Delightful Counselors

Psalm 119:24 Your testimonies also are my delight And my counselors.

What I love about Psalm 119 (well, one of the many things I love about it) is how much punch is packed into each verse. There are just nine words in this phrase, yet these words are so rich with meaning, and so connected to the rest of Scriptural doctrine, that I cannot even fit the whole phrase into one devotional. There are other verses in the psalm that speak of God's words being our delight, (16, 35, 47, 70, 77, 92, 143, and 174) so I will discuss that concept at another time. For now, I want to consider God's testimonies as our counselors.

We often need guidance. Since we are not omniscient or omnipresent, many situations will arise where we cannot decipher the right or the best course to take on our own, and we must consult with others who know more or (speaking as a young person) have lived longer than we have. On the human level, the Bible was written by many such people—those who have lived life, and seen the way the world works, and can pass on what they have learned to future generations.

Why, though, turn to the Bible, specifically? There are many books that offer counsel on a variety of subjects—The Art of War, The Prince, The Koran and hundreds of others—but we need to consider our goal:

God, being our chiefest good, must be our last end; therefore in every action there must be a habitual purpose, and in all actions of weight and moment there must be an actual purpose, to please God. —Thomas Manton 

If our goal is to please the one true God, then, Sun Tzu and Machiavelli will not be much help. The Bible is the only source of counsel that we can turn to for assistance, since it is the only book where the "human" wisdom it contains is the result of divine revelation.

I am so thankful that the Bible gives clear counsel on how to live our lives. In any perplexity in which we may find ourselves, we can turn to the word of God, and it will shed light on our confusion. It may take time, and continued seeking—but that in itself is part of Biblical counsel: "seek and you will find" "if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God". For specific requests, the Bible may not have a specific answer ("Go to this college" or "Yes, you need a new car"), but it does tell us how to pray about specific requests, and by taking Scripture in context we will be able to resolve questions about the overall tenor of the Christian life, and we will know if we are living in God's will.

Our feelings may disagree with the Bible. The logic of the world will often disagree with the Bible. Christianity is not an easy or comfortable "religion"; it is a relationship with Christ, and the ultimate goal is the glory of God. We cannot glorify God without following the counsel of the Bible, because God does not contradict Himself.

I'm not talking about trying to change other people's convictions on issues like alcohol, standards of dress, or how they educate their children. I know the danger of legalism, because my own personality (as well as growing up in a conservative home) is more easily drawn in that direction than towards license, but this is not about me telling other people how to live their Christian life. This is about me myself living a life well pleasing to God.

As far as where exactly to seek counsel in the Bible—it can be found everywhere, because every word is God-breathed and profitable to us, but don't start by reading Leviticus over and over! There are certain "go-to" sections that many Christians love and turn to frequently, with good reason. Proverbs is especially rich in wisdom and advice, and Psalms is excellent for when we need to just meditate on God and trust Him as we're making a decision. The gospels are full of Jesus' teaching, the clearest picture of how to be Christlike, and Paul's epistles (and the general epistles too) have much practical advice, usually towards the end after all the doctrine is set out.

Where do you start, when you need counsel? To whom do you go? We should always go first to the Word of God. He is all-knowing, and always available.

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Optimi consiliarii mortui

Adorned: Living out the Beauty of the Gospel Together

I posted this book review on my other blog, but I wanted to cross post it here as well, since it fits very well with preparing for the ultimate career.

This book was recommended (and loaned to me) by my younger sister. It is based on the passage in Titus 2 talking about older women teaching younger women...Read more of this review

Enduring Forever

Psalm 119:160 The entirety of Your word is truth,  And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.

Both halves of this verse are very important, but today I want to focus on the second idea: that God's word endures forever. If the Bible were true, but did not endure, our faith would be impossible, for that would mean that either Truth is changeable, or that the Truth could be lost and forgotten. 

Have you ever wondered, what if the Bible had gotten lost? After all, the Bible is history, and we lose pieces of history all the time. Even today, with the internet storing a flood of useless information, events occur that are never recorded outside of human memory, and are lost when that memory fades. Written records themselves are far from permanent. For instance, the Epic of Gilgamesh, as we know it today, is only fragments of the original strung together, with later material added and some of the gaps filled in by educated guess. 

Or consider the lost colony of Roanoke. A settlement of people disappears into the American wilderness and is never heard from again—and despite hundreds of years of research, we are still unsure what happened to them. Historians look at all the evidence and draw conclusions, we read the surviving letters and notes of people who were there at the time, but we will never know all the facts. 

Yet in the Bible God has divinely preserved all the facts we need to understand the mystery of salvation, and the Bible itself has been preserved throughout history. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is that of Hilkiah the high priest, in 2 Kings 22. During the reign of Josiah, carpenters and masons were repairing the Temple, and a scroll was discovered. When Hilkiah examined it, it was the Book of the Law. A scribe read it out to the King, and when Josiah heard the judgments that would fall because they had not been obedient to the Law, he tore his clothes. God's people had lost His Word, but God did not allow it to remain hidden.

We do not need to wonder if we have the full revelation of God, or if more will be discovered that will change our interpretation of the Bible. Over and over, God promises and reminds us that it will endure.

Psalm 119:89-90 Forever, O LORD,  Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; 

Psalm 119:152 Concerning Your testimonies,   I have known of old that You have founded them forever.

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.

Isaiah 55:11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;  It shall not return to Me void,  But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

We can be confident that we have the words of God, His revelation of His will, and that God will always preserve His word, no matter how hard the world may try to destroy or discredit it.

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Stick to It

I will cling to Your testimonies, O LORD, do not put me to shame. Psalm 119:31

A verse for when we are struggling with sin

God’s testimonies are very real and solid, something we can grasp with both hands and hold onto tightly, to avoid being knocked off course. When we are struggling repeatedly with a persistent sin, God’s clear commands are a strong bulwark against giving up and giving in. 

The word “cling” (also translated as “hold fast” or “stuck”) evokes a vivid picture: as static electricity holds a thread tightly against a piece of cloth, impossible to shake off; as glue attaches one piece of paper to another permanently; as a wedge is driven into a log and cannot be pulled back out, so we are to “stick” to God’s commandments. 

There are two ways in which clinging to God’s testimonies saves us from sin. First, we will not be drawn unwittingly into sin by the outside world, because we will recognize sin when we see it. Second, it will pull us away from our inward sins, by showing them to us as God sees them.

As I am fairly cocooned in a nice, safe, Christian community, insulated from “worldly” influences, I want to focus on this second aspect. This topic has been coming up a lot in my life lately, in church, in blog posts and books I’ve read, in podcasts I listen to, and in discussions I’ve had with other Christians, so that this verse caught my eye as I was reading. There are three sins specifically I’m going to discuss, as examples of how this “clinging to God’s testimonies” works: pornography, bitterness, and pride. These are all very different from each other, but they are all “inner” sins, things that affect our minds, things that those around us cannot necessarily see.

As a Christian young person, I hear and read a lot about pornography. With the advent of the internet, its accessibility has increased significantly, and Christian leaders are deeply concerned for their youth, as they should be. Now, some may be thinking, “This is an outside sin! This is something young people are drawn into by the influence of the World.” True, but not unwittingly, if they are grounded in the principles of God’s Word. Recognizing something is wrong and doing it anyway because we are too weak to resist it is one of the things that characterizes our inward sins. Also, the human heart is desperately wicked, and we are perfectly capable of dwelling on impure thoughts without any outside prompting. If you have struggled, or do struggle with this sin, use God’s words to combat it. When you are tempted, or when your mind starts turning in an unhealthy direction, cling to the Bible. Meditate on it, fill your thoughts with it, give your mind this to dwell on. 

Bitterness happens when we are offended, but rather than forgiving and releasing the offense, we hold onto it, replaying the scene in our heads, justifying our anger, and imagining our revenge on the offender. It often sneaks up on us, but even when we realize what is happening, it is hard to let go, and we find ourselves returning to the well-worn path of resentment despite our efforts. There is nothing like Scripture to wash away our bitterness. Apply it to your heart often, many times each day, and peace will fill you, leaving no room for fretting and animosity.

No Christian is completely free from the sin of pride while we are on earth. Even the best of our actions often have mixed motives, and when we dig deeper into our own thoughts, we see pride involved more and more. The best way I have found to stamp down pride is to contemplate the awesomeness of God. As we read His Word, striving to comprehend His righteous holiness, we will be humble before Him.

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“Mankind ought to seek for no other rule for the perfecting of holiness, but what consists in regulating their life by rendering obedience to the law.” —John Calvin