hearts of all who to Christ have fled.

Christ is in us, so we’ll not fall

When on our Savior our hearts do call.

God will help us, as mornings arise,

To be faithful to His design.

Nations raging, and tempers flare.

Our God is with us. We know He cares.

Come and see the works of the Lord.

He’s armed for battle with His great sword.

He’s the Word, and He is the Life.

He gives us strength in all of our strife.

Be still and know that He is our God.

He’s exalted where’er He trods.

The Lord Almighty, with us still;

The God of Jacob, our citadel. 

https://vimeo.com/341717561