Psalm 119:9-16 | Beth
Psalm 119:9-16 | Beth
Milt Reynolds | Last updated: January 28, 2022
How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
(Psalm 119:9–16, ESV)
Translucent, not Transparent!
PURE: "zaw-KAW", translucent, innocent
That which is translucent allows light to show through, but not to show detailed shapes. To be translucent is literally to "through shine".
How can I mature into translucence? How can I live daily allowing Christ to shine through what I say and do?
By guarding my life.
To be spiritually transparent is not a good thing. To me it means to allow any and all things to pass into and through me unchanged, and unchanging. This would include the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. The right and the wrong. The satisfying and the sinful. All of it, good and bad, passing through me, and thus through me to all around me.
Such a horrific image! To become nothing but a pane of glass, unseen by others, unaffected by good or bad. Existing but not living.
God, save me from transparency!
Now, of course I realize that "transparency" is often used as a description of honest speech and behavior. I suppose this usage is fair and useful. But it's a far different thing to say my words and actions are transparent, than to say my heart is transparent. To say that my heart is transparent is not a good thing. Window glass captures and contains nothing...it merely serves as a way of keeping out the cold and wet, blocking the flies and birds.
Translucence is a much better hope for my heart. To be translucent is to be filled with the light of Christ, to be changed and transformed into a source of light, without shadow of rebellious selfishness and proud perversion.
My heart right now is very far from translucence. My heart right now is a crystal with many impurities...many chips and cracks and shadows and weaknesses. And of course, that is why Christ is my only Hope. His death purchased for me forgiveness for my far-from-translucent heart and mind and body. His resurrection assures me that Christ has defeated death.
My hope for translucence is in Christ.
Translucence is light that changes within and without all that is touched by the light.
God, settle my heart with the translucent light of Christ within and without!
Old Man Walking
I am an old man, 64 years now past my birth on November 4, 1957. I am an old man walking this Road of Life. I still need to guard my heart. God's Word competes against the world's words: news, business, pleasure, profit, comfort, satisfaction, fears, frustraon...all things that are temporary and shallow, compared to God's Word.
Teach me today, Lord, your Word!
I try to read one of the stanzas from Psalm 119 daily. So, once a month I usually find myself shaking my head in disappointment, or at the very least in doubt.
Does this passage speak only to "young people"? What are us old people? Chopped liver? Vienna Sausages? Saltine crackers? Canned mackerel in tomato sause?
I think the last time I thought of myself as "still young" was about twenty years ago. I was working daily as a teacher, and responding on an average to three emergency calls a week as a volunteer firefighter.
It was during a grass fire that I collapsed from heat exhaustion, vomiting and utterly helpless. That was the third and worst time that I'd suffered from heat exhaustion. That was the last time I worked as a firefighter.
I had heart surgery within the week, replacing three of my arteries.
Eight weeks later I was "an old man".
I know that sounds like whining...I've heard of many 70-80-90-year-olds who can out-work, out-walk and out-think younger folk.
But that surgery changed me. I can no longer think of myself as a young man.
I'm old.
So, this psalm bothers me a bit, because it seems to say that only the young can change, only the young can shine in delightful freedom from guilt or sin, free of evil action or intent.
But, that's not true. Here's the reason why this psalm looks squarely at the young:
A young person must learn to delight in God's Word as early in life as possible...An old person must have already learned to delight in God's Word, a long time ago. If not, they need to start now!
God's Word purifies a person's daily life. "Purity" here means "translucent", glowing as if the sun's light were shining through. That notion is used as a figure of speech for "innocent": free from guilt or sin, free from evil action or effect.
How does God's Word make a practical difference in a person's purity? By living a consistent, daily life in accordance with God's Word. By wholeheartedly seeking and sitting in God's Word. By rejoicing in, considering, and delighting in God's Word.
That is not easy. All of that is much harder to do than simply allowing personality, parentage, politics and other people to pick and choose for me. It's much harder to do than blithely allowing culture and society to teach me morality and meaning and magnificence.
It's not easy.
It's actually impossible.
The more I read God's Word, the Holy Bible, the more I realize that my heart, mind and body are all badly broken. Every good desire and work seems tainted with episodes of careless, selfish, dark, harmful, passive-agressive, secretive, habitual, reflexive responses that hinder and confuse morality and meaning and magnificence.
Oh, God of Creation, Father of Compassion, Ruler of All...I don't seek you with all my heart! Heal my heart so that I do. Hide your word in my heart. Teach my mind to carefully sort out the figures of speech, the prophetic passages, the difference between literal and symbolic, and the narrow and the wide of your Word. Your Son's sacrifice is all I can offer in my behalf. To be allowed to share in your Son's resurrection is my greatest delight. Your Holy Spirit is my only Helper in this humanly-impossible life of staying on the path of your Word. Teach me to rejoice daily, meditate often, consider always and delight wholeheartely in your Word.
Amen!
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