Moore to Ponder

Scripture Reference;

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.  And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.  Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.  Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.  Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.  Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.  I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation. Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me. Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.  Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha. Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified. But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.  Psalm 40 KJV

A few weeks ago I thought I would look at Psalm 40, so I typed some entries that looked sometimes at a few verses and sometimes at just one verse. Verses 7 and 8 split up a thought, and in my last post in this series I focused only on verse 7.  Today I would like to look at the complete thought contained in those two verses.

^“7Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, ⁸I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”

Well, I think I mentioned in my last entry in this series a little about “The Book”, and that there was more than just a list of names written in it. I believe verse 8 confirms that.  I believe that David’s words in his Psalms were both sincere and true. Does that mean that David “always” did the Lord’s will, and obeyed the law that was in his heart? Well if you have read  both the 10 commandments, and the accounts of David’s life in the Old Testament you will notice that he, like every other person who was ever born, was a sinner. You can read about one of his most tragic sins in 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12. Now if you take the time to read them (They are not long; are about 2 pages in length in my little Bible.) you might be shocked at how it didn’t seem to occur to David just how wicked his sin really was (in the eyes of the Lord), until the Lord used Nathan the prophet to open his eyes. But you must understand that David was a king, and kings fought in battles and not unlike appointed leaders in the military services in many countries today (even our own), had to make decisions about sending troops into areas where there was a likelihood that some people would lose there lives. I am sure that he probably worked things out in his mind to help ease his conscience, and don’t we all sometimes do incredibly selfish and even hurtful things sometimes when it is  “inconvenient” to do the right thing or to (refrain from doing the wrong thing), and manage to work it out mentally until we have made them “seem” justifiable in our minds?  But the Lord, although always gracious and merciful, will not let His children get away with that. Consider this passage below:

^“3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won’t grow weary and lose heart. ^{(D) 4} In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:

My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly,

or faint when you are reproved by Him;

⁶ for the Lord disciplines the one He loves,

and punishes every son whom He receives. ^{(E) (F)}

⁷ Endure it as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline? ⁸ But if you are without discipline—which all ^[d] receive ^[e] —then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ^{(G) 9} Furthermore, we had natural fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? ^{(H) 10} For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit, so that we can share His holiness. ^{(I) 11} No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace ^(J) and righteousness to those who have been trained by it. ^(K)

¹² Therefore strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, ^{(L) 13} and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, ^[f] but healed instead. ^(M)” Hebrews 12:3-12 HCSB

Now with the above information in mind one might ask the following questions:   (1) How could a person who was capable of doing what David did truthfully say, “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart?” (2) If all Christians are also sinners can we truthfully say that, and if we can say that, then how? or (3) When did David say that? … “before” or “after” he committed adultery and had that devoted soldier killed?…Well, I do not know the answer to the last question.  I could look it up, but it really doesn’t matter, because he was a sinner both before and after he spoke those words; like David said in Psalm 51:

“³For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. ⁴Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.⁵Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Psalm 51:3-5 KJV

Now, I will attempt to address the three questions that came before that last question.  The first question was, “How could a person who was capable of doing what David did truthfully say, ‘I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart?'” Allow me to respond to that question by explaining that all people that come to dwell on the earth have physical life, but not all people have “spiritual life”.  However, all people who have placed their faith in the Lord and know Him as their personal Savior do have “spiritual life”, and are said to be “born again”.  This means that the Lord has put His Spirit in them and has made their “Hidden Man of the Heart” or “Inner Man” alive.  This act that the Lord performs is referred to as “regeneration”. I have explained in other blog entries that once we have been born again we are “new creatures”  with a ” two-fold” or “dual nature” consisting of  “the flesh” and “The spirit”.  Here is an exerpt from a blog entry titled, https://pronetoponder.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/considering-the-source-part-1-conviction-or-condemnation/

“Another reason that Satan is good at his job is because he can quote scripture.  However, he doesn’t “rightly divide it”, because if he were to do that we would be filled with hope instead of shame. He knows not only all of our sins that we have committed, but he also knows that Christians are “New Creatures” with a “Twofold Nature”.  This nature consists of an “Inner Man” or “Spiritual Man” or “The Hidden Man of the Heart”, and an “Outer Man” or “The Flesh”.  The “Spiritual Man” cannot sin. It can only follow the Lord. The “Flesh” can do nothing but sin. The two are opposed as described in Romans 7 and 8.  Below are some scriptures where these terms are used.

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; Ephesians 3:16 KJV

I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:21-25 KJV

But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 1 Peter 3:4

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:6 KJV

Okay, lets look one more time at that verse:

^“7Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, ⁸I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”

Now I would like to answer the second question which was, “If all Christians are also sinners can we truthfully say that, and if we can say that, then how?” The answer is “Yes, like David, ‘I’, also can sincerely say, ‘ I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.'” …and how? Based on the above scriptures it is my “inner man” or “the hidden man of my heart” that delights to do God’s will and God’s law is is within the heart of my “inner man” or “hidden man” of my heart, but not “my flesh” (Romans 7:21-25 KJV).

So I guess I will conclude today’s blog entry by saying that even though David was a sinner, all of his words we find in scripture are true, and all Christians share that same delight. We may still sin and even be chastised as a result, but we have Christ (the one who actually came and fulfilled the law) residing in our hearts. We can appreciate that the law reveals just how Holy our God is, and just how sinful our bodies of flesh are, and be thankful that we are not under that law, but are children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. If you would like to know more about that you can read the third chapter of Galatians.

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