Psalm 119:47-48 Roots for Boldness

... and I delight in your commands because I love them. So I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees.

Psalm 119:47-48

...and David goes right back to the commands, the decrees, not just because that's what this whole 119th Psalm is supposed to be about, but because that's what we always need to go back to.

It's not that we need to be obsessed with the rules and commands. It's more that the rules and commands point us to the character of God, to His righteousness, justice, and love.

Many Christians don't really love His commands. They treat them like stop signs on the freeway of the abundant life. But with our roots planted firmly in the whole righteousness of God, both His justice and His mercy, it's much easier to actually delight in the commands, to love them.

In the commands we have the full revelation of the perfect way to live, given to us by the One who created life itself. That's better than a cook finding the best cookbook ever. It's a delight to read the Word over and over again, discovering new ways to be like God.

This approach to His commands comes from also delighting in the scriptures' big reveal about God's live, His mercy and grace.

Boldness and freedom come from embracing the whole righteousness of God and His Word.

Psalm 119:43-46 Free to be Bold

...So Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws and I will always obey your law, for ever and ever and so I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. And then I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame...

Psalm 119:43-46

Having resolved to boldly go into 2018, why not continue to follow David's example and ask God to never take His word of truth from your mouth?

But what does that even mean?

I understand it as a request that God not make us all out to be liars - you, me, and David - when we answer the taunts of others and the taunts of our own minds with a confident statement that God's love covers everything we've ever done, and that He has taken steps to save us from ourselves.

You and I have based our entire bold and hopeful approach to this new year upon a renewed commitment to spend quality time immersed in the Word of God, and upon our intention to develop new habits of obedience to whatever we find there.

That's all great and good, but what if God doesn't hold up His end of that bargain? Can we trust Him?

When David implores God to never take His Word out from his mouth, he's speaking plainly, as was David's habit. From the Psalms, the textbook of prayer, we learn that this "man after God's own heart" felt free to speak to God from the depths of His own heart. He tells God whatever is on his heart even when he's angry, in despair, ready to give up, in a murderous rage, or, as he does here, even when he has doubts.

Haven't you ever doubted? I know I have. The Adversary loves to pull on the threads of every small question and each little doubt. Instead of letting that crafty conniver play with your hidden doubts, get them out in the open. Talk to God about them.

David always couches his straight talk with God in an overall attitude of faith and submission. He doesn't laugh at the idea that God could fail Him. Instead, he speaks conversationally here.

By the way, God, this only works if you're really serious about this. Love and grace and forgiveness are not the sort of things most people expect from their so-called gods. It's the very reason I worship you as the One True God. So . . . let it be true.

And, Lord, I'm confident it's all true because your Word is so very clear about your love and your offer of salvation.

It's that grounding in scripture, and not just our feelings about God on any given day, that gives us true freedom. It's a liberty unlike any other, to go forth and live life boldly. Without the commitment to becoming a people of the Word, we'll become a people of failure and of slavery to frustration.

God's Word, His love, His salvation, grant us the freedom to live boldly for Him, to speak to everyone we meet about Him, even to people who have power in this world. They need to hear us speak to them about God's love and salvation, so much more than they need to hear us tell them about our political views.

Quite frankly, I've seen way too many Christians bring shame to themselves and to the Church over the past few years, boldly shouting to the world about their politics. They seem to have forgotten that to speak clearly and boldly about the love and salvation of God will never bring shame.

Psalm 119:41-42 ...and Go Boldly Into the New Year

So, May your unfailing love come to me, Lord, your salvation, according to your promise; and then I can answer anyone who taunts me, for I trust in your word.

Psalm 119:41-42

Who taunts you?

I'll tell you who taunts me.

My own memories taunt me: the people who have been a part of my sixty years of life; the ones I've disappointed or failed, taken for granted, or taken advantage of; the people who needed more than I could give; the ones for whom I was just not up to the challenge of being the person they needed.

My foibles and sins and habits and compulsions taunt me. The ones that anyone who knows me well at all could list easily, but also the ones known only to me - and to God.

What taunts me are the things I've not done that I ought to have, the person I thought I would be but never quite had the courage to become.

I've learned to stop letting those taunts control me and to stop spending so much effort trying to ignore them. It's much better to go face to face with the taunts and answer them through the resources the Lord has given me.

I have His unfailing love to count on. And his salvation, brought about by his loving act of sacrifice. I can answer those taunts that haunt me because his Word constantly reminds me about his love, his salvation, and his promises.

Still trying to come up with a New Year's Resolution? Try this one: To go forth boldly each day, relying on God's love, his salvation, his promises, and his Word

Resolve to not live a life worried you're going to mess up. You most definitely are going to mess up. But hiding in your own little religious bubble isn't what God intends for you. He wants you to live life boldly, trusting that anything anyone accuses you of is less important than his love.

Psalm 119:41-48 Waw or Vav

May your unfailing love come to me, Lord, your salvation, according to your promise; then I can answer anyone who taunts me, for I trust in your word. Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws. I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame, for I delight in your commands because I love them. I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees.

Psalm 119:41-48

Waw (or Vav) is a unique letter in the Hebrew alphabet, unlike anything in English. When used at the beginning of a word or sentence, it's the conjunction junction: and...so then ...also...but...

When David wrote an entire stanza starting with waw, he had little choice but to tie the eight verses together in a single, continuous train of thought.

Perhaps this octave should be read as one thing leading toward another, building on what has already been said.

41-42 So, May your unfailing love come to me, Lord, your salvation, according to your promise; and then I can answer anyone who taunts me, for I trust in your word.

43-46 And Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws. and I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. and so I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. And then I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame,

47-48 and I delight in your commands because I love them. So I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees.