1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, 5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. 10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. 11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
What really stuck out to me was that in verses 3-4 where it said ” There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun” to me it said that the word is preached everyday someway , somehow even if we dont notice it but it is the fact that we listen to it and actually learn from it and grow.
well…
Verses 9-11 really stuck out to me.
“9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. 10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. 11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”
not really sure why… if someone could maybe explain these verses a little more, it would be really great. Thanks.
Look at these several points we can discern about the ordinances, or rules of the Lord.
1) They are sure and righteous
2) The are purer than gold
3) They are sweeter than honey
4) By them we are warned
5) In keeping them there is great reward
look how the psalmist viewed God’s rules
- make me wise
- gives joy to the heart
- gives light
He doesnt view them as rules and regulations he has to follow, but focuses on the positive results
If we have this mentality in our lives when it comes to the rules/regs our leaders, parents, teachers, bosses and other authority figures place on us, life will be so much easier and happier…
13 “Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.”
The thing I liked about this verse is that David is depending on God to help him avoid sin. Sin is ultimately a free will choice, but we need to rely on God to help us fight this battle against our sinful nature.
All this reminded me of something one of my youth ministry profs talked about several times. In class he’d draw a stick figure on the board and draw a circle around it. He said that the circle was God’s shield around our life. He told us that if you say you will NEVER do a certain sin (“I will never cuss,” “I will never drink,” “I will never have sex before marriage,” “I will never gossip” etc.), then you are relying on yourself to keep from doing those things, instead of relying on God. You are saying that you can do it on your own… and he erased a little part of the circle around the stick figure. By saying you will never fall into temptation you are removing God’s shield around your life. Instead of saying you will never do something, we need to pray for God to help us to never submit to our temptations.
David cried out to God for his help in the fight against sin. If we don’t turn to God for help and think that we can battle it on our own, it will blindside us.