LOCKET VERSES           WEEK 25

One of my favorite verses in relationship to my salvation is Isaiah 1:18, Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow...  In that verse, God invites us as individuals to listen to Him and learn the way of salvation.  Ours is not the religion of a deluded individual, but of one who has reasoned together with the Lord.  I like that.  The Lord respects my mind.  After all, He made it and He knows my need to have understanding, to use that mind, to not bypass it for emotions.  We are saved, not because of an emotional experience, but because of the fact of His Word and our belief in it.  While belief is not just "head knowledge," it certainly involves mental understanding.  In our verse for today, the Psalmist comes to reason together with God about his life after salvation.  Certainly God is pleased with this attitude and is more than willing to answer such a prayer.  In James 1:5, God promises: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  I once had a teacher in elementary school who was very cold hearted to her students.  If you tried to explain something to her or ask her a question, she would "upbraid" you.  Because of her failure to value her little students as persons of worth, many of us were very unhappy and learning was not always a joy.  After she refused to listen to my request to go back into the classroom for a coat for recess on a snowy day (I had been out of the class room at dismissal time), I developed pneumonia.  I can remember the bitterness and disgust I felt for that teacher the whole time I was ill.  I went back to the classroom with a somewhat defiant attitude.  I never knew if my parents had intervened, but shortly thereafter, the teacher took me aside and apologized to me.  Sadly, that incident is all I remember about her.  Her attitude of upbraiding, criticizing and belittling her students, had destroyed any feelings of love and admiration that would normally be felt for an elementary teacher.  God is not like that.  He promises not to upbraid us or make us feel ignorant or of little worth when we come to Him with a question.  In fact, He delights in His children asking Him any question on their heart or mind.  He promises to answer the question that comes from a seeking heart.  With the answering, He promises also to give us wisdom and understanding that can come only from Him.  The Psalmist’s desire was to follow God’s laws and to be obedient to Him with his whole heart.  He wanted to be a committed follower of the Lord, pleasing God in every way, every action, speech and attitude.  There was only one thing that he needed, besides God’s enabling power, and that was understanding.  How wise he was to realize this.  The Bible teaches us that God’s ways are not naturally our ways, His thoughts are not the thoughts of a mere man.  If we are going to have the mind of Christ, we must ask for His understanding, as well as the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  The desire of the heart is so important.  Like the Psalmist, we should desire to be instructed of the Lord, to gain under-standing, to obey Him in all things and to do so with our whole heart.  Today, before you start anything else, pause and come to God, the patient and kind Teacher.  Ask His understanding in all the situations you will face today.  Ask Him to bring to your remembrance His ways and the Word of God that applies to each situation.  Then make a heart decision to observe it with [your] whole heart.  Come to Him, reason together with Him and He promises to always lead you aright.

When I reread this verse before writing today, the impression of it was very strong.  In your mind underline the words all and every, then read the verse again.  Did it strike you, too?  The Psalmist is saying something powerful here in regards to commitment and recognition of God as our rightful Ruler.  He says, directly to the Lord: Because I have found You to be the just Judge of the earth, the Creator of all things, my merciful Lord and Savior, I do honor and reverence every single one of Your rules and principles concerning every area of life to be absolutely correct.  No selective obedience here, no half hearted Christianity, no "just Sunday-go-to-meeting" type, this is total Christianity, total submission to the Lord, total love and adoration.  The dictionary definition of the word esteem includes the ideas of having a high regard for something, respect and admiration, and to regard it as having value.  Let’s put in a few superlatives to give it the concept of our verse.  It would be having the highest regard, the greatest respect and admiration, and to regard it as having the greatest value.  Now we can begin to see what our attitude should be toward the Lord and His precepts.  We can not just choose that which "fits" our life style, we must honor all of God’s principles.  We can not just obey some of the commands of God, we must respect them all.  Too many people are like the shallow person who only likes the "positive" parts of God’s Word, and dismisses all else.  How often have you met a person who says that if God is a God of love, He just couldn’t be a God of judgment, also.  They have failed to have esteem for ALL of God’s Word.  God both loves and judges.  Often we are tempted to doubt God or His wisdom concerning a certain area or Scriptural method that His Word instructs us in.  When we do this, we are not saying that we believe all His precepts to be right.  It would be like telling God that He did not know what was correct.  How foolish.  Yet each time we disobey Him, that is what we are doing.  If we adopt the Psalmist’s committed attitude, we will certainly find that God’s ways are not only right, but the best for us.  In comparison, we will also say: I hate every false way.  Remember, false ways are not always clearly labeled as such.  The devil is the great deceiver and will try to masquerade false precepts as alluring or convenient, more modern or easier, or tell you that they make more sense.  The only way to truly discern the difference is to be so acquainted with the Word of God which contains His precepts that we can never be tricked.  Lord, place a guard around my mind.  Help me to hate and shun every false way.  Help me not to be deceived into following anything but Your blessed precepts.  I covet to esteem every one of Your precepts, whether easy or hard to follow, because, Lord, I have already found in my life that You are worthy of the greatest honor and that Your Word has the greatest value.  Help me to be an ALL Christian.

The last two stanzas of the hymn Sweet Peace, the Gift of God’s Love, speak of the connection of peace for the Christian and obedience to God’s law:

    When Jesus as Lord I had crowned,

    My heart with this peace did abound,

    In Him the rich blessing I found,

    Sweet peace, the gift of God’s love.

    In Jesus for peace I abide,

    And as I keep close to His side,

    There’s nothing but peace doth betide,

    Sweet Peace, the gift of God’s love.

        Peace, peace, sweet peace!  Wonderful gift from above!

        Oh, wonderful, wonderful peace!  Sweet peace, the gift of God’s love!

Think of the times that you have lacked peace.  Some of those times came when you were in a crisis situation and did not know what lay ahead or what road to take.  Others came when you had a concern for a loved one.  But there were also the times when your lack of peace was because you had not loved God’s law enough to be totally obedient to it.  Perhaps you were a young person and had disobeyed your parents in some rule set down for you.  Perhaps it was even more recently that you said or did something contrary to God’s Word and peace fled.  Guilt and unrest can be a gift from God, sent in His convicting power to bring us back to Him in the fullness of restoration and peace.  It is His desire for us to always have peace in our hearts, but sin and lack of true committal love to His law always bring the opposite.  In the Garden of Eden, after the Fall, the first thing God explained to Adam and Eve concerned this lack of peace that they would now have to experience.  He told Eve that she would have multiplied sorrow and have her husband rule over her.  (What was her position before the Fall?  Perhaps it was one as a total compliment to her husband, an help meet that was just right, an equality unmatched in human circles, but given to us in Christ spiritually)  To Adam, the news came that he could no longer just tend the Garden, he would literally have to battle the soil and one day he would die.  Also God told them, that while they were not aware of the unseen spiritual battle that had been waged over their souls, now they would actively be part of that battle and there would be enmity between all humans and the forces of evil.  What a change from the peace of the Garden, the pure joy and unbroken communion with God and with each other.  All because they had not loved God’s law, and, as far as we know, His only rule for them.  We also will only have true peace when we so totally love God’s law that we accept it, spend time with it, believe in it, trust it, obey it and make full unwavering commitment to it.  Those are the terms we usually use to think of a marriage type of love, and it is by no accident that I used them in relationship to God’s law.  We must have that unswerving devotion that would turn our hearts away from temptation, cause us to remain pure, and never entertain thoughts of betrayal.  it should be a love so strong that its bonds would bind us to God in every area of our lives.  I think one of the reasons modern day marriages so often fall apart is because so many people lead "separate" lives.  It used to be that when a man was a farmer, his wife was known as a farmer’s wife.  While we do not have to work the same job, we should never come to the point when we segment our lives from that of our husbands, for as a married couple, we are to be one.  Whenever we think we can segment some of our life away from God’s law or standards, we have forfeited peace.  But if we are so in love with God’s law that we not only heed it, but follow it, the promise comes: nothing shall offend them.  I can never be accused and found out in my sin, if I have never broken God’s law.  I will never have to be ashamed of my Christian testimony or cause others shame, if I live for Christ in a whole hearted manner.  A marginal note in my Bible says that this last phrase of the verse can also be understood in the Hebrew as "they shall have no stumbling block."  How absolutely marvelous!  To live a life where we would never stumble in the path set before us or cause another to do so.  What peace God offers us, and that in exchange for loving that which is already lovable!  Fall more and more in love with the Lord and His law.  Sweet peace will be His gift to you, dear friend.

This verse is in a Psalm that deals with the city of Jerusalem and was written by David the King.  In the Psalm is the famous verse, Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. (verse 6).  With that understanding, we can know that the word thy refers to Jerusalem in our verse.  David said that because of the house of the Lord (the tabernacle, the temple), he would seek the good of Jerusalem.  In verse 8, David also said, For my brethren and companion’s sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.  David had a very acute sense of the inter-relationships that could be built or destroyed because of the actions or condition of another.  When he had sinned with Bathsheba, the testimony of all God’s people and their confidence in the King was hurt.  When he numbered the people out of God’s will, all of Israel suffered.  On the other hand, when there was peace within the city walls, all of the people had benefited.  When Jerusalem was at peace, the temple was secure.  But this Psalm has a farther reach than just David’s day.  Even the little explanation in my Bible before the chapter says "David professes his joy for the church."  Now if the writers were thinking that Jerusalem was the church, they are thousands of years off in their history and fail to remember that the true Church has a resurrected Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was yet to come in David’s day.  But if they were trying to cause us to view the secondary reach of the Psalm, we can understand their choice of words.  Have you ever paused in your spiritual mind and thought of every member of your church.  Think of how precious they are to you and to God.  They are your brethren and companions, especially chosen of God, for you to fellowship with, grow in grace with and share all of life with.  Now think of all the possible evils that can come upon a church (don’t dwell too long, please).  Then think of those sweet people that you have grown to love.  Think of their faces, their families.  Would you want to place them in the midst of any of those evils?  Do you want them to walk into a house of God divided against itself, one where there is no joy or peace?  Of course not.  Our desire should be to do everything possible to protect the ones we love, just as David felt about his brethren and companions.  So we need to pray as David did, "Lord for their sakes, let peace be within my church."  We also need to covet to be on the alert to "safe guard" that peace.  One of the best ways is to start with ourselves.  We need to turn away from bitterness, wrath, backbiting, gossip or any other evil that might try to ambush us in the way.  Just as David sinned within the city and it affected all, if we sin within the church body, it will affect all those sweet people.  On the other hand, when peace fills our church, it is a wonderful place to be and blessings attend all within.  Oh, that we would have the commitment of David to seek the good of our local church and the wider family of God, that our every prayer and action and speech would have that in mind.  Lord, my church is Your church and I know You love it and everyone in it.  Lord, I love them, too.  Lord, I pray for the good of my church and for its peace.  Let that peace start with me.  You told me in Your Word that blessed are the peacemakers.  Lord, if trouble starts to raise its ugly head, let me be a peacemaker.  Let all the sweet people in my church be blessed of You as we meet together.  Amen.

What a statement for a king to make!  Someone who had received the adoration of thousands in Israel, who was beloved of God, who was talented, strong, handsome, and wise.  Yet David was able to come honestly before the Lord in humility.  Perhaps the best explanation for this is that David really knew God.  He knew how high and how great God was.  He knew that all things came from Him who made us.  He knew that any good we might have comes from the Lord.  He also knew that to each man is given certain talents and duties as well as limitations and restrictions.  They are all from God.  As king, David doubtless had many great matters to attend to, but in his spiritual under-standing he knew that there were some areas, perhaps areas of spiritual control, that even he could not intrude into.  Because of his learned humility, he could say in verse 2, Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.  He was not an unruly, riotous, self centered or fit throwing child.  No, he was as a child of God should be: behaved, quieted before God and mature.  The weaned child gives the picture of one that is confident, ready to fulfill his duties as a child of God and not as an infant.  When Isaac was weaned, Abraham held a feast.  It was the first "coming of age" for a son or daughter.  In America, very few children are nursed until the weaning age David refers to.  I had the pleasure of nursing one of my children for almost two and a half years.  When that child was weaned, there was a special grown look that came over her face.  She was confident and secure in herself and her position with me, her mother.  She behaved herself as a young child, not an infant.  It was a real joy to see.  How sad that so many professing Christians are not as weaned children.  Perhaps it is because too many preachers have bottle fed their people for too long.  How is it that imperfect dependent people, such as we, can become haughty, lofty, lifting ourselves up.  Is it because they never passed the first "coming of age" in the Christian life and learned humility, obedience and quietness in the presence of God?  Are they still as a disobedient, immature child, crying for his needs, instead of a growing child coming in quietness to ask His Heavenly Father for His daily bread?  If my weaned child had thrown herself down and wailed like an infant for her dinner, I would have been shocked, and she would have been disciplined.  But when she was a newborn and lay in the crib, crying out her heart, I was compassionate towards her and sought to discover and fulfill her need.  In the Christian life, we must quickly move from the newborn stage to the weaned stage in our attitudes of heart and mind and spirit.  We need to be humble, to know our place, and yet to be confident and secure in the work of our Heavenly Father and our relationship with Him.  It is sort of funny to think about some of the people who were haughty in my Christian experience, not one of them really had reason to be, not one had all the qualities of David.  But it is sad, too, because I realize that they had stunted growth in their spirit.  How very sad.  Lord, help me not to be haughty in any way.  Don’t let me ever set myself above another person and avert my eyes to their worth.  Help me not to play Holy Spirit with others, but to be used of the Holy Spirit to do His will and work in their lives.  Lord, help my soul to be as a weaned child.  Help me to behave myself in quietness and confidence before You.

When we cry unto the Lord in our need, desiring His will in our lives, He promises to answer.  When we come to Him, He gives us mercy and grace to help in time of need.  God always answers the cry of His child, whether it is "yes," "no," or a better answer.  We need to realize where the Psalmist said God strengthened him.  It was in his soul.  When we come to God for help with a physical illness, the most important thing we need is strength in our souls.  Whether God heals us or gives us peace in our suffering, we have a greater need and that is in our soul and spirit.  Paul came to God three times to ask Him to remove his physical ailment, each time God said no.  But then God taught Paul the lesson he needed to learn: My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. II Corinthians 12:9.  When Paul had learned God’s lesson, he could use these words to describe the new strength he felt in his soul: most gladly, glory, and pleasure.  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of  Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.  II Corinthians 12:9-10  He could experience this confidence because the power of Christ was resting upon him.   When he was weak of himself, he had found that he could be strong in Christ!   Too often we look for the wrong answer.  We limit what we feel God can do.  We ask for just health, when He desires to give us health and the spiritual strength to go on.  We ask for release from illness, when He wants to give us victory in it.  Perhaps it is a family problem we pray about.  Surely, then, we expect immediate solutions, ignoring the fact that God has a plan and is working with all involved.  Perhaps He wants to start with us.  How much better to face this problem and the ones ahead with peace and strength in our soul.  Whatever the need, be it spiritual discernment, financial decisions, life choices, the only way that we can have victory is to have strength in our soul to know and do God’s will, to face whatever comes with His wisdom and to experience victory even in the face of seeming defeat.  I can remember being at the bedside of a little girl who was dying.  We had prayed with her parents for three days.  We had prayed for her healing, for wisdom for the doctors, for understanding, and had finally given her totally to God.  In the end, we also prayed for strength to face whatever God chose.  It was that strength that brought comfort in sorrow, that gave testimony to others that Christ makes a difference, that gave a sweetness in the passing.  What is your need today?  Come to Him who alone is able to give you strength in your soul.

What a wonderful verse!  It truly embodies one of the most key factors in the desired relationship between man and God: man’s recognition of God as His personal Creator and the adoration and praise that flows naturally from that realization.  When God made man, one of the primary motivations appears to have been to create individuals who would love Him and commune with Him.  The beginning of that relationship is this recognition of God as God.  David had just spent thirteen verses in Psalm 139, speaking of all God knew about him.  This specific knowledge was evident to David because he knew that God had made him, uniquely, completely, and for a purpose.  Then he sang forth this verse of praise.  In our world today very few people recognize God as God.  There are those that forcefully deny the very existence of God, who believe in evolution to explain away the obvious.  But there are also those who more subtly deny God.  They are the ones who would say that there is probably a "god," but if there is one they have no desire to commune with Him, they will be their own person.  With the prevalence of teaching in both areas, it is no wonder that we are in the midst of a generation that doubts the very existence of God.  If everyone could believe and profess Psalm 139:14, think of the changes that would occur.  Abortion would be abhorred and condemned as the murder it is.  Character changes would occur in all, as they realized their relationship to the Almighty God of the Universe.  Sin would be viewed as sin and righteousness would be extolled as righteousness.  Individuals would seek to live for Him who had made them for an holy fellowship.  Think of this personally.  You were made uniquely, completely and with divine purpose by God.  Sit and think about that for a while, look at yourself and the wonder of your forming from a few cells to a complete person.  Think of the birth of your children! How unique each is, how fearfully and wonderfully made.  Think of God's works in your own life, around you in your family and in the mighty universe.  How marvelous are those works, past all human endeavor and complete understanding.  As you wonder, confess your adoration for the Lord.  Recognize the importance of knowing this knowledge right well in your soul.  Let the knowledge of His greatest permeate your being and establish your ways.  Praise Him who did it all.  Praise Him in love.  Praise Him with a life lived with purpose.