By Jeremy Bell
Precepts are Beautiful in Relationship with God
I am going to highlight Christian agreement. Finding points of agreement helps build unity among people. Often, disagreements are in the application of fundamental ideas. I will share how Psalm 19 supports a salvation fundamental. Understanding the unity across scripture is excellent theological practice.
Law
Restoring the soul, making wise the simple, rejoicing hearts, and enlightening the eyes. These are the things that come from God. Take note here that these things follow only from what is given to creation from the creator. God’s law is perfect, but man’s law is not. Following one will bring restoration, the other brings occasional succus and a lot of failure. God’s law can only bring restoration if there is a brokenness to be restored from. And so it is; the relationship between God and people is broken. But God reached out, He sent a redeemer; a reconciler; a Messiah. He said He would by His regular speaking and regular covenants.
Covenant
At the time the relationship with people was broken, God made a promise, or covenant. The serpent had tempted people to turn against God. Adam and Eve were accountable for their actions, but so was the serpent. God told the serpent, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” Offspring indicates continuation of people. During this continuing, there will be an offspring that will be hurt by the serpent, but ultimately, this offspring will bruise his head, destroying him. This is a special offspring that can do what no normal offspring can do. We call this offspring Messiah, Christ, Savior. This is also a covenant. God would continue to make covenants with people. He did with Noah, with Abraham, and through the prophets. They were reflected in His precepts.
Precepts
Precepts are regulating type of rules to influence thought and behavior. Relationship was broken but God made a promise to restore it justly. Because the relationship is broken, people find their own way of thinking and living. And that is ok to a certain extent because we were made by God to think and consider choices with a measure of wisdom. But brokenness produces deception and evil. Gods’ precepts give people a tool to remember truth and more importantly, to remember His covenant of reconciliation. Practicing precepts reminds and prepares people for the day when perfection once again becomes reality. This is assured hope. This makes hearing and obeying Gods’ commandment a fountain of joy.
Commandment
People often fight against the word command because they don’t like the idea of their free will being threatened. So, we often fuel our angst against people who do that by despising and denying the God who commands. But we spend very little time considering what it is He commands and what it is we are so against. God commands that we love Him and has given us endless proof of His goodness, loving kindness, and compassion that should cause us to trust Him with our love. He also commands us to love other people. So, love is the command that encompasses both of the most important commands. Is this command that bad that we fight to despise and deny the One who commands this; the One who gave precepts to model this and demonstrates this Himself?
Hopefully that gives some perspective and something to consider while preparing to hear or read this Psalm. It is by no means the only perspective, just the one right now. Color highlights of motifs can be found in my book Psalms in Motif Visualization. Without further hesitation, here is Psalm 19.
[ Psalm 19 ]
The heavens declare the glory of God.
The expanse shows his handiwork.
Day after day they pour out speech,
and night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech nor language,
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice has gone out through all the earth,
their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room,
like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.
His going out is from the end of the heavens,
his circuit to its ends.
There is nothing hidden from its heat.
Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul.
Yahweh’s covenant is sure, making wise the simple.
Yahweh’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart.
Yahweh’s commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever.
Yahweh’s ordinances are true, and righteous altogether.
They are more to be desired than gold, yes, than much fine gold,
sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb.
Moreover your servant is warned by them.
In keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors?
Forgive me from hidden errors.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins.
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I will be upright.
I will be blameless and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
Yahweh, my rock, and my redeemer.
God created laws that govern the Earth and the Heavens as well as laws that govern human choices and decisions. Because those laws could be, and were, broken, God decided to save people from death and be reconciled to Him. He made covenants with people and told them about them so they would turn to Him to accept them. He gave precepts to practice that His light would shine in the darkness. His command is simple and links to His essence. He is love, He is good.
Jesus Completes
For centuries, these covenants and precepts were a shadow of the perfection and fulfillment that was coming. Prophets were spoken to, and they spoke to people about the dangers of not following the precepts and the hope of the faithfulness of God. Then, Jesus was born, an offspring of Eve. In a world fathered by the deceptive serpent, Jesus was truth incarnate. Jesus died though He had done no wrong and no deception was in Him. He became sin so that anyone who has faith in Him might become the righteousness of God. The serpent bruised and hurt Jesus, but Jesus rose from the grave, He healed. Because of this, He bruised the serpents head and that is fatal.
So, the deceptive father of humanity is wounded and dying, bound for an eternal prison. For those of us who have faith in Jesus and are no longer religiously bound to precepts, but are bound to God in relationship, we have been restored and are being restored. God has reconciled us, He has redeemed us by the blood of His Son, though His Son deserved no punishment. Jesus made a covenant that His blood could and would make anyone righteous before God because He was the perfect atonement, the perfect sacrifice. We are still being perfected, that’s why we still need to be made wise, it’s why we still need our eyes to be enlightened. But we know these are refinements towards a day of perfection. We are full of rejoicing because we have been granted grace to be reborn through Jesus, who is the very Nature of Joy.
Resources and Notes
All scripture in this article is from the WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE (WEB). The World English Bible (WEB) is a Public Domain (no copyright) Modern English translation of the Holy Bible. The World English Bible is based on the American Standard Version of the Holy Bible first published in 1901, the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensa Old Testament, and the Greek Majority Text New Testament.
For more related to this blog, check out my post on Practical Steps to Worship God in Spirit and in Truth.
This is a reliable translation, but it is always good to read other translations as well. Biblegateway.com has a multitude of translations to read from. It is a great resource.
Another great resource is Biblehub.com. There are multiple translations, commentaries, and so much more. Great research can be done on this platform.
One more I use regularly is Gotquestions.org. This is a great site to answer questions and find threads of related questions.
There are many resources. The key is that God wants relationship directly with you, the individual. His primary source for revealing who He is and growing in intimacy is His word, the scriptures. Don’t just read for instruction. Analyze and read for understanding. Explore, ask questions, and be transformed in Jesus every moment you possibly can. There is no dispute this is a key desire of God. People are brough to the Father, in the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. This… This is the Nature of Joy.
Jeremy is an author, musician, and business intelligence manager. His mission is to equip and encourage those in Christ, to equip and encourage others in Christ. Jesus, Christ, is the Nature of Joy and melody of the heart. Jeremy unites business analytics (business intelligence), songs, and Scripture for Christian living in the power of the Holy Spirit.