Psalm 119:25-40 Sunday School
"my soul clings to the dust..." Depression? Illness? Conviction of sin? Weary of the uselessness of living life according to his own designs?
At any rate the Psalmist knows the answer to the problem: In the first section (Daleth) he confesses it to the Lord. He is praying for relief, and begs God for more of Himself. Teach me of Yourself! Help me understand You? You are my only help......I cannot save myself. I choose You! and will study Your Word to find life.
"Put false ways from me".......where do we run when in trouble? Our 'stuff'? Friends?, Self help guru's (Oprah, Dr. Oz? False teachers)? Or do we run to the Word of God? "False ways" are no help in the end. The only help in life is from God.
In the second section (He) he continues to ask God for help in understanding the Word and in keeping the law. He asks for help to be faithful to study the Word of God, to understand it, and to do it. I am reminded of James 1:22....be doers of the word, not hearers only.
He then asks God to help him not to put hope in worthless things.....like the 'false' ways listed above. He wants to long only for God's Word, and the wisdom found there.
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Sermon text: Mathew 27: 45-61 (Bart preaching)
Jesus Death and Burial.
Looking at this passage again several points jumped out at me (again).
Imagine that scene...Crucifixion was a fairly common occurrence from what I understand. But this was different.....by far! I imagine there was much more drama surrounding this one....high emotion and tempers. Then.....the darkness that covered the land. This wasn't a common occurrence. Did the onlookers associate the two at the time? Or did they connect the dots later after word of the raising of some of the dead, the earthquake, and the torn veil was known?
Darkness = judgement. Christ was receiving in Himself the judgement.....God's wrath....for the sins of His chosen ones.
The physical suffering that Jesus endured pales in comparison to the spiritual suffering.....receiving the full wrath o His Father,.......Christ......the innocent.....treated as guilty so that we......the guilty.....could be treated as innocent.
Imagine the anguish that would cause a man to cry out-----"My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?!"
Too often we don't really appreciate that anguish. It was't the physical as much as the spiritual that birthed this cry.
I wonder.....if the centurion and others that said, after witnessing these Truly this was the Son of God!" were just acknowledging Him in the wake of these events, or if they ever did place their trust in Him?
I'd never really thought of this before.......but the apostles and disciples, who were open followers of Him, almost all deserted Him in this final hour. The women stayed. And 2 who followed Him in secret out of fear of their own kinsmen, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (see John's gospel) now step forward, "taking courage" as one gospel puts it, and openly confess their trust in Jesus by taking His body for burial, in Joseph's own tomb.
One more thing......I've often thought that I would love to know what sort of scene ensued at the Temple the moment the veil was torn in half. I understand it wasn't some flimsy material.....more like a tapestry, and it tore from top to bottom....indicating that no one could have done it. Surely people were there......especially some priests. Did they run screaming in fear, fearing for their lives because the Holy of Holies had been exposed? Did they scramble to fix it? Just one of the things I wish the Scriptures gave us.
But what we have is enough. Christ, the great High Priest, superior by far to he old priestly system (see Hebrews) eliminated the need for the Holy place for God to dwell. He now makes His temple in our hearts. We have direct access to God the Father, through Christ the Son, the perfect sacrifice, priest, and mediator.
Oh what thanks of praise meditating on this passage brings!
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