41 Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation, according to thy word.
42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.
44 So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.
45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.
46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.
47 And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.
48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.
When God saves His people, He teaches them to walk in the perfect law of liberty, found in a right understanding and application of His Law-Word.
We have great confidence in the truth of God’s law against the political correctness of the day. Though 99% of the population may disagree with us, we find firm basis for our ethical perspectives in the law of God. Herein we enjoy maximum liberty, and we rejoice to walk in this liberty.
Verses 41-44.
This portion of the Psalm begins with a cry for God’s merciful salvation. Without God’s salvation, what defense could we produce against the accusations of the law directed toward the sin we commit in our mortal bodies? The law shouts, “Guilty sinner!” The devil also raises his own accusations against God’s elect. Our response can only be, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died!” (Rom. 8:34.) It is only because we have been shown mercy, it is only that we have our guilt and shame problem taken care of that we can move on to keeping God’s commandments. While we are suffering from the distracting pangs of guilt, and while we are still overwhelmed by the power of our own sinful inclinations, we cannot possibly keep the commandments of God; God’s salvation is essential.
How easily our thoughts and words are perverted by the false notions of our own minds and the world around us! We need God to keep His truth ever before our eyes, and we need to hope in God’s judgments. Ultimately, it is God’s judgments that determine who is to be punished or rewarded. While the evil dictator Nicolai Ceausescu enjoyed the accolades of men in a position of power, the Christian pastor Richard Wurmbrand rotted in a Romanian prison cell. This poor tortured soul had to trust all along that God had everything well in hand, and His judgments were true and right. Only 50 years later, the dead dictator is almost universally decried as an evil man, at least according to pages and pages of entries found on the Google search engine. Meanwhile, Richard Wurmbrand’s reputation is stronger than ever with hundreds of thousands of positive references found on the World Wide Web, and hardly a single detractor to be found. Often, the truth is vindicated 50-100 years after the political attacks on truth and righteousness, but it is always vindicated because God’s judgments are true. You can count on that.
God saves us so that we will keep His law forever and ever. While some may take this as being rather tyrannical and dull, that would be a bit like saying that the law of gravity is tyrannical and dull. There is no other possibility for life except that which is ordained by the Creator of life. Some desire to be absolutely free from all constraints, but how can we be free from all constraints when we are finite creatures constrained by our own finitude? A worm is always confined to his wormness in spite of the fact that he attends all those positive-thinking seminars reminding him that he can achieve anything his heart desires. Nonetheless, God is especially kind to humans, and He has provided a law, whereby man does not have to live like an animal and he can find maximum freedom by submitting to the laws of God. As we learn to operate in His law-order, we will find ourselves living a life of maximum freedom and fulfillment. Therefore, as we look forward to an eternity of keeping the laws of God, we can only imagine the blessings that will come about as we are delivered from the bondage of sin, and enjoy maximum liberty in God’s law-order forever.
Verses 45-46.
The Psalmist speaks of this liberty found in God’s laws in the 45th verse. Man is always limited by petty tyranny, the enslavement of addictions, the growth of large governments, and the like. It is hard to find much of human history in which man has lived without significant levels of enslavement. Either he is held captive by his own sins, or he is held captive by tyrannical economic and political institutions. Of course, these various forms of slavery play off of each other as well. When people are taken up by sexual sin and divorce, inevitably governments will try to maintain some form of social order by creating large bureaucracies.
God’s law creates the best balance between the rights of the individual and the prerogatives of the state. Thus, bold men will declare God’s laws to princes and kings. When John Knox met with Queen Mary of Scotland on several occasions during the Protestant Reformation, he boldly urged her to repentance. The Queen was pressing hard to persecute true Christians, and John Knox’s intervention no doubt saved many lives. In some cases, kings do not receive the admonitions well, as with King Herod who responded to John the Baptist by beheading him. On the other hand, some kings, like Theodosius, did respond well to the admonitions of pastors. When Ambrose of Milan sharply rebuked the emperor for his severe use of force on a city in the empire, the man repented and was restored into the fellowship of the church.
Certainly, many brave men have put their lives on the line when they dared to bring out the testimonies of God’s Word to the highest authority in the land. But they do not speak their own opinions by their own authority. Their confidence derives from their allegiance to God and His authoritative Word.
Verses 47-48.
Multiple times throughout this Psalm, we hear these words, “I have loved thy commandments. O how love I thy law!” Antinomians are horrified by such language, and cries of “legalism!” ring out all over the place whenever God’s law is mentioned in such positive, glowing terms. Now this is a critically important theological matter; where there is no love for God’s law, there can be no true faith. For true believers are always known for their love for Christ, and if they love Christ, they will love His law and keep His commandments. If there is no inward man “delighting in the law of God,” there can be no true believer there (Rom. 7:22, 23). The Psalmist lifts his hands up out of the desire to receive something of the commandments of God, to know something of the will of God, and to live by it. As he meditates on the laws of God, he finds creative ways to live out the will of God in his day-to-day life and culture.
A strong allegiance to God’s law should give us great boldness to speak the truth in the most difficult circumstances. There should be no question in our minds about this. God’s law always presents the “better way.” Regardless of the forceful opinions and agendas laid out by media pundits, political lobbyists, bureaucrats, and politicians, we must place God’s agenda above them all. “Let God be true, and every man a liar!”
Our worship and service to God rest first and foremost in the understanding that God has shown mercy to us. We would be paralyzed in guilt and shame if it were not for the confidence that God is merciful to us and accepts us as righteous in His sight because of the righteousness of Christ put to our account. Before we can proceed to walk in His law, we must know first that we are recipients of His mercy. This is basic to all worship.
1. Provide several examples of men who spoke God’s Word before kings, sometimes to their own detriment.
2. How might we be sure that we live our lives in maximum freedom and liberty?
3. What limits the freedom of a worm? What limits the freedom of a human being?
4. What is an Antinomian?
5. Will we keep the commandments of God in heaven? Why or why not?
1. When surrounded by powerful people, or those who do not subscribe necessarily to God’s Word as the standard for life, are we bold in proclaiming this truth? What is the source of our boldness? Is it confidence in the flesh or confidence in God?