September 2, 2019 -- Psalm 119:8 -- When God says something!
/I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!
Psalm 119:8 English Standard Version
For a while I was listening to acapella groups—there is something incredible about the variety of sounds and tones that the human voice can make! One came up on my play list again and it was so fitting. Pentatonix, did a cover of a Great Big World and Christina Aguilera song “Say Something [I’m giving up on you]”. As far as I can tell one person is calling out to her lover this refrain “say something, I’m giving up on you”. It is melancholy and the desolate singer is pining for someone who is refusing to answer. The lover is admitting to love and failure, learning to give deeply and mourning, agonizing about the silence on the part of her beloved. What a lonely experience, to be so open and vulnerable, broken and hoping only to have no response whatsoever, not even pity.
What a glorious contrast we have in our Psalm. The writer of this Psalm is vowing to be faithful to the Living God—though his service may falter and at times fail. He is asking, pleading with God: “do not utterly forsake me”. We are beautifully reassured that our Father in heaven heard this plea—God said something.
God responded by His Word. The Bible is His love letter. The remaining 168 verses of this very psalm show the psalmist continued to be in conversation with the God Who says something glorious.
As New Testament Christians we are comforted: God said something. He sent His Son to rescue us from our sins and failures and bring us to Himself.
God acted on our behalf by sending His Spirit to live in our hearts so that we have the profound assurance we will call out and never have to wonder whether or not we’ll be heard. In fact, the prophet Isaiah, declaring to the people the rock solid promises of God spoke these words: “Before they call I will answer, while they are still speaking I will hear…says the LORD” (Isaiah 65:24).
The Gospel of John reminds us that You loved the world so much You made an open declaration of Your love through Jesus Christ. The letter to the Ephesians reminds us, that though You know the very worst of our behaviour, the evil of our heart and thoughts, the meanness we are capable of and still You have cleansed us. You have, in fact, given us Your Holy Spirit so that we will have the power to know how much You love us, how wide and long, high and broad is Your love for us in Jesus Christ. Oh, blessed be Your Name Great God of Mercy and Compassion. Let our lives say something of the praise and wonder we feel. With the Psalmist we vow to keep Your statutes and with great anticipation look forward to the many ways in which You will respond to us in love. Amen.
