April 1, 2020
Hello Church Family,
I trust all of you are well and finding God’s grace abundantly supplied in your present circumstances. I want to continue walking through the HE (pronounced “hay”) section of Psalm 119. While reflecting upon the Hebrew letter which pictures an open window, I looked out my window to find a Towhee (black, white, and brown bird – see picture below) outside hunting food. The bird did not seem concerned about the Coronavirus and was going about with the responsibilities of his created purpose. That reminded me of Matthew 10:29-31. Remembering these types of passages reminds us that God’s grace provides our needs, gives the proper perspective to view reality, and motivates us to carry out our redeemed purpose.
Reality consists of two ways of looking at everything: divine viewpoint perspective and human viewpoint perspective. We need the divine viewpoint perspective to stay focused and not be distracted by prosperity or adversity. Psalm 119:34 finds the Psalmist continuing from verse 33 when he humbly recognized the need for correct understanding. The Psalmist asks for the correct understanding to live for God’s glory.
The verb is a Hiphil Imperative of request from the Hebrew word BIN meaning to “understand; have knowledge and respond accordingly.” The request is for the Lord to cause him to have the understanding for the purpose of observing God’s law. The Psalmist desires insights to observe God’s law in every situation. Only the Lord can give this understanding, but He does not do it apart from our decision to allow it to happen. God’s promises include everything for life and the spiritual life which means the provision of our physical and spiritual needs (2 Peter 1:2-4).
Keeping it with all the heart reminds us of Deuteronomy 6:4-5 where Moses challenged Israel to understand the purpose for which God redeemed them. God redeemed Israel as a Nation to represent Him in the Land (Exodus 19:5-6). Knowing their purpose and the God who redeemed them should generate exclusive loyalty to the one and only God. God has redeemed us for the purpose of being conformed to the character of Christ so we can operate as effective ambassadors for our Savior (Romans 8:28-29; 2 Corinthians 5:20).
The Psalmist was not satisfied with knowledge alone but wanted understanding to walk in the living way with complete devotion. We need the divine viewpoint understanding from God to focus on our redeemed purpose. That focus also realizes that God has provided all our needs to accomplish that purpose for God’s glory. I don’t know the full plans of that Towhee, but he seemed content in the Lord’s provision and purpose. May God’s grace provide us with the same contentment while resting in His complete provision and perspective.
Pressing on in Christ,
Clay