Sweet Authority
A quick perusal of current headlines will invariably find articles and stories working through issues of immigration, right to die, violence done against minorities, transgender rights, efforts to create human/chimpanzee embryos and a whole lot more. As Christians, how do we make sense of our place in this world? How do we interact with those whose framework for viewing the world is vastly different than ours? How do we avoid being conformed to the ideals of this current age?
As we seek a way forward, a couple of truths stand out. First, we need transformed hearts and transformed characters. If we seek for answers on our own, without the Spirit of God to guide and help us along the way, we will only add our foolishness to the foolishness of the world. Second, the ancient, reliable Word of God is said to be "sweeter than honey" with a power to meet humanity at its point of greatest need. It is the Word of our Creator that has the wisdom to shape our lives for the flourishing for which he created us. It is the Word of our King that is authoritative, binding us as his people to live in his way. In the Word of God the one who calls us his friend and our brother reveals to us his heart. It is in his Word that we find the sweet authority that we need.
Over the next several weeks we will be looking through the lens of Psalm 119 to behold the beauty of the Word of God. Psalm 119 is the longest psalm in the Bible with every single one of it's 176 verses extolling the virtues of the scriptures. In this psalm we see how God's Word rejoices the heart, makes wise the simple, revives the soul, brings comfort in affliction, lays a path for purity, and holds forth justice for the oppressed. We will be taking each of these themes in their turn. This week, Pastor Addison will help us see that when we come to the Word, we come to the very heart of God.
The very opening to the Psalter lays out the path for the blessed life. Blessed is the one whose "delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:2). May we all grow in our delight of the Word!
Photo by Benyamin Bohlouli on Unsplash