#DailyDevotion How Do You View The LORD’s Instructions?
Psalm 19 10We want them more than gold, more than plenty of fine gold. They’re sweeter than honey, even when it flows from the honeycomb. 11Your servant gets light from them. If we keep them, we get a great reward.
Here David sings about and praises the LORD for his instructions to us, the Torah, i.e. first five books of the bible. It’s not all commandments. There is plenty of Gospel (what God has done, is doing and promises to do for you). Yet for the man that is born of God, even the commandments are a delight to him. This is a much shorter praise of the Torah than Psalm 119. The sentiment is the same.
God’s word, both Old and New Testament is something we should want more than gold and plenty of fine gold. Why is that? What do the scriptures say about gold (and all other worldly wealth)? 1 Peter writes, “7Gold is tested by fire, and your faith, when it is tested, should be found to be much more precious than gold, which perishes,” and “18knowing that you were freed from the worthless life you inherited from your fathers, not by a payment of silver or gold, which perish,…” Gold and worldly wealth perishes. 1 Peter also tells us, “25but the Lord’s Word lives forever. This Word is the good news you have been told.”
The Word of the LORD is sweeter than honey for those who fear the LORD and have faith in Jesus Christ. It lightens our hearts and enlightens them. For in this word, in these instructions (Torah) we see God’s will for us, that it is good. He wants to save us and he wants us to be kept from the hardships of the world that always promise an easier, softer way, but it is not. Whatever commands God gives us, they are to make our life better. If we listen to them and do them we have a clean conscience. If we fail, we have the cross of Jesus Christ which will give us a clean and pure conscience before God.
12Who can know his unintentional errors? Cleanse me from hidden faults. 13Above all keep Your servant from proud sins; don’t let them get control over me. Then I’ll be blameless and innocent of any great wrong. 14May what I say please You and what I think be what you like, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Speaking of failing, we often sin and don’t even realize it. We are often justified in our own eyes in what we do. Yet the LORD looks at our hearts and knows we have acted selfishly. Our flesh is so sinful at times it is blinded to its own state. We appeal to the LORD Jesus Christ to cleanse us from hidden faults. Not sins we keep hidden here, but sins that are hidden from us by our own spiritual blindness (we still ask Him to cleanse us from our faults we know about as well). On top of that, we need the LORD to keep us from proud sins, i.e. sinning when we know we are wrong in doing them but do them anyway. We pray here with David for the LORD to give us His Holy Spirit so we may will and do all that the LORD commands us.
Only when the Holy Spirit cleanses us with the word of forgiveness and makes us His dwelling then we may say with David, “Then I’ll be blameless and innocent of any great wrong.” We cannot do this by our own power and strength. Through participation in the Word and Sacraments of our LORD Jesus Christ do we know our hearts are pure before God, our conscience is clean at the judgment, and we will not go out and commit any great wrong. We ask Him to have our thinking and speaking be pleasing to the LORD, our Rock and Redeemer.
Heavenly Father, give us your Holy Spirit so we may hear, listen, believe, speak and do your word in all our life. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.