0559. Statute
Statute
"Blessed art Thou, O Lord: teach me Thy statutes" (Psa_119:12).
The word comes from a Hebrew word, which means to "engrave" or "inscribe." Hence the word statute–to decree or to ordain. When used as a noun, the word, of course, suggests a decree or an ordinance. The expression is used twenty-two times in Psalms 119. A few of these passages, we will consider.
1. Psa_119:12 : "Blessed art Thou, O Lord: teach me Thy statutes." We must first put Jehovah before us, and know that He is God before we can in safety say, "Teach me Thy statutes."
The doctrine of predestination holds terror to some. Not so to the Psalmist. He sought to know God’s decrees. The truth is, the decrees of God present to the believer the most comforting, most helpful and most encouraging messages in the Word of God. God foreordained the Cross. God foreordained that believers should be conformed to the likeness of His Son. God foreordained the eternal riches of grace, that await us in the ages to come. All the decrees of God are precious.
2. Psa_119:54 : "Thy statutes have been my song in the house of my pilgrimage." The Old Testament saints were strangers and pilgrims; they were traveling toward a city whose builder and maker, was God. They left all to follow Him. They believed in His promises; they walked by faith. They gave substance to the things they hoped for; and accepted as real, the things yet unseen. They knew the marvelous scope of God’s eternal statutes and decrees. No wonder that as they traveled, they sang the songs of coming deliverance.
3. Psa_119:80 : "Let my heart be sound in Thy statutes; that I be not ashamed." It will not do for men to wrap themselves up in the pledges of men. But, when God speaks, we can stand firmly upon His Word; we can follow Him through all of His decrees. We can be sound in His statutes–that is, we can seek thorough knowledge of them, and can trust them with unswerving faith. Let us not leave out one of the good promises of our God. They are all pledges to us, upon the oath of One Who never fails to make good His Word; they are all yea, and amen in Christ Jesus.
Paul said, "I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." We too may commit ourselves unreservedly to His statutes. We know that He will keep them unto that day.
4. Psa_119:118 : "Thou hast trodden down all them that err from Thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood." The character of God’s purpose is set forth in His statutes. The wicked may take counsel against the Lord and against His anointed; they may seek to hinder the statute, which decrees that Jesus Christ shall sit on David’s throne; but our Lord will hold them in derision; He will laugh at them; He will set them at naught. God will break down every barrier that men set up, to obstruct Christ’s reign.
The wicked shall be like the chaff on the summer threshing floor. They shall be utterly consumed. The statutes of God will be fulfilled to the last jot and tittle. Beneath the feet of their onward march, everything that opposes, must fall.
5. Psa_119:171 : "My lips shall utter praise, when Thou hast taught me Thy statutes." Jacob, when fully informed concerning Joseph, said, "All this is against me." But Jacob, when he discovered how God had sent Joseph ahead, to preserve his life against the days of famine, found his lips full of praise. The reason the sky seems dark to us, at times, is because we do not know the purposes wrapped up within the swift moving clouds. O that we might trust, and not be afraid! Let us seek to know the things which are clearly ordained of God. Then, ‘mid the darkness of the present hour, and ‘mid the onrush of tribulation, we can, with all sincerity, utter words of praise.
6. Psa_119:71 : "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy statutes." Sometimes we do not turn to God, until we have come to the end of ourself. As long as the sky is bright, we forget to learn of God; but, in the hour of our affliction, we quickly turn to His statutes. How precious, then, are the blessings that accrue to us, through our sufferings.
7. Psa_119:117 : "Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto Thy statutes continually." Seven times in this one Psalm does the expression, "Teach me Thy statutes," occur.
(1) We must know the will of God. "We are created unto good works, which God hath before prepared that we should walk in them." That is, God has a plan of life prepared, ordained, mapped out, for those who are born again.
(2) We must do like Habakkuk did. We must set ourselves upon our high tower, and see what He says unto us. Still, to be taught His will and His statutes, is not enough. We must walk in them; we must have respect unto them; we must keep them. What use is the cloud by day, or the fire by night, unless it be followed faithfully?
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR