2018 Dec 25 Psalm 25, 1Peter 5
2018 Dec 25 Psalm 25, 1Peter 5
Hello, may this be a fine day for you! Let's consider the beautiful acrostic Psalm 25, verses 6-10. For commentary on verses 1-5, search "Nov 25".
"6 Remember your mercy, O Jehovah, and your loyal love, Which you have always shown. ח [Heth]7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my transgressions. Remember me according to your loyal love, For the sake of your goodness, O Jehovah. ט [Teth]8 Good and upright is Jehovah. That is why he instructs sinners in the way to live.י [Yod]9 He will guide the meek in what is right, And he will teach the meek ones his way. כ [Kaph]10 All the paths of Jehovah are loyal love and faithfulness For those observing his covenant and his reminders.
Psalm 25:6,7 The psalmist wants reassurance from Jehovah of His mercy over past sins and transgressions of God's law. God does this in His goodness, according to His loyal love. We want to always listen to our God-given conscience, that inner correction of thought when we may think of doing something wrong, which will typically bring sad consequences. Our conscience will be trained by God's word as we grow in godly wisdom, discernment to see the difference between right from wrong, and truth from falsehood, for instance, and the wisdom of foresighted shrewdness to see the consequences of good and bad decisions ahead of time, before we experience such things, that we may avoid the pain and stain of sin, with associated headaches, heartaches, heartbreaks, troubles, turmoil, pain, grief, sadness, and the need to confess the sin, which will often be evident to others, to work at getting thinking straight to realize its bad effects on ourselves and others, repenting over these, turning around, with refusal to do it again, although we may have lingering consequences of doing the wrong which we may need to put up with. Still, we can have God's merciful loving support through such things. However, much of this we may avoid by choosing to live in harmony with God's righteous standards, loving Him and others as we gain knowledge of God's will for us from His word. We should realize how we hurt God for any violation of His law and guidance, and want to cultivate the proper fear of displeasing God, to avoid hurting Him in any way.
Psalm 25:8,9 Jehovah thus gives us the guidance we need to overcome sinful practices, train our conscience, repent and come to love what is good and right before God, while learning to hate what is bad. Psalm 97:10 says "O you who love Jehovah, hate what is bad. He is guarding the lives of his loyal ones; He rescues them from the hand of the wicked." To this end may we seek meekness before God, having a humble view of ourselves with a desire to learn from God the truth and right way to live. While accepting sincere commendation for putting forth effort to assist others in some godly way, and honoring God as the Source of any gifts and talents we've received, may we recognize flattery, perhaps regarding any knowledge we may have, and avoid letting it give us a big head, refusing to flatter ourselves too much over such things. "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." (1Cori 8:1). Any knowledge gained should humbly be used to benefit others in practical ways, in line with true wisdom and unselfish love. If we flatter ourselves over our own gifts or abilities and talents, physical or spiritual, we may be unable to see our own flaws and humbly seek God's help to correct them. Psalm 36:2 refers to such a person: "For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much To detect and hate his error." According to verse 1, such a person is lacking the fear of God before their eyes, not realizing God's immense greatness over us, as we should appropriately be seeking His glory far above our own.
Psalm 25:10 May we treasure God's loyal love, and faithfulness to Him, which brings His pleasure and blessing on our lives. Let's observe His law, now Christian law, based on true love for God and neighbor, and appreciate reminders we may receive daily from His channel of instruction and by the daily reading of God's word, as encouraged in Psalm 1:1-3. This reads as follows:
Happy is the man who does not walk according to the advice of the wicked And does not stand on the path of sinners And does not sit in the seat of scoffers. 2 But his delight is in the law of Jehovah, And he reads His law in an undertone day and night. 3 He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, A tree that produces fruit in its season, The foliage of which does not wither. And everything he does will succeed."
May we especially give attention to the Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, containing roughly a quarter of all that is required of true Christians, while adding the first 10 chapters of Proverbs, contributing considerably to this. The remainder of Proverbs and Jesus' life, teachings, and ministry in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, adds much more, as does other Bible teachings found throughout His word, the Hebrew (and Aramaic), and Christian-Greek Scriptures. Many good readers have a schedule to complete the reading of God's word yearly, reading 3-5 chapters a day, while others may take it slower, doing research to more fully benefit from their reading. Try to give some consideration to God's word daily, to grow spiritually--we need spiritual food to feed our spirit the same as we do physical food for our body.
1Peter 5:2-4 exhorts the overseers in a congregation of true Christians, which should be appointed by the holy spirit according to the qualifications outlined in Timothy and Titus, to "Shepherd the flock of God under your care, serving as overseers, not under compulsion, but willingly before God; not for love of dishonest gain, but eagerly; 3 not lording it over those who are God’s inheritance, but becoming examples to the flock."
All are then encouraged to manifest genuine humility before God and one another, trusting God regarding any anxiety. We read: "But all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the haughty ones, but he gives undeserved kindness to the humble ones. 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time, 7 while you throw all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you."
May we all thus treasure true humility, viewing others as superior to ourselves, realizing they have gifts and talents from God often exceeding ours, and we can have things to learn from nearly all persons. A truly wise person is not a know-it-all, as expressed in Proverbs 1:5,6: "A wise person listens and takes in more instruction; A man of understanding acquires skillful direction 6 To understand a proverb and a puzzling saying, The words of the wise and their riddles." There is always much to learn, and there are more skills to acquire in life, to fully manifest godly love and wisdom toward others.
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Between Winchester, Virginia, and hopefully, Washington D.C., having confidence that our thankful trust in God will not fail to inspire us to the peace He has purposed via His Kingdom!
