His Statutes Last Forever

-



Scripture:

Psalm 119:152
Long ago I learned from your statutes
  
 that you established them to last forever.

Observation:

It's the day after Christmas and for some of us across the US we are tucked into our homes, not going out on this snowy day.  People are cleaning up from yesterday's celebrations, some are out shopping and many are already looking forward to putting 2012 behind them and move into the New Year.  Quickly, within the hustle and bustle of life we can put Christmas behind us.  Yes, there may have been one day that we set aside to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, but have we already moved on?  The Psalmist writes in the past a message which reaches out to us even today.  He is speaking to his heavenly Father and realizes that the laws of God, the statutes that God has established have been created to last forever.  When the things of this world come and go, they do not.  We can trust God to carry us through the things which happened in 2012, and into the things which will occur in 2013. 

Application:

Last evening we were playing 90's Trivial Pursuit with our daughter and son-in-law.  That's a rather crazy game for our family to play because we lived the 90's in Russia and much of popular American culture is lost on us.  However, we muddled through!  The interesting thing we realized was the rapid pace of technical development which occurred in the 90's.  The use of the internet had just begun.  The first singing group (you would never recognize who they are) put their music on the internet.  The Palm Pilot became the rage.  The first on-line game used via telephone modems about put the phone system under in Europe when too many people tried to get on-line at the same time.  Sitting in a room filled with iPhones,  iPads, and laptop computers it was hard to imagine the technological changes which have happened within such a short period of time.  I still remember the time my dad and I had a discussion when I was in elementary school that some day every home in America would have a computer -- and we were both wondering why!  Last evening I pondered what would be coming next.  If so much has happened in the last 20 years, what will the next 20 years hold for all of us.  In some ways it is unnerving because it's almost too much to absorb and apply.  We must constantly be learning if we are going to stay current. 

And then I think about the Jesus that we celebrated yesterday.  His statutes are forever!  Suddenly there is a calm and a peace in the midst of all the frenetic world in which we live.  God doesn't change.  His laws don't change.  His love for us doesn't change.  We don't' have to learn about him anew every 6-8 months -- he is the stable factor in all of our lives.  This day after Christmas I am grateful for the peace of Jesus which I sense in my life.  I am grateful for the morning meetings that he and I have -- and that he is always there waiting for me to slow down enough to join him.  He has established his statutes forever.  I think that even the Psalmist was grateful for the unchanging nature of a loving heavenly Father. 

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for the consistency which you bring to a chaotic world.  Thank you for your patience with me.  Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a ti...
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her ...
Read more

On Grief and A Flute Player

-
Scripture: Matt. 9:23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, Matt. 9:24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Matt. 9:25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. Matt. 9:26 And the report of this spread throughout that district. Observation: This is a simple story which we have heard or read numerous times. Jesus heals the little girl and the people rejoice. But at the moment in which he arrives at the home he encounters the professional mourners. These are the flute players, the ones who have come to make a great noise about the child’s death. It is the flute player that testifies to the fact that she is truly dead. Also, flutes were generally employed when it came to the death of a child. The whole community would therefore understand that it is a child who has died in this home. The flute player is doing the job they have ...
Read more