March 9, 2020 -- Psalm 119:129 -- Perfect Testimonies
/Your testimonies are wonderful,
therefore my soul keeps them.
Psalm 119:129 English Standard Version
The testimonies of God are the rules He declares must be kept. As we study His laws and rules, we learn much about the justice of Him Who is altogether Holy. There is none like Him. There is no shadow of injustice, no place where He turns a blind eye to wrongdoing. He perfectly measures out justice and He faithful directs those who believe in Him.
The testimonies of God, Creator and He Who Sustains the Heavens and the Earth, reveal majesty and power beyond our comprehension. The psalmist calls these testimonies wonderful. Such perfect laws, so simple and expansive, concise and comprehensive cause us to pause and consider the wisdom of God. His testimonies make us realize we are on the very edges of greatness and power so beyond our comprehension. He is wonderful beyond our mind’s ability to understand.
Sin is something we get, knowing it all too well. Immorality can almost send us to boredom. We see the same wickedness paraded again and again. There is a numbing boredom that can creep over us when we hear the old anthems of rock bands as they, in their old age, parade their hits that once seemed so radical, so novel in their decadence. Now we realize how repetitive it all is. How small. How pitiable.
When the Psalmist lifts his eyes to the LORD of Glory, He sees limitless perfections. When the Psalmist considers the laws of God, His testimonies and commandments he realizes he can run in them. They require the Spirit of God to enlarge his heart so that he as a greater capacity to run in them and delight in them and marvel in them. He realizes the testimonies of God are light for our feet and a lamp for our life’s pathway that never goes out. Who is like the LORD our God? None. Not one can match Him for excellence, simplicity, beauty, majesty, justice and love.
The testimonies and laws of the High King of Heaven cause controversy and rebellion to foment in the small hearts and minds of those who reject Him. Our world celebrates death: abortions, medically assisted suicide and tunes that shout about death. Our world demands what it calls freedom. The sad irony is that our worldly leaders require those who strive for such freedoms to stand in lockstep, straight-jacket conformity with all the ever-changing social mores and new norms of their petty dictates. They cannot stand any dissension.
Little wonder then, that the soul of the psalmist expands with joy at the thought of keeping the testimonies of the LORD his God. The people of this world, the dictators, small rulers and despots are like tantrum-gripped children growing red in the face and stomping their feet in the store aisles demanding their candy. In mighty, glowingly glorious contrast, the testimonies of the LORD are ever more beautiful, ever more fully wondrous as they are obeyed. The testimonies of the LORD are limitless in their perfections, allowing for the people of God to live in community with Him and with one another.
Great are Your ways, LORD of Glory. Perfect are Your testimonies, LORD of Heaven and Earth. Mighty and excellent are You, Jesus. You alone have kept all the testimonies of God and showed us the joys which are set before us in keeping them so that we can scorn the shame and pettiness of the worldly as we guard Your truth and Your ways. Spirit of God increase our capacity for living in the wide spaces of these testimonies so that our words and will, our hands and hearts bring honour and glory to the God of our Salvation. Amen.
