Psalm 19:8; Psalm 119:169 – 176 – Light in Darkness
In the world in which we live, there is more information available to the average person than ever before through the various different types of media that have proliferated in recent years. There has also been the rise of ‘fake’ news, so that it is difficult to determine what is true and what is false in what we read, see or hear. Honesty and truthfulness are no longer as evident in society as once they were. Even the laws or the statutes passed in parliaments lead to increasing moral darkness rather than light. In verse 8 of the psalm, David draws our attention to statutes or ordinances that are right and commandments that are pure and holy.
In contrast to the corrupt or perverted precepts of men, those that come from God are ‘right’, and ‘pure’, because they are expressions of his absolute rectitude and his impeccable holiness. For the child of God, the statutes and commandments of the Lord are not burdensome nor tiresome, but joyful and pleasant because they remove from him the darkness of error. There is no doubt that the modern world is morally a very dark place and things are accepted as normal which not too many years ago were considered abhorrent and immoral, and all beliefs are considered equally valid. The Christian rejoices however, that God has not left his people to stumble in the darkness but has shown them exactly what he requires. God’s law teaches the Christian what he must believe, he does not have to study great amounts of philosophy or compare one set of religious beliefs with another in order to come to the truth, for it is laid out plainly and simply in the Word of the Lord. It teaches him what he must do and what he must shun if he is to please God. In a world of shifting morality, where society has no absolute moral standards and good is called evil and evil good, the believer can rejoice because he does have an absolute and unchangeable standard by which he can regulate and judge his behaviour.
Questions
- Why is the Word of God called ‘straight’.
- Why does the Word ‘rejoice the heart’?
- What must we do so that we do not walk in darkness?
Prayer Points
- Pray for the leaders of the nation that they may rule wisely.
- Pray for grace to walk in the ways of the Lord.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.