God’s word

The Fool

One of the things I’m really good at is planning. I’m not the kind of person that likes to fly by the seat of my pants. I rarely do anything without first having a plan in place. When I got married, I planned to have a big family. I thought having 12 kids would be really cool. The only problem was my husband didn’t want any children and I failed to consult God about the matter. Instead, I plunged ahead, thinking my plan was a good one, I just needed to get my husband on board with it.

It says in Proverbs 12:15, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth to counsel is wise.” There are several variations of the word fool in the Bible. In this particular instance, the fool is someone that twists God’s ways into his own (191). The basic meaning of the word translated right, yashar is “‘to be straight’ in the sense of ‘to be level.’ The Israelites designated an easy road for traveling as a ‘level road.’ It had few inclines and declines compared to the mountain roads” (3477). In some instances, yashar is translated as convenient.

My desire to have a big family was consistent with the Bible, but it was not at all practical from the standpoint of my  family’s lifestyle. My husband’s job in the Marine Corps required him to be away from home for weeks, even months at a time. Once he was stationed overseas for an entire year. As much as I thought it would be easy to have more children, I had no idea how difficult it was for my husband and children to be separated from each other for long periods of time…but God knew, and I didn’t bother to ask him.

What is the point?

When I was a new Christian, a retired missionary named Bernice took me under her wing and taught me the basics of being a Christian. Bernice told me that I needed to sing to the Lord and pray on a regular basis, but she said the most important thing for me to do was to read my Bible everyday. Bernice had lived her entire life as a missionary in Africa. I considered her to be a very godly woman, so I did what she said and never asked the question, What is the point of reading my Bible?

The phrase “quicken me” appears nine times throughout psalm 119. The Hebrew word translated quicken, châyâh (khaw – yaw´) means to live, but it also means “to bring to life” or “to cause to live” (2421). The kind of life chayah refers to is more than physical existence. It is spiritual life that comes from to word of God. The author of the book of Hebrews states, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

If I had asked Bernice the question, What is the point of reading my Bible? I think she would have said, It keeps your spirit alive. In the same way that I need to eat food everyday to keep my body functioning, I need to read God’s word everyday to keep my spirit functioning. Over the years, I have discovered many benefits to reading my Bible daily. Even though I haven’t always understood what I was reading, I think I have developed some of the godly characteristics that I admired in my friend Bernice.

A conversation with God

The first conversation I had with God began with a spontaneous expression of a desire I was completely unaware of. My statement was like a confession. “God, all I want do is come and be with you in heaven and take care of the little babies there.” And his response was like a prophetic revelation, “Some day you will come and be with me, but until that time, I have much work for you to do where you are.” I received the message 35 years ago and yet it seems as if it was only yesterday the words were spoken to me.

The psalmist said, “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). The word translated settled, nâtsab (naw – tsab´) means to station (5324). It is similar to what a soldier does while on watch. The words for ever designate an existence that is outside of time or “from the most distant past time to the most distant future time,” in other words, eternity (5769). Heaven is God’s home, but it is not a place in the universe. “God’s abode is a unique realm not to be identified with the physical creation” (8064). God is in or in between everything we can see.

The fact that we can hear God speak to us is unexplainable, but my experience indicates it is possible to have a conversation with God. The thing that amazes me the most about what I heard was that is was exactly what I needed to hear in the moment and every moment since then. The message was timeless and it has sustained me for 35 years. I don’t know how much longer it will be before I go to heaven, but I know some day I will go there, or should I say be there, as God is now.

The purpose of pain

The psalmist said, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes” (Psalm 119:71). The word translated afflicted, anah means to be humbled or made to be meek. “To take a woman sexually by force may be to humble her” (6031) as was the case with Jacob’s daughter Dinah when she was raped by Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite (Genesis 34:2).

Being raped is never a good thing, but the experience of being raped can teach us important lessons about life and human behavior. The Hebrew word translated statutes in Psalm 119:71, choq means an appointment. Statutues are laws of nature, including human nature, that govern God’s creation (2706). God’s laws do not change, therefore, the sooner we learn them the better, if we do not want to live a life of pain and suffering.

The psalmist said, “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word” (Psalm 119:67). The word translated astray means to stray or figuratively to sin. The same word is also translated as deceived and sin ignorantly (7683). With regards to human behavior, sin could be the result of bad role models or following in the footsteps of someone that is not committed to God. The only way we can break free from these patterns is to be aware that they exist.

The psalmist said, “I know, O LORD, that thy judgements are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75). God does not vary in the way he controls the universe. When the atmosphere reaches certain conditions, it rains, when the earth’s orbit reaches a certain position, the season’s change from summer to fall. If we jump off a cliff, we will always fall to the bottom of the cavern. It is best for us to know the dangers of certain behaviors.

I can’t explain how I know, but after I was raped, I knew God loved me and he was protecting me. It could be that because I escaped and was not seriously hurt, that I felt someone unseen was looking out for me. The psalmist prayed, “let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live” (Psalm 119:77). One of the ways that God protects us is through his word, by letting us know how the world works. If we live by his commandments, we will able to avoid a lot of harsh, painful circumstances.

Citizens of heaven

An acronym that has been associated with the Bible is “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” Another acronym that has gained a lot of popularity in recent years is NOTW, “Not of this World.” In Psalm 119:19 the psalmist states, “I am a stranger in the earth.” The word translated stranger, gêyr (gare) is properly translated as a guest and by implication a foreigner, but a geyr was not simply a foreigner, “he was a permanent resident, once a citizen of another land” (1616).

The idea that a Christian’s citizenship is in heaven is what prompted the apostle Paul to write, “set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). The word translated affection, phroneo means “to exercise the mind” (5426). Phroneo is derived from the  word phrao which means “to rein in or curb” (5424). The point Paul was trying to make was that it takes a conscious effort to think about heaven rather than earth because we live here. The things of earth are constantly before our eyes.

The Bible is meant to give us a glimpse or view of heaven that whets our appetite. Reading the Bible should make us long for our heavenly home. Unfortunately, the language of the Bible is sometimes an obstacle instead of a help to our understanding of what heaven is really like. When the Psalmist said, “I will delight myself in thy statutes” (Psalm 119:16) and “Thy testimonies also are my delight” (Psalm 119:24), he was talking about what is now recorded in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, our least favorite parts of the Bible.

One way to look at the Bible is a secret decoder ring or map of buried treasure. What you see on the surface makes no sense at all. You have to look intently, with great care, and even meditate on it for awhile before the message begins to be clear. The psalmist said, “I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways” (Psalm 119:15). The word translated respect, “nabat means ‘to look, regard, behold.’ The first use of this term is in Gen 15:5, where it is used in the sense of ‘take a good look’ as God commands Abraham: ‘Look now toward heaven, and [number] the stars…'” (5027).

When we look at the vastness of heaven, it is incomprehensible that the Creator of the universe would bother to communicate with us in a personal way, in our own language so that we could understand him perfectly. As Abraham was gazing into the sky, I think he realized who was talking to him. It says in Genesis 15:6 that Abraham “believed in the LORD.” In other words, Abraham opened his heart to the LORD and began to see with spiritual eyes.