January 20, 2021
Psalm 119:130 (NIV)
The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
CONSIDER THIS
Psalm 119 is a bit of a party; a comprehensive celebration of the Word of God and the God of the Word. Composed in an acrostic pattern, there are twenty-two sections—one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet—with eight verses in each section. Coming in at a whopping 176 verses, it is easily the longest chapter in the Bible. We have touched on two other verses from this chapter in this series. Today brings us a third.
The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
Charles Spurgeon, speaking of Psalm 119, remarked, “This wonderful psalm, from its great length, helps us to wonder at the immensity of Scripture. From its keeping to one subject it helps us to adore the unity of Scripture; for it is but one. Yet, from the many turns it gives to the same thought, it helps you to see the variety of Scripture. . .Its variety is that of a kaleidoscope: from a few objects a boundless variation is produced. In the kaleidoscope you look once, and there is a strangely beautiful form. You shift the glass a very little, and another shape, equally delicate and beautiful, is before your eyes. So it is here” (The Complete Works of C. H. Spurgeon, Volume 33, Sermons 1938 to 2000 (Delmarva Publications, Inc., 2013).
The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
Something we can all use more of is simple understanding. Have you considered that as the Word of God opens with the creation, it closes with the new creation. It opens with, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3), and it closes with, “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 22:5 ESV).
The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
There is enormous complexity in almost every aspect of Scripture, yet despite this, it unfolds in a singular story. One simple way of understanding this unfolding of God’s Word is to break it into six movements: creation, fall, Israel, Jesus, church, and new creation.
The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
We find ourselves in this unfolding of God’s Word right here and right now. We are living in the age of the Spirit, as the people of God, the body of Christ, the church of Jesus Christ. In television parlance, we are in season 5, and in order to fully play our part we need to go back and watch seasons 1 through 4 and the previews of season 6 found throughout the whole story and at the end. We must know the settings, the nuances of the characters, the twists and turns of the plot, the cataclysmic climax of the resolution, and how it continues to resolve itself to this present moment and beyond. Who is Naomi and where does she fit? What about Rahab? What is Ezra up to? And what about Nehemiah? Why does Jonah matter? And what about Job? Rachel? Hannah? Every bit of this unfolding Word of God pours more and more understanding into this world of God in which we live out our brief span of days and onward into “the communion of saints, . . . the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
First Word. Last Word. God’s Word.
THE PRAYER
Father, thank you for your Word, which endures forever. Thank you for the way the unfolding of your words gives light and gives understanding to the simple. I don’t need a complex grasp of it all. Grant me, a simple person, a simple understanding, which might in time become unfathomably deep. Train me to think in the frames of your story, to have the very mind of Christ, and to live in the marvelous fullness of your Spirit. I pray in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.
THE QUESTION
Which season of the big story do you understand the best? Which do you understand the least?
For the Awakening,
J.D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com
Today, and every Wednesday at noon central time, we gather on a global Zoom call to sow together for a great awakening in prayer. It is powerful. Would you join us today? ZOOM LINK HERE.
One Response
Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so!
Jesus-God loves me???
The creator of the universe loves me, chose me and wants to have fellowship with me.
Unfathomable!