Psalm 119:81-96 A Wisdom Psalm By Anonymous
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Psalm 119:81-96 Lamedhed Liability
Psalm 119 is a wisdom psalm about the wonders of the Word. It uses an acrostic as a teaching method so it could be more easily memorized. Since there are 22 letter in Hebrew, there are 22 stanzas in this poem, each corresponding to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each verse starts with the corresponding letter of the acrostic.
Today we look at the Kaph stanza. Kaph is like a “K” in English. (If it doesn’t have a dot in the middle of it, it should like “ch” in the word church.)
We’ll also look at the Lamedh stanza. Lamedh is like an “L” in English.
Kaph
The arrogant are bugging the psalmist again (vv. 81-88, esp. v. 85). I hate the arrogant. They’re so . . . arrogant! If the arrogant try to trip you up, they could end up tripping themselves (cf. Ps. 7:15; 57:6; 26:27; Eccless. 10:8).
The psalmist is still waiting for God’s Word (v. 81, cf. v. 74). He still wants God to comfort him (v. 82). That means he’s still in pain. He’s still shriveling up like wineskins shrinks in smoke (v. 83). That’s why you shouldn’t leave your wineskin where it’s smokey. It’s why you should get into the fresh air of God’s Word. Also, get out of your bunker and into the sun! It’s good for you and you will be able to take in some Vitamin D. It’s true.
When the psalmist was persecuted and abused, he went to God’s Word (vv. 86-87). That is where he found God’s love (hesed) and was revivified (v. 88, cf. Ps. 71:20-21).
Lamedh
I’ve found that about the only thing that gets me out of a deep funk is to trust God’s Word. It’s because it’s trustworthy! It is “settled in Heaven” (v. 89). The psalmist uses “word” for Scripture in verse 89, “law” in verse 92, “precepts” in verse 93, and “testimonies” in verse 96. Oh, yeah, and “commandment” in verse 96. They all mean the same thing, the Holy Bible, Word of God.
Dig this syllogism:
The Bible which
is the Word of God
cannot err.
I used to have that on a piece of cardboard to show people that if they believe that the Word of God which proceeds from God’s lips cannot err, then neither can the Bible which is the Word of God. So we can trust the Bible the same as if God were speaking to us personally . . . which He is . . . when we read the Word.
In seminary circles, we always figured we could explain inerrancy by saying that the original copies, which we don’t have, are perfect. Inerrancy is the doctrine that the Word of God is perfect. The problem is that there are some imperfections in the Scripture (see A Mistake In The Bible?). They amount to less than 1%. In fact, I had a professor who said the copies of the Bible we have are more pure than Ivory Soap which is 99.44% pure. But the original copies as written, we believe, are 100% pure. Where are those originals now? I believe they are in Heaven, in God’s mind. They are settled in Heaven and completely pure.
Nothing is as pure as God’s Word (v. 96). You can trust it wholeheartedly. And it is your way out of any problem or depression.
Proverbs 16:6-7 A Funny Thing
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Now Solomon is getting in on that hesed thing (v. 6a). Though he wrote in Old Testament times, Solomon understood the substitutionary atonement thing. It is because of God’s love for us and His holiness that Christ had to die for us so we could fellowship with God forever. Jesus was filled with grace and truth (cf. John 1:14). He was God representing a perfect sacrifice for our sin to God (cf. 1 Pet. 1:19). He was also man being able to represent man to God (cf. Rom. 5:15). Christ had to be God and man to be the perfect sacrifice to make up for our sins (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21).
By humbling oneself before the Lord and trusting Christ (v. 6b), a person can be saved through “the foolishness of the cross” (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18).
God controls even rulers and kings. The old ASV Bible says that the king’s heart is like a “watercourse” that God can steer whichever way He wants (cf. Prov. 21:1). And when a person tries to please God with all their whole heart (cf. Jer. 29:13), God can make even his opponents do funny things. Like they may just leave you alone, even if they really don’t like you! That would be a funny thing, wouldn’t it?