November 6, 2019 -- Psalm 119:48 -- Surrendered love

I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.

Psalm 119:48 English Standard Version

The lifting of someone’s hands, palms outward, is pretty much a universal sign of surrender. What the psalmist is declaring is that he will surrender completely to the commandments of the LORD his God. There are several key words that are repeated constantly through-out Psalm 119—all of them are references to the law, commandments, ways, judgments, rules, word, and testimony of the LORD. Rarely does the psalmist repeat verbs, yet our verse today repeats the verb “to love” which was used in the previous verse. This should make us pause and ask ourselves: why the repetition?

In the New Testament Jesus reminds us: “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Obedience is a sign of our reverent love for our Father in heaven. The commandments of God are for us the pathway of holy living. We keep them because we have been changed from the inside out and there is no one and no thing as precious in our life as the commandments of God. We follow in the footsteps of Christ, the Captain of Salvation, desiring to love Him and keep His commandments, as evidence of our thankfulness for the new life that we have received from Him. It is the Spirit of God who fuels the fires of obedient love in us.

Isn’t it interesting how a man who loves a woman will think about her all the time?! He will tell anyone he can of her beauty, all the reasons he is so drawn to her. His mind willingly meditates on her until he sees her again. As believers we meditate on the commandments of the LORD—the Promise-Keeping God—for we know as we walk in His ways we are journeying to that glorious moment when we finally see Him face to face. Meditating on His laws deepens our anticipation for that day; meditating on His commandments increases our love and such contemplations render our obedience to Him whole-hearted and free.

Will we fail? Yes.

Will He forgive us? Yes.

Therefore our devotion and surrender and love are all the greater. Shamefacedly we confess our sins. He forgives us on the basis of Jesus’ accomplished work. Jesus’ perfect obedience is credited to our account. We heed Jesus’ warning found in Revelation 2 “But I have this against you, you have abandoned the love you had at first” (verse 4). Ah, fellow Christian, shake off your lethargy! Awaken your soul and surrender all over again to the LORD the Glorious and Victorious Who has conquered sin, death and the grave. Surrender to Him and let your heart be recaptured by His love so that the only response which ever makes sense is to say with the psalmist:

I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.

Our testimony and song, our praise and blessing to Your Name is taken up with the words of Revelation:

The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,

and He shall reign forever and ever.

We give thanks to You, Lord God Almighty,

who is and who was,

for You have taken Your great power and begun to reign!

Amen. Hallelujah! Amen.

(The quotation is from Revelation 11:15 and 17)