The Bible: God’s Pacification of His Children before He Calls Them Home
The struggling saint is not ashamed to go before his only help and stay, “Let my cry come before Thee, O Lord; Give me understanding according to Thy Word (Psalm 119:169).” Few recognize the power of the Word of truth to rectify, but Jesus is the wisdom and power of God. Therefore, to go before Christ’s throne, in need, is to seek Jesus, “Let my supplications come before Thee, Deliver me according to Thy Word (Ps 119:170).
God’s Word was spoken at creation (Gen 1–2; Jn 1:1), and everything that was made was then sustained by the Word of His power (Heb 1:2–3). A Christian’s faith in Christ is faith in His power to do all His holy will (Eph 1:11). God is able to do above all we could think or imagine, for nothing is impossible with God. The unbeliever imagines he has no need for God, unaware of his next breath being ordained by the Almighty.
The unbeliever has no heart to worship God, even working to suppress the truth of God’s existence (Rom 1:18), saying, there is no God (Ps 14:1; 53:1). Meanwhile, the redeemed can’t stop praising Him, “Let my lips utter praise, for Thou dost teach me Thy statutes (119:171).” It is right to see how God’s Word transforms the born again (1 Pet 1:3), by renewing the mind and creating a new heart that loves the truth (Ezek 36:26; Rom 12:2).
The act of worship, so foreign to the unregenerate, becomes the joy and pursuit of those who worship in Spirit and truth, “Let my tongue sing of Thy Word, for all Thy commandments are righteousness (119:172).” God made man to worship Him, but in the fall, the natural man no longer had an interest in the things of God (1 Cor 2:14). Man had believed the lie that he himself should be worshiped as a god (Gen 3:5).
Salvation begins with the enlightenment of man, seeing himself and his fellows as enemies of God, ungodly, unholy, and sons of disobedience. With the Spirit’s help, the spiritual man is given eyes to see (Jn 9; 1 Cor 2:15). He is in real need, “Let Thy hand be ready to help me; for I have chosen Thy precepts (119:173).”
What God says of humanity is rejected by the unregenerate sinners (Gen 6:5; Is 64:6; Jer 17:9; Rom 1:18–32; 3:10–12; Eph 2:1–3, 12). They cannot understand God’s low view of man, especially since they have a very high view of themselves (Ps 73:1–14). Unless God interrupts the path of the natural man, he lives as a vessel of wrath prepared for destruction (Rom 9:22).
As the born again is introduced to the precepts of the Law of God, he finally sees himself as a sinner in need of deliverance, “I long for thy salvation O Lord, and Thy Law is my delight (119:174).” How can a man love what condemns him? Here is the meaning of salvation: God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, to fulfill the Law (Mt 5:17; Jn 3:16). By doing so, Jesus Christ is right before the throne of God’s judgment.
Salvation is then understood that God has taken Christ’s righteousness and imputed it to His elect people, to whom He has sent His Spirit to indwell (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11; Jas 4:5). The regenerate is justified, but he must live his new life in a progressive manner of maturation. He is growing in godliness and holiness. It is God in him, willing and working this growth (Jn 15; Phil 2:13).
The saint has tasted eternal life, “Let my soul live that it may praise Thee, and let Thine ordinances help me (119:175).” The life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and who game Himself for Me (Gal 2:20). The justified (Rom 3:24, 28; 5:9; 8:30), living by faith in the incarnate Word find help in the written Word that reveals the wide way of destruction and the narrow way of abundant life (Mt 7:13–14; Jn 10:10).
The Christian still lives in a world of sin, occupying a body of sin, with flesh that is rogue and weak, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant for I do not forget Thy commandments (119:176).” Summoning the Good Shepherd is what wandering sheep do, as danger lurks in the shadows. The prayer of repentance and help should daily re-orient and reunite the sheep and the One who cares for his soul.
As the end of Psalm 119 is here, there should be a renewed fervor for the Word of God, which alone can rescue and revive God’s beloved children. It is easy enough for my reader to examine himself to judge his affections for the Bible that reveals our Lord Jesus Christ. If you lack in your love for God’s Word, it behooves you to counsel with the Lord in prayer. The matter of salvation is most pressing upon those who remain in an unregenerate state. Jesus said, “You must be born again to see and to enter the kingdom of God (Jn 3:1–8).”
If the Bible is your delight, you must give thanks for the grace given to you to desire it. It is not for the natural man because God is Spirit, and a man’s relationship to God must be spiritual. Only the Spirit of God, in a man, will stir up the desire for God’s Word.
The Christian is the one who calls upon the name of the Lord to be delivered (Joel 2:32), and the longer he remains in the wicked world, the more pressing is his prayer. He longs for His home in heavenly Zion (Phil 1:23). He longs for His Lord in glory. He patiently waits for His call to come home. While he waits, he has the most precious, most valuable thing in the world…the Word of God and the Spirit of God. These are the foretaste of heaven and his delight, now and forever.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
September 16, 2022
