Psalm 19 Part 3
It has been so encouraging to be reminded of the greatness of our God through His creation, now we come to another aspect of that greatness. Verse 7 says: “The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple”. This verse declares that God’s way is perfect, this means if we want to be completely satisfied there is only one way to achieve this and that is living according to God’s word. How sad it is when we try to live in our strength and try to add Christian principles to our life. It does not work and we must conclude that there is only one way and that is God’s way. The sooner we come to this conclusion the quicker we find out living God’s way is the best way. The verse goes on to say that God’s way converts the soul. The word convert has a powerful meaning, it means: “to turn back or revert to the starting point”. We know the starting point was when Adam and Eve had no sin so they had a great relationship with God. We know that when they sinned their sin separated them from God and we need to be minded of what Jesus achieved when He died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day. Sin’s power was broken forever and we only sin because we choose to sin not because sin has any power over us. This truth is fundamental to our committing our life to the Lord, this is why the expression “Born Again” is used – I start my Christian life a completely new person. Verse 8 says: “The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandments of the Lord are pure, enlightening the eyes”. This verse has the truth we need to apply to the way that we live because we live in a world with so much make-believe. People are influenced by social media which in most part portrays false images, the news media is biased and false, so in this environment, we can become dissatisfied with the truth. There is a danger that we apply these false principles to God and that is so wrong. This verse reminds us that God’s way is right and there are no exceptions to this, God’s word is true and if we are a follower of the Lord then our total focus is living His way because it is the right way to live. There is a pleasure we experience when we wholeheartedly follow the Lord. The verse goes on to say that God’s way is pure and because of this we can be seen. Verse 9 says: “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether”. The fear of the Lord is not being afraid but the overwhelming respect and honour we have for Him which motivates us to stay close to Him and live by His standards. When we live this way we experience a God-given cleanness, it is so good to have nothing between us and the Lord. Next, it says the Lord’s standards are true and righteous altogether. I believe we miss out on such great fellowship with the Lord because part of us wants to be in control and try to live as we did before we were born again. Now is the right time to change our thinking and follow the Lord’s way with all of our hearts.