“Trusting God’s Assessment”
Falling In Love With God’s Word #2
Read Psalm 119:4
Years ago I struggled with a persistent cough. I tried my best to knock it out, but
it lingered. I took some allergy and cough medicine – neither worked. After two
weeks of frustration, I went (at Karla’s prompting of course ☺) to the doctor. He
checked it out, took my vitals, asked me a lot of questions, and determined it may be
my latent asthma flaring up. He prescribed me a couple of inhalers, gave me some
instructions and sent me out. I’m encouraged to say – it worked! I trusted his
assessment as a doctor and did exactly what he said. Trying to figure it out on my
own wasn’t working. I saw minimal improvement, but no cure.
In this verse, the author instructs us to obey God’s precepts FULLY! I’m sure
you’ve heard many preachers say, “The Bible only works if you obey the whole
thing!” This is absolutely true, but I’d like to suggest the reason it’s true is that God
is an expert in all things that have to do with our spiritual journey.
In Psalm 119, there are several words that are used to refer to the scriptures:
God’s law (25 times), His word (24 times), judgments (23 times), testimonies (23
times), commandments (22 times), statutes (21 times), and precepts (21 times).
The word “precept” is an interesting description. Precept denotes “a
commandment or instruction that is to be carried out.” More specifically, “this is a
word drawn from the sphere of an officer or overseer, and the man who is
responsible to look closely into a situation and take action…so the word points to
the particular instructions of the Lord, as of one who cares about detail” (Kidner). In
other words, God has assessed our spiritual situation carefully, considered all the
factors, diagnosed the problems in great detail, then he “laid down precepts” that
are specifically designed to help make us better! More than any doctor, he has
infinite wisdom, and can see everything that happens in the spiritual realm. Simply
put, we should be eager to do what he says – all of it!
That being said, there are still so many who pick and choose which of God’s
precepts to obey, usually based on which are easier, more comfortable, or suit their
way of thinking best. If we do this, we will see some profound changes in our life,
but unfortunately we won’t have a complete understanding of God’s immense plan
for helping us along this spiritual journey. God is the expert. He has seen our plight.
He knows the realities that exist. He knows the problems, and has the answers.
Let’s trust his assessment (not ours) and eagerly do our best to put his word into
practice, in its entirety!
Reflections
1. Are there things in the Bible that are harder for you to submit to? Do you shy
away from some commands, while easily obeying others? Think through this,
reflect on your fears or insecurities, discuss them with a friend. Above all else, pray
that God will allow you to fully trust him as the spiritual expert!
But life often is like someone driving down the street when the brake suddenly malfunctions, and the driver must choose between plowing in to a crowd of students at school crossing or into a church building to the right and damage the private property. Or a slave mother who is God-fearing choosing between watching her children starving to death or stealing food from her master’s kitchen under God’s watchful eyes. Choosing one precept to follow while forgoing another is life, and it’s often done not because it is easier, but because one must answer to one’s God-given conscience. What must a church leader teach about these situations?