July 14, 2004
Reading
“You are near, O LORD, and all your commandments are truth” (151)
This stanza of Psalm 119 begins with David crying out to the Lord with
“my whole heart,” with the plea for God to hear him. He promises to keep God’s
directives and to meditate in them even through the night. His dedication to
the Word of God is unquestionable and every element of his life is dependant on
it.
When the time came, which, according to many of the psalms was frequent,
when his enemies or the ‘wicked’ approached him, he judged them based on the
law of God. His adversaries were not wicked because they opposed him, but
because they “are far from your law” (150). The wicked of whom David speaks
were almost upon him. They were not known enemies who were safe and comfortable
behind the walls of their own cities, they could be seen on the horizon and
were a current threat to him—how like the enemy of our soul who “walks about
like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” 1 Peter 5:8.
“Our spiritual enemies, like David's earthly
persecutors are ever present and active. The devouring "lion, "or the
insinuating "serpent" is "nigh to follow after mischief";
and so much the more dangerous, as his approaches are invisible. Nigh also is a
tempting, ensnaring world; and nearer still, a lurking world of sin within,
separating us from communion with our God”— Charles Bridges.
Our enemy is as close as our heart, constantly attacking our thoughts
and even the intents of our heart. How much closer can he be? Do we stand any
chance of recognizing his advances and resisting him before we fall to his
onslaught? Well might we cry with David, “How long will my enemy be exalted
over me?” Ps 13:2. There are times when we can hear the battering rams of Satan
crashing against the gate of our soul and we fear that, before long, the enemy
will be standing in our courtyard and our defeat will be complete. What is our
response in such times? We can cower under the onslaught of the enemy and give
him entrance into the depths of our soul, or we can follow the example of the
psalmist and look to God for His mercy.
“It is good that we should cast our eyes
upward to the Lord; then shall we see
that they are not so near to hurt us as the Lord our God is near to help us;
and that there is no evil in them which we have cause to fear, but we shall
find in our God a contrary good sufficient to preserve us. Otherwise we could
not endure, if when Satan and his instruments come near to pursue us, the Lord
were not near to protect us”. — William
Cowper.
“You are near, O Lord”—what a glorious reality this is. No matter how
near the enemy is, Christ is closer. “I will never leave you or forsake you” is
His promise. Made one with Him who never knew defeat at the hands of the very
same enemy we face. The enemy may have rejected the law of God and cast it far
from them, but to those who draw nigh to God, that same law is known and proven
to be truth (Ps 119:151), and the truth will set you free, “Then Jesus said to
those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples
indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’" John
“Near as the enemy might be, God was nearer:
this is one of the choicest comforts of the persecuted child of God. The Lord
is near to hear our cries, and to speedily afford us succor. He is near to
chase away our enemies, and to give us rest and peace”
C.H. Spurgeon.