| The Christian Life | December 1940 |
Living the Truth
“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.
“Who can understand his errors? cleanse Thou me from secret faults. Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer.”—Psalms 19:7-14
WE believe we can trace in David’s words (Psa. 19:7-14) some of our own experiences, when once we learn something of God’s plans and purposes. His first expression is “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” How few there are today who really know what God’s law is: and how few of those who do have some knowledge of it, are controlled by its principles. Since God is love, His law is that of love. True, His attribute of Justice is not ignored in the operation of His law; but, just as Justice will not allow Love to yield beyond reasonable limits to mercy, benevolence, and sympathy, so Love will not allow Justice to demand more than what is fair and right.
As David declares, God’s law (of love) is perfect. Not only is it the influence under which God Himself operates, but it is the spirit that must eventually control all who would enjoy His favors and blessings. The law under which men operate is different: their law is largely that of selfishness; its operation is illustrated in the familiar adage, “Every man for himself, and the devil take the hindmost.” We are glad to have at least some appreciation of God’s law of love: let us strive to yield to its influence in all of life’s affairs.
David declares God’s law of love will convert the soul. The margin substitutes the word “restore” for “convert.” Both thoughts are true, as all will agree who are acquainted with this law. It will completely convert or turn around the soul that appreciates it, and it will also restore him to communion and fellowship with God; the communion and fellowship enjoyed by Adam. Let us add our voices to that of in his estimate of God’s wonderful law of love.
GOD’S TESTIMONY
David continues: “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” The meaning here is that God’s instructions are clear, positive; definite; that there is no guess-work or speculation about them. He does not set up one condition today, only to contradict it tomorrow. When His testimony speaks, the sound is certain. What it declares as truth today will be equally true tomorrow, hence it may be acted upon with confidence. This reminds us of the apostle’s admonition, “If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” (I Cor. 14:8) Let us remember this. Let us bear in mind that if one is blowing a trumpet whose sound is confusing, contradictory, indistinct—playing one kind of music today and an altogether different kind tomorrow—it cannot be God’s trumpet.
David declares that God’s testimony makes wise the simple. This reminds us of the apostle’s statement that “not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty,” are now called. (I Cor. 1:26) God is now dealing with the meek, the humble, the teachable, the simple. One who is regarded as “simple,” is one who has practically no mind. Thus it is with those now being taught of God; they have so little mind of their own that they are glad to set it aside, and accept God’s mind instead. It is good to be of this “simple” class even though they are disesteemed by the wise, the great, the mighty, and the noble of the present day.
David goes on: “The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.” The word “statutes,” as here used, means “appointments.” It refers therefore to God’s anointed plans and purposes. David says these plans are right, and intimates that, for this reason, they rejoice the heart. Who that knows anything about God’s plans will dispute David’s estimate of them? Do not all agree that even the imperfect understanding we now enjoy, does rejoice the heart? Don’t we also agree that the reason these plans rejoice the heart is because they are based upon justice, hence are right, and will therefore never require changing? If God’s plans were based upon injustice, they, like many human “statutes,” would sooner or later be changed. But since they are right, they will endure forever.
As with David, so with all who know something of God’s plans: not only will such knowledge rejoice the heart, but it will also loose the tongue, or pen, or both. David’s rejoicing would have meant nothing to us had he kept it to himself. He told us about it; let us tell others that they, to, may rejoice. This will add greatly to our efforts to live the truth.
GOD’S COMMANDMENT
David proceeds: “The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” That is to say, God’s teachings are clear, distinct: they show definitely what is right, and what is wrong, and the results that accrue from following either course. These teachings are not befouled with error as are those of men: they enlighten the eyes. God’s teachings provide an eye-salve of proper proportions: it will neither unduly enlarge the vision, causing us to think we see what does not exist, nor will it impair, or blur the vision, causing us to overlook things that do exist. When properly applied, this eye-salve absorbs all guesses, speculations, and contradictions, hence the Lord’s people find it a valuable help in their efforts to live the truth.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
David goes on: “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.” The word “fear” as here used, means “reverence,” hence the thought is that the reverence of the Lord is so clean, so unadulterated, that it will endure throughout eternity. Such reverence would not be possible unless its object were worthy of it. It could only be begotten by the spirit of love. It could not result from fear except in the sense that one’s appreciation of such a Being would be so profound that he would fear to fall short of His approval.
David’s thought seems to be that when one comes to fully know God, when he apprehends His glorious character, it will beget in him a reverence that will endure throughout eternity. This is harmonious with the words of Jesus when He said of God, “To know Thee is life eternal.” (John 17:3) God bears acquaintance. The better we know Him, the more we love and reverence Him.
GOD’S JUDGMENTS
David continues: “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether:” This means that God’s ordinances are true, and based upon righteousness. We are thus assured that no changes in the divine program will ever be necessary. God’s foreknowledge enabled Him to provide for every contingency that could possibly arise; nothing that has occurred has taken Him by surprise, nor will any such thing ever occur. Men frequently change their decrees due to their inability to look into the future. They do not know what may occur that will make their ordinances impractical or unrighteous. Men also make changes because a better way is found to accomplish the desired ends. But not so with God; He never finds it necessary to experiment; He makes no mistakes; His decrees will stand forever!
This reminds us of one of Paul’s important statements: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 5:1) Since God does not change His decrees, we are thus assured that He will not nullify this provision by declaring that no peace is possible with Him unless we attach ourselves to a man-made channel, bow down to its authority, dismiss our reasoning faculties, set aside our liberty, and accept the dictates of human leadership respecting what is, and what is not a proper rule of faith and practice!
David proceeds: “More to be desired are they [Thy law and testimony] than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” David was not satisfied to merely compare God’s law and testimony with gold and honey; he must make it stronger by stating the quantity and quality of the gold, and by including the comb with the honey. How do we feel about his illustration? Do we think his estimates are exaggerated? Is God’s Law truly sweet to us?
David continues: “By them [God’s law and testimony] is Thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.” Let us note the confidence with which David here speaks of his relationship to God. He does not intimate that he merely “hopes” he is God’s servant, but speaks with assurance.
We must remember, too, that just as God’s law and testimony point to the reward promised the obedient, so they warn the disobedient, the unruly, the careless, the indifferent. We must endeavor to keep out of this latter class. We must, by diligent study, supported by our best efforts, try to so live day by day that God will be pleased to number us amongst the prospective sons who will dwell in His house forever.
DAVID’S PRAYER
After expressing his exultation over God’s law, testimony, etc., David changes the character of his expression. He turns from exultation to prayer, as shown by verses 12 to 14. He now begins to closely examine himself, to lay the divine measuring rod by his side. Thus he realizes his need of help if he is to conform to the divine pattern. We, too, realize our need of assistance. We, too, see that only God can give the help we need.
David opens his prayer by raising a question: “Who can understand his errors?” He thus acknowledges his inability to properly judge his thoughts, words and conduct. God uses him to raise a similar question in our minds. We, too, see the need of a correct compass to guide our course; and, we discover that the compass needed is the Bible—the inspired words of our Lord, His apostles, and God’s holy prophets.
We soon realize that the Scriptures are the only reliable guide respecting what is right and what is wrong. We soon find that regardless of the range and depth of man’s wisdom, if we follow it, we are sure to make mistakes. To illustrate: the Bible declares that evil-speaking is wrong. It makes no exception to this rule. But men declare that we may speak what we please so long as it is true. The Bible teaches that we should exercise no liberty that would injure another, even though the thing done might itself be right under other circumstances. But men declare that if a liberty is proper we may safely exercise it, and let others take care of themselves.
Moreover, the Bible says, “Let not your good be evil spoken of,” suggesting tact and that we should refrain from such conduct as would stumble our neighbor, even though the thing done might be entirely proper under certain conditions. It is not enough that we speak the truth, but that we speak it in love. But men dispute this: they declare that if a thing is right in itself, we need not consider our neighbor’s opinion.
SECRET FAULTS
David continues with his prayer, saying, “Cleanse Thou me from secret faults: keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins.” He thus brings to our attention two avenues through which our great adversary continually assails us, namely, “secret faults” and “presumptuous sins.” Our secret faults are many and varied; some more troublesome, perhaps, than others; but all bad, all injurious. Regardless of their character, it is the business of the new creature to overcome them as best he can, relying upon God for assistance.
Amongst our secret faults are such things as evil-thinking, evil-surmising, envy, jealousy, covetousness, inward anger, and impure, unholy and unrighteous thoughts and desires, All of us are troubled with some of these difficulties at times. David does not pray, Lord keep me free from secret faults, but rather, Cleanse Thou me from those already present. Keeping this fact in mind should be helpful. It shows that God foreknew our need and we know He will be glad to answer our request for cleansing, else He would not have inspired David to put these words into our mouth.
PRESUMPTUOUS SINS
What about the next portion of the petition, “Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins?” What is a presumptuous sin? It is a step further along the downward course than a secret fault. It is a sin that finds expression in words or conduct, or both. A presumptuous sin is impossible unless preceded by a secret fault. David shows this in the sequence of his petition. His prayer is, Cleanse me from secret faults, that I may thus be kept back from presumptuous sins. Our difficulties are progressive. We first have suggestions of wrong thinking, wrong words, or wrong conduct. If these are not thrown out of the mind, they develop into secret faults, and if the secret faults are not overcome, they later develop into presumptuous sins.
Seeing the progressive character of these matters, let us emulate David, by seeking divine aid at the inception of our trouble. Let us seek cleansing from secret faults that we may thus be kept back from presumptuous sins and the great transgression, or willful sin.
What is a presumptuous sin? The word “presume” means “to take for granted, to infer or to suppose.” It is thus seen that to adopt a certain teaching or course of conduct on a mere supposition, or inference, would be to commit a presumptuous sin. Viewed thus, we see that many presumptuous sins are committed by those who do not demand a “thus saith the Lord” as a basis for their faith and practice. The acceptance of any doctrine that must pervert, add to, or take from the Scriptures in order to appear reasonable, is the commission of presumptuous sins.
But there is another kind of presumptuous sin which we should like to note briefly. It is illustrated in the rash conduct of Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu. These two under-priests offered “strange fire” before the Lord, resulting in the loss of their lives. This indicates that some will lose their position in the antitypical priesthood through unwarranted conduct. We believe that David’s prayer that he might be free from committing both presumptuous sins and the great transgression is a warning to us that these sins are associated with the offering of “strange fire.” We believe the conduct of Nadab and Abihu represents both a presumptuous sin and the great transgression.
The type shows that God provided certain conditions under which the priests were to approach Him with the offering of fire. The fact that Nadab and Abihu are said to have offered “strange fire,” indicates that they failed to follow the divine instructions. The Bible teaches that the antitype of their act will occur in the present age—the antitypical day of atonement.
The Bible indicates that Nadab and Abihu were intoxicated when their offering was made. This is seen in the warning that immediately follows the record of the incident. It reads, “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die.” (Lev. 10:9) We believe that the condition of these men when their offering was made is intended to serve as a warning to God’s people of the present age. We are thus shown the danger of coming under the influence of Babylon’s cup, the wine of her mixing, to which the Scriptures refer time and again.
If our vision remain clear, no one, be he ever so conscientious, will be able to mislead us. We will see no necessity of acknowledging the authority of the Pope, or synods, or conferences, or any other self-constituted headship designed to do our thinking for us, or tell us what to believe or what not to believe. We will see no necessity for selling any definite number or kind of books, nor engaging in any other man-made schemes or plans calculated to point ourselves out as heaven’s favorites.
We agree, of course, that if we are the Lord’s people, we shall want to work for Him. If, however, we remain in possession of our reasoning faculties we shall be able to see that instructions covering our activities are to be obtained from the Bible, not from earthly headquarters either ancient or modern, regardless of where located. And we shall be able to see further that our religious activities, whether much or little, in themselves neither cover nor save us. As one has well said, “We are not saved by our works, but we work because we are saved”—saved out of the Adamic death, and are prospective members of the glorious church triumphant.
ACCEPTABLE MEDITATIONS
We come now to the closing portion of David’s prayer. He says: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer.” Since David is our spokesman, God thus indicates the kind of prayer we need to make. Is not the fact that God prompted David to pray thus a guarantee that a similar prayer offered by us will also be answered in the affirmative? How this assurance rejoices our hearts! A life lived in harmony with the sentiments expressed in this petition will indeed be a noble one. David begins his request at the right point. He starts with his thoughts and words. He realizes that if these are kept in proper alignment his conduct will take care of itself. It, too, will be acceptable of God. Let us adopt as our own this sample prayer, praying it heartily and often.