jonathanfwoodall
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The Word

3/3/2017

1 Comment

 
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The other day in my time focusing on the Word, I was reading and portion of Psalm 119 and as I read this passage, a notion from the Gospel of John jumped int o my mind…so the passage was this:

119:9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
    teach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare
    all the rules of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight
    as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
    and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
    I will not forget your word.


Of course, this Psalm refers back to Torah (first 5 books of the Old Testament), or the law of God and it uses the term “word” to talk of the teachings that came for God.  Well, the Gospel of John makes this crazy assertion that the WORD is actually taking on human form and thus Jesus becomes the very WORD of God.  John sees Jesus then, as something better than the mere teachings of God, or the law, because Jesus is both word and action.  That is, Jesus shows us how to not only KNOW the Torah, but how to fulfill TORAH (which, by the way, no human could ever fully do!)   So, If I were to write a New Testament psalm that expressed the same as this passage, then it might read: 

How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to love of Jesus.
With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander far away from your Son!
I have stored up Christ in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
    teach me the life of you son, Jesus!
With my lips I declare
    all the good news of your Son.
In the way of your testimonies I delight
    as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on Jesus Christ
    and fix my eyes on him.
I will delight in your Son;
    I will not forget Jesus Christ.

To see Jesus as the WORD of God, is to begin to move deeper into the heart of God.  The rules rarely display the heart behind them, but the Son lived to reveal God to us in a   way never before experienced.  

1 Comment
Pat Pacella
3/3/2017 05:36:32 pm

Awesome. I would not thought of the book of John with that Psalm. Love the way you compared these two scriptures and once again you explained it so well. Thank you

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