In your steadfast love give me life,Psalm 119:88
that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.
Observations / Interpretation:
The Psalmist is asking for life to be given to him. However, mere existence - one meaning of "life" - will not cause anyone to "keep the testimonies" of God. The psalmist thus is clearly asking for something more than mere existence. The psalmist is asking for a new vitality in living amidst pain, affliction, and persecution. The love of God will set vivification into motion in the psalmist's life.
God's love is steadfast. As eternity is infinite in time, God's love is infinite in endurance. The steadfast love of God is an unthinkably powerful force. It is indeed the only force that will bring life of any kind to man.
There is an implied lack of life when the psalmist asks for life wrapped up in the love of God. We should seek and ask the experience and live all of our life in the love of God. God is love. The Spirit of God brings "life and peace" (Romans 8:6). The live apart from God - The Holy Spirit - is to live in death, a paradox that all humans are born into until they are "born again" (John 3:3). Living in a dead state, man operates wholly in "the flesh" (Romans 8:5-8). "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." (Romans 8:6)
Application:
I must pray often for God to give me life in his steadfast love, for he is the sole giver of life and true love, so that I may keep the testimonies of his mouth.
I must acknowledge that the mind set on the flesh only produces death. Life is given by the Spirit alone.
Ask God for life so that I may keep his commands. Abandon all methods of obedience that stem from anything apart from God's love, grace, and life-giving. Forsake efforts of my flesh to keep God's laws.
Meditate as often as possible on the love of Christ.
Test my life, modes of thought, and actions and see if they are bringing me into conformity with God's spoken testimonies.
No comments:
Post a Comment