Psalm 19:8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
The Hebrew word translated as “statute” means “a mandate of God”. It is something that cannot be changed. It is different than the law of the Medes and the Persians which could not be changed. Those were man-made laws that were made on the whims of men. God’s Word is the truth. It is eternal and it does not need changing. We have already talked about the perversions that clutter the shelves of so-called “Christian” bookstores. No true child of God would promote lies. Most professing Christians have adopted the training of secular psychologists and they do not want to admit the truth, nor know the truth.
God does not tell lies. His Word is absolute. Those who receive His Word are blessed with rejoicing in their hearts. It is important to have our hearts right with God. It is a blessing to be able to be settled in our hearts in the truth.
God also spoke of His Word as a commandment. Notice that He does not refer to His Word as “commandments”. God’s Word is one true commandment. There is nothing in God’s Word that is secondary. There is nothing that is optional. God’s Word is truth and He shows us the result of choosing sin. God records sins of people as a warning to us. God also shows us the blessing that comes from doing what is right.
God’s commandment is not optional. It is necessary and they are liberating. Most people look at a commandment as restrictive. We are born as lost sinners. We soon express our desire to do what we want to do. As the Psalmist wrote, the commandment of the LORD is pure. There is no distortion in God’s commandment. Those who accept the commandment of the LORD have their eyes opened. They can see things that most people never see. Those who reject God’s commandment cannot see the truth and they cannot see the lies. That is why we are governed by such wicked governments in Canada. Many people are willing to endorse the wickedness that is promoted by those leaders.
It is important to note here as well that we are talking about the LORD. That is Jehovah God. He is the self-existent God Who knows all things and Who does what is right and does not consult with man or need man’s advice.
The fear of the LORD is an essential part of man’s life. Adam lacked the fear of the LORD and he chose to reject the truth. The result was disastrous for him and for all creation. Cain chose to try to live without the fear of the LORD and he dug himself a hole he could not get out of. He rejected God’s way and lived in darkness and went to hell at death.
The fear of the LORD is clean. No one will ever be tainted with sin by fearing God. God is eternal and those who turn to Him and follow Him are given eternal life. The sad reality is that even those of us that are saved do not follow God faithfully all the time. We need to submit to the fear of the LORD. We discover the blessings of the LORD when we do so.
The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. God has never made a wrong judgment. We have a very corrupt justice system in Canada. We have many judges and police that can be bought with money and the promise of power. Most lawyers are content to lie and defend evil. Few within our justice system want to promote truth. It is a rare thing to find a politician who tells the truth. Most of the time, any truth that comes out of their mouth is unintentional.
Jesus declared:
John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
In the book of Joshua we find that the two and a half tribes were sent to their inheritance by Joshua. When they came to the boundary of their inheritance, they made an altar that resembled the altar that was in the Tabernacle. The other tribes saw what these people were doing and they were quite upset. The assumed that these two and a half tribes were adopting some false religion. Phinehas and some other leaders wisely chose to go and talk to the leaders of the two and a half tribes and find out what they were doing. They discovered that they were not forming a false religion. They were simply setting up a safeguard so that there would be no division between the tribes because of their location.
King Solomon made a wise judgment when two harlots came to him with one live baby and one dead baby. The babies could not talk. How could he know who the mother of the living baby was? Both of them claimed the living baby was theirs and the dead one belonged to the other. God directed him to make a wise choice.
These are just two of many examples God has given us in His Word of righteous judgment. Today we, those who are saved, can still make right judgments. We can still know what the Word of the LORD is. We can still know the way of salvation. We can still know what Biblical baptism is.. We do not need to walk in darkness. Our world needs to know what is truth and those who are saved have the privilege of pointing people to the truth.
Pastor Bartel
