Authority

DEVOTION

PSALMS

AUTHORITY

Ps 119:41-48                                                                  

41 Waw

May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise; 42 then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in your word. 43 Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws. 44 I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. 45 I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. 46 I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame, 47 for I delight in your commands because I love them. 48 I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.

NIV

Day six in the longest psalm. There is a dedication in the voice of the psalmist. He is declaring his intent to never forsake the law of the Lord, nor his trust in him. He wants the Lord to know that all his hope in the law. For him, walking in the law is walking in freedom. This following the law has been an issue with us New Testament believers. We believe we are no longer under the law, because Jesus set us free from the law. In fact, the law was given to show Israel they could not follow it perfectly, and thus needed a Savior, the ultimate sacrifice for sin. It has always been about Jesus from the very beginning of the history of mankind’s first sin. Then that raises the question about if God knew Adam was going to make that bad choice, why did he create him with that ability, that free will. However that all worked out, if it was always the plan of God for man to sin, the giving of the law to show the need for Jesus, or it just happened and God reacted accordingly, the point is that Jesus did come and he fulfilled the law. This means that if we are in Christ, we have fulfilled the law as well. Then it just leaves us with all the word of God to trust in. We trust him for our salvation through Jesus. We trust him for life itself. We put our hope in his word, in Jesus for our salvation and eternal life. No one who has died as come back to tell us that eternal life is real, except all the eye witness accounts recorded in the New Testament. But they those who taunt us, do not believe this bible was inspired by God, but rather a big hoax perpetuated upon man by others with a scheme to control others. Everything we believe about eternal life is really a hope, it is by faith we believe, not by sight. Yet we have witnessed so many miracles by the hand of God that it would be foolish to reject this hope, this faith in him, in his word, is his commands, his everlasting love, and his promises to those who believe. Because Jesus fulfilled the law, we walk in freedom. We are not bound to the law, we are not chained to the law, because Jesus set us free and we are free indeed. However, that does not mean we are free to live however we please. The word of God still controls our lifestyle. Because we believe we live as citizens of the kingdom of God and thus live under the rule of the King. This is a fine line, not to live under the law, but to live under his authority. So we delight in his authority over our lives. That would mean we want him to have that authority, we defer to his authority. This means we do not make a decision on our own. We do not decide to do something, whether that be move, by a new car, change jobs, change anything for that matter, retire, or whatever without consulting him first. That means everything we are, everything we have, everything we do is under his authority and we can only be, have, and do whatever he decides is best for us and that which would benefit his kingdom. We therefore lift up our hands to his command. This is to say, we bow before him with extended hands in submission to his authority. We mediate on his decrees. We are always living in consideration of his authority, his word, and his commands in our life.