October 24
Jeremiah 44-45
Psalm 119:9-16
Proverbs 25:23-24
Hebrews 6:1-12
God’s Word or Self-Help Book?
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping Your Word. I have sought You with all my heart; don’t let me wander from Your commands. I have treasured Your Word in my heart that I may not sin against You. Lord, may You be praised; teach me your statutes. With my lips I proclaim all the judgments from your mouth. I rejoice in the way revealed by Your decrees as much as in all riches. I meditate on Your precepts and think about Your ways. I delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your Word.” Psalm 119:9-16 HCSB
The author of Psalm 119 is not named, but most scholars believe that David wrote it because it fits his writing style and is consistent with the themes of most of his psalms. The beginning of the Psalm seems to have been written by a young man, but the latter verses come from a place of age and wisdom. It is possible that this is a compilation of several of his writings concerning the treasure of scripture. He begins this section of the Psalm by asking how a young man can remain pure. He concludes that there is only one way: by keeping God’s Word. He is fully convinced that God’s Word contains the statutes, precepts and decrees that will lead us to a holy life and so he has dedicated himself to it. He has treasured God’s Word in his heart so that he would not fall into a life of sin. Something we treasure is something we believe has great value. We do not treasure things that are disposable. David treasures God’s Word as much as great riches. He meditates on it and delights in it. Verse 16 in the NIV says “I will not neglect Your Word.” He commits to paying careful attention to apply it to his life and obey what it says so that he will not be guilty of neglecting it.
Our view of scripture is of utmost importance. Many people think of the Bible as a book that has a lot of good information and principles to follow to help us live a good life. They believe it was inspired by God in a general sense, but do not necessarily believe that it is God’s Word to us specifically. They believe it contains general guidance, but not direct revelation. The problem with this view is that it makes it easy to take the parts you like and dismiss the parts that you don’t like. If the words are just the words of a human author, then if you disagree with it or it doesn’t fit your agenda, you can dismiss it as just someone’s opinion or something that was historically relevant but does not apply to us today. This view of scripture also calls into question the definition of good and pure and right. If the Bible is not the definitive standard to give us the basis for determining right and wrong, and good and bad, then what is? God is the Creator of the Universe, so He is the One who determines those standards. If the Bible is not His way of giving us those standards, then we are each free to decide for ourselves what we think is right and wrong. This will ultimately lead to chaos and anarchy. There must be standards that define what is acceptable behavior and what is sin. God is the One who decides what those are, and His Word is the method He has chosen to use to deliver those standards. We either believe it, ALL of it, or we reject it. If we treasure it, then we believe it is of great value and we study it, meditate on it, memorize it, and obey it. It is either the standard by which we live our lives, or it is not.
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