To Tremble

DEVOTION

PSALMS

TO TREMBLE

Ps 119:161-168

161 Sin and Shin

Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word. 162 I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil. 163 I hate and abhor falsehood but I love your law. 164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws. 165 Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. 166 I wait for your salvation, O LORD, and I follow your commands. 167 I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly. 168 I obey your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you.

NIV

Day twenty-one in the longest psalm. The idea is that the world or the rulers of the world can cause use harm, if they so desire. We only have to remember the great wars that have been waged on the earth in past years and now in the present age, we have terrorism which could threaten anyone’s life at any time. We only have to remember 9/11 to consider no one is safe from an act of terrorism. Although the psalmist says the rulers who persecute him are without cause, it would seem the rulers, authorities, kings, emperors, imams, sultans of the past and the groups of terrorist of today seem to have some cause, however false it might be. Even in the midst of those threats we have to know God has all the power, more power than all the armies of man. Although we might take him too casually, or think of him as the God of love, and how much he loves and cares for us, our heart should still tremble at his word. What can man do to us that would be worse than the wrath of the Almighty God? His word is for our life, so that we can have life eternal. His word is a testimony of who he is and what he has done for us, his creation. At one time we were a stranger of his word, we were objects of his wrath. We did not know his word, we did not know life. We thought we were living the good life, but we were nothing but the walking dead. But now we live rejoicing because we live in the promise of God and it is like finding a great spoil, a pearl of great price. Because he found us, and broke through that hard exterior we spent so many years building up in an effort to not allow ourselves the pain of emotional hurt, we now have a heart exposed to him and to others. Because we know now the truth, we hate that falsehood we once lived in and that others are trapped by. Instead we love the law of God. We are not sure of the seven times a day the psalmist speaks about, but our heart is constantly aware of the Lord and praise is on our mind often, but may not be on our lips as much as it should. Yet we do give testimony to his blessings in our life often and as much as we can. What was once a war within us, the fight of living, and the struggle to get by, it has been replaced with his peace. Jesus told us that he gives us his peace, not has the world gives, but as he gives. Life is no longer a war within, a struggle, a just getting by, or living behind the wall, the façade of self-survival. We now live with the peace of Christ ruling in our heart. Because of his peace in our life, we will not stumble, we will not just get by, but we will walk boldly into the day, and into the night, we will go boldly through life, living, loving, blessed beyond measure. Our feet are on solid ground, all other ground is sinking sand. We stand on the word of God, all other words will fade into the past, but his word is eternal and is the only word which is true. Although we are already saved, already have experienced his salvation, we still await the completion of our salvation, when we eagerly step into eternity. We will rejoice in that day of our last breath of this body and we are resurrected into a glorified body to spend all of eternity in the presence of our Lord, whom we love. So for now we love his law, his statutes, his commands, and his word for they bring us closer to that day. We live because he lives. We have life because he knows our ways, and our ways are based on him. So our heart trembles, not in fear, but in reverence, with rejoicing and excitement of what is to come. The Hebrew word translated as trembles can mean to be startled (by a sudden alarm) thus to fear in general. But it also can mean to stand in awe of. Our heart stands in awe of God, it trembles.