February 29, 2020 -- Psalm 119:124 -- Unusual day for instructed praise

Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love,

and teach me your statutes.

Psalm 119:124 English Standard Version

Our prayers to God the Almighty are always offered in submission to Him as our Overlord and the King Who has Conquered us. Our prayers for ourselves and fellow Christians do not demand justice—for we have not received justice, but we have received His steadfast love and mercy. Justice means that people will receive the full measure of what their sins deserve. In fact, we have received the mercy and steadfast love of God the Sovereign and His wrath and justice were poured out on Jesus Christ.

We are called His servants because we have been captured from the domination of Satan. We are called His servants because our position before God the Glorious is that of a people who know the Magnificence of our Majestic Lord. And we are servants who, in Christ, as called beloved sons and daughters of our Father in heaven. What steadfast love He shows.

The steadfast love of God is echoed through-out this psalm (verses 26, 41, 76, 88). It is the refrain of our lives also. According to one Hebrew lexicon, the meaning here is that the steadfast love of the LORD quickens us spiritually. It is His never-failing-love that makes us alive to the things of God. In Psalm 86:13 the focus of the steadfast love of God is on the fact by this steadfast love He preserves us from death and the grave. In Psalm 31:7 we are called to rejoice in the steadfast love of the LORD. In Psalm 21:7 it is by the steadfast love of the LORD that we are redeemed from our enemies.

It might seem odd to follow this first phrase by stating: “teach me your statutes”. The more you think on it, the more it makes sense, though. As those drawn from the mires of our slavery to sin, rescued from the devil’s clutches, we ask ourselves—we surely can’t keep on doing what we were doing?! Something must change. Surely it does. Everything has to change. We need our lives completely reoriented. We need our words and thoughts, our actions and our goals to be focused on the Kingdom of our LORD and of His Christ. Only the commandments of God, only the rules He laid down for us, can set us in the direction of obedience. He has the right to command us as His rescued servants. He has the right to teach us His expectations.

By the blood of Christ, we have been taken from the household of Satan and chaos of evil and have been set on high in the home and family of God. Therefore, as those newly adopted, we are learning how to live. We are learning the new rules of our adopted home. They are foreign and strange to us. Therefore, we need the Spirit of God to teach us. His constant instruction is the only way we can navigate this new life, which is so foreign, so beautiful beyond description.

With the harpists and choirmasters of heaven our hearts sing out: Great and amazing are Your deeds, O LORD God the Almighty! Just and true are all Your ways, O King of the nations. You are blessed for ever and ever. With the psalmist we cry out, teach us Your statutes and Your ways. Because of all we have in Christ, fill us with Your Spirit so that we will offer our head, hands and heart to You in joy-filled service all our days. Quicken our spiritual life and direct our living so that we don’t merely say we love You, but all those around us will see our love for You carried out in what we say and do. Amen.