Christmas really is one of my most favorite times of the year. I love the decorations, the gifts, the parties, and the church Christmas programs, but most of all I love the music. The traditional Christmas carols, the sacred Christmas hymns, they just give me all the feels when it comes to Christmas; in the car, at home, at church, you will almost always find me listening to Christmas music during the month of December. And one of my most favorite Christmas songs is the song “Mary, Did You Know?”, and my most favorite arrangement of the song is performed by Mark Lowry with the acapella group Voctave singing backup (posted above). Mark Lowry wrote the lyrics in 1985 when he was asked to write a script for a church Christmas play, and the lyrics were put to music in 1991 by Buddy Greene. Of course, it has been recorded by many varied recording artists over the years, both secular and sacred, and it is sung and played regularly during Christmas programs in churches all across the United States and, no doubt, around the world.
However, every year it seems, I read some renewed or repeated criticism of the song on social media. Some attempt to dismiss the song theologically, citing the Annunciation and the Magnificat as evidence that “she knew”. I have even seen some who have attempted to go line by line through the song to give a yes or no answer to each rhetorical question. Similarly, those in the Roman Catholic tradition take issue with the suggestion that Mary needed to be “delivered” and “made new” because of their (erroneous) beliefs about the sinlessness of Mary. Others argue that the song is mawkish, sappy, and infantilizing, that it is “the most sexist Christmas song ever written,” or that it “treats her like a clueless child.” Still others dismiss the song simply because it is overplayed and/or poorly performed by well-meaning church members during the Christmas season as “special” music. And to be honest, when I read criticisms like these, I just shake my head and wonder how we have lost our wonder at the miracle of the incarnation.
Biblically, it is true that Luke presents Mary as a paragon of faith. When she is confronted by the angel Gabriel with the news that she will conceive by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Son of God, she responds with simple faith, “See, I am the Lord’s servant. May it happen to me as you have said.” (Luke 1.38) And her Magnificat (Luke 1.46-55) clearly indicates that she understood that this was a pivotal moment in the unfolding of God’s plan of redemption for the world. However, we also know that at one point during his earthly ministry, she came with her other children to try to hide Jesus away because they thought he was an embarrassment to the family. (Mark 3:31-35, parallels Matthew 12.46-50, Luke 8.19-21) Time and again, the Gospels detail how the first followers of Jesus struggled to fully understanding the significance of who he was and what he had come to do, and we should assume that Mary would have been no different. We know that Mary treasured and pondered all these things in her heart, but the Bible is clear that the first followers of Jesus, including Mary and his brothers, grew in their understanding of the person and work of Jesus over the course of his life and ministry and that they did not understand him in full until after his resurrection and the coming of the Spirit.
The point is that we should not underestimate the richness of what it means for God to become flesh. When Jesus was born in the Bethlehem 2000 years ago, there was already plenty of theological and cultural expectations as to what he was supposed to be and do. But Jesus turned those expectations on their heads, and he demonstrated that he is a Messiah who cannot be fit into a preconceived box. And as his followers, we should never lose our wonder at this fact. Jesus will always be more than we could possibly hope to comprehend; we will never have him fully figured out. Even when we reach glory, we are told that “He had a name written that no one knows except himself.” (Revelation 19.12) This means that even then there will be more to learn and understand about him when he returns as glorious king. We must never lose our wonder at the person and work of Jesus. Even the things we think we know about him pale in comparison to the fullness of his glory.
And so, when we hear the song “Mary, Did You Know?” this Christmas season, we shouldn’t try to dissect it theologically. We shouldn’t dismiss it because of its musical style, its tone and perspective, or even its emotionality. We should allow it to spur our reflections, to feed our wonder, to drive us to worship the God who became flesh for our sakes, who suffered and died in our place, and who is coming again to receive us unto himself. The song is an artistic, poetic reflection on the miracle of Christmas and the sheer mystery of the incarnation. Mary was in a unique position to feel the weight and wonder of it all, and at Christmas, it is right for us to enter into her experience, to ponder anew what it must have been like, and to fall down in worship of the God who became flesh. This Christmas, let us rekindle our wonder. Let us stand in awe and silence, and let us rejoice in the fact that we have a savior who came to heal our brokenness, to free us from sin, and to restore in us the joy of living in his presence. He is Emmanuel; He is God with us!
6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the good teaching that you have followed. 7 But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness.8 For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. 10 For this reason we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
~1 Timothy 3.14-16
Title: On Our Training for Godliness Text: 1 Timothy 4.6-10 Series: 1 Timothy: God’s Design for a Healthy Church Church: Redeemer Baptist Church, Jonesboro, AR Date: October 19, 2025
Is the Roman Catholic Church a Gospel-denying church? This question was the theme of a recent debate between Allen S. Nelson IV, pastor of Providence Baptist Church in Perryville, AR, and Father Stephen Hart, pastor/priest at Sacred Heart Church in Morrilton, AR. (A video of the debate can be found on the YouTube page of Providence Baptist Church, here.) While it is true that both participants had strong moments in the two hour event, it is not my purpose to evaluate their performances or to name a winner. I think that Pastor Nelson was at his best when he was pushing the details of the official teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as stated in their published documents, and Father Hart was at his best when he was giving the Catholic understanding of relevant New Testament texts. In the final analysis, though, I suspect that most people went away from the event feeling confirmed in the positions they held coming in and believing that their preferred candidate had won the evening. In the space that follows, I would simply like to suggest four important takeaways that were clarified for me.
First, the debate made it clear that the Roman Catholic Church generally misunderstands the New Testament concept of justification. Lexically, the δικαι- word group (words that are usually translated in the NT as righteousness and/or justified) refers to a forensic or legal status of innocence or guiltlessness. In his commentary on Romans in the NICNT series, Douglas Moo writes, “To justify signifies, according to forensic usage, to acquit a guilty one and declare him or her righteous.” (86) As we read in Romans 5.19, “For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous (δικαίωμα).” In other words, it is a once-for-all gavel dropping declaration that a person is not guilty of their sin before God because of their faith in the atoning work of Christ. And what is important is that this status cannot be changed because of our sin, nor can it be augmented by good works. From beginning to end, it is a gift that is given by faith alone and that is preserved, maintained, and completed by God through His Spirit. As the Apostle Paul writes, “I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1.6) Or again, in Romans 8.29-30, we read, “For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.”
However, the RCC insists that this declaration of righteousness, being God’s powerful word, must be effectual, and include thereby moral transformation. For example, the Council of Trent defines justification as that “which is not remission of sins merely, but also the sanctification and renewal of the inward man.” (Chapter 7) Trent goes on to argue that “by mortifying the members of their own flesh, and by presenting them as instruments of justice unto sanctification, they, through the observance of the commandments of God and of the Church, faith co-operating with good works, increase in that justice which they have received through the grace of Christ, and are still further justified.” (Chapter 10) And so, it logically follows when Trent resolves that, “If any one saith, that the justice received is not preserved and also increased before God through good works; but that the said works are merely the fruits and signs of Justification obtained, but not a cause of the increase thereof; let him be anathema.” (Canon 24) Of course, the Council of Trent, first convened in 1545, was the Church’s response to the Protestant Reformation, and so one can’t help but wonder if there isn’t some amount of reactionism that has influenced their positions on these matters. Nevertheless, it seems clear from these statements that Trent’s understanding of justification goes well beyond the New Testament understanding of the term.
Secondly, and the statements above demonstrates this, but the debate made it clear that the Roman Catholic Church confuses the doctrine of justification with the doctrines of regeneration and sanctification. Regeneration (aka new birth or “being born again”) refers to that work of the Spirit in which a person is given spiritual life. In other words, the Spirit transforms an individual from a state of spiritual death to a state of new creation in Christ, thus, enabling them to repent, believe, and live in accordance with God’s will. By the same token, sanctification is simply the lifelong process by which a person is gradually transformed more and more into the image of Christ, becomes more holy, and learns to walk in obedience to the law of Christ. As we read in Hebrews 10.14, “For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (ESV/LSB) Note especially in this verse that we are perfected forever, and yet we are being sanctified. The point is that these are logically distinct aspects of the salvation process (ordo salutis), even if in actual experience they are sometimes indistinguishable.
But in the teaching of the RCC, all of this inheres within the doctrine of justification. As we saw above, the Catholic church defines justification as that “which is not remission of sins merely, but also the sanctification and renewal of the inward man.” Whatever the reason for this lack of theological precision may be, this indiscriminate intermingling of categories leads inevitably to the conclusion that a person’s justification is dependent upon their sanctification. Or to put it another way, the Roman Catholic view seems that imply that while justification is begun by faith, it is continued, maintained, and eventually confirmed by good works. This is perhaps why Trent envisages the possibility that a person’s initial justification can be lost. In Chapter 14, Trent reads, “As regards those who, by sin, have fallen from the received grace of Justification, they may be again justified, when, God exciting them, through the sacrament of Penance they shall have attained to the recovery, by the merit of Christ, of the grace lost.” If a person’s justification can be lost by their disobedience, then it necessarily follows that it must be maintained (or should I say earned) by their obedience. Whatever the case, it is clear that in the Catholic understanding, the determining factor in a person’s justification is their obedience, i.e. their good “works”, and not their faith.
Now, I would be remiss if I did not also submit the opposing position to equal scrutiny, and so, before I conclude this article, I would like to offer two areas of weakness in our position that I believe were exposed in the aforementioned debate. And let me hasten to add that these points should not be received as any kind of criticism of Pastor Nelson; based on the limited interaction I have had with him, I find him to be a biblically faithful, theologically astute individual. But, as it regards the way that our views are typically represented in these discussions, I think there are two important takeaways for us to consider.
The first takeaway for those holding our perspective might be stated thus, namely that Protestants have a tendency to underemphasize the importance, nay even the necessity, of good works. In our zeal to proclaim and defend that time honored Reformation principle sola fide, or justification by faith alone, we inadvertently imply that living a life of obedience that issues forth in good works is some kind of optional add-on. We suggest, though perhaps unintentionally, that the Gospel’s call to live a life of ongoing discipleship to Jesus is something that is reserved for the religious elite, those who are really serious about their faith, those who are truly devout, so-called ‘super Christians’. But the Apostle James is clear on this point when he writes, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2.24) Of course, this is not a contradiction of the Apostle Paul, nor is it inconsistent with the Reformation’s emphasis on faith alone rightly understood (contra Luther). Rather, it is a reminder that the kind of faith that justifies is a faith that works. In other words, the principle of sola fide does not mean that a person can believe in Jesus and then live in whatever manner they so choose. This kind of “easy-believism’ is in truth no faith at all. In fact, it is demonic (James 2.19), and it does not and cannot save. A faith that saves, a faith that justifies, is a faith that works, and on this point, James and Paul are in complete agreement.
There is a sense in which our works will play a role at the final judgment. Jesus himself says in Matthew 16.27, “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each according to what he has done. ” And in Second Corinthians 5.10, we read, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” Or again, in Romans 2.6-8, Paul writes (quoting Proverbs 24.12 et al.), “He will repay each one according to his works: eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality; but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness.” And finally, in Hebrews 12.14, we are told to “Pursue … holiness [because] without it no one will see the Lord.” This does not mean that we are “saved” by or because of our works, but it does mean that living a life of obedience to God validates or proves that our faith is indeed a saving faith. The message of the Gospel is built on both the indicatives of what Jesus has done for us and imperatives that we are called to obey for Him. We receive the indicatives by faith, and we obey the imperatives because of what we have received by faith. The order matters here. If we put the imperatives of the Gospel before the indicatives of the Gospel, then we distort the Gospel into a salvation by works. In the logic of the Gospel, the indicatives precede and enable the imperatives. But the point is that they are both necessary parts of the gospel.
And this brings me to the second weakness of the Protestant position that I believe was exposed in the debate, namely that Protestants have a tendency to reduce the Gospel to its lowest common denominator. There can be no doubt that justification by faith is an important, even essential, foundation for our salvation, but the Gospel is so much more than justification by faith. The Gospel is the good news that in the person and work of Jesus Christ God has entered into his creation to redeem his people by dying for their sin as an atonement and by defeating death through His resurrection and to renew his creation by establishing his rule on earth, so that through the Spirit they can walk in perfect conformity to His ways and experience the blessings of His ongoing presence in and among them. It is this vision of a renewed humanity living in a renewed world in which God is eternally present to bless that is the goal of the biblical narrative (Revelation 21-22). This is why we must constantly remind ourselves that even though we have already been saved (justification), we are still being saved (sanctification), and yet one day we will be saved (glorification). And all of this is received and experienced by and through faith, but this faith must be a faith by which we walk in conformity to the way and will of Christ.
So, is the Roman Catholic Church a Gospel-denying church? I don’t know, but it does seem to me that their official teachings, whether explicitly or implicitly, confuse important concepts and components of the Gospel, and in doing so, it has the potential to lead even the most sincere and devout parishioner to believe that they are saved by living a morally upright and generally good and charitable life. Can a person be genuinely saved in the Roman Catholic Church? I think yes, but I would suspect that this is in spite of its official dogmas and teachings. And beyond their doctrine of salvation, there are many other tenets and teachings of the Roman Catholic tradition that I consider to be in clear contradiction to the teaching of Scripture. However, that is a question for another time. I will simply close this post with the words of the Apostle Paul, because I think they sum up the issues discussed in this article particularly well. “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” (Ephesians 2.8-10)
137 You are righteous, Lord, and your judgments are just. 138 The decrees you issue are righteous and altogether trustworthy. 139 My anger overwhelms me because my foes forget your words. 140 Your word is completely pure, and your servant loves it. 141 I am insignificant and despised, but I do not forget your precepts. 142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your instruction is true. 143 Trouble and distress have overtaken me, but your commands are my delight. 144 Your decrees are righteous forever. Give me understanding, and I will live.
In keeping with the Hebrew alphabet acrostic form, the next stanza of Psalm 119 begins with the Hebrew letter tsade (צ), and it revolves around the Hebrew word for righteousness (צֶדֶק/ṣeḏeq). The word itself occurs in one form another some five times in these eight verses. It is a word that is rich with significance, both for our understanding of God and our relationship with Him, and for our our understanding of ourselves and our relationships with one another. Literally, it refers to something that is straight, like “straight paths” (Psalm 23.3, where the same word is used), but more often than not, it also carries the figurative sense of upright, true, normal, and just. Clearly, it is in this sense that we read, “You are righteous, Lord, and your judgments are just.” (Verse 137) There are few statements that define the character of God in this way, e.g. God is holy, God is perfect, God is Spirit, God is love. So also, here, we read that God is righteous. In other words, righteousness is a perfection of his being; it is essential to His essence. It is an attribute of His divine character. He is righteous, i.e. morally perfect and true, in every way, in what He thinks, in what He feels, in what He says, in what He does. It is impossible for Him to be otherwise, it is who He is. He is righteous. Of course, this is why His judgments are just, where the word used is a synonym for the word in question.
Of course, righteousness is more than simply who He is in himself; His righteousness extends to everything that He does. “Your decrees are righteous forever. Give me understanding, and I will live.” (Verse 144) This is an important affirmation especially in the context of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is filled with divine actions and events that make no sense to our modern minds, that stand as an affront to our modern sensibilities. The most often cited example of this is God’s command to the Israelites to exterminate the Canaanites in the conquest of the Promised Land. According to our Psalmist, even this deed of God is righteous. Of course, we may immediately ask, “how can this be?” I think it is important that we understand that we cannot understand the rightness of God’s ways by our own standards. Our perception of right and wrong and fundamentally flawed by sin. This is why our psalmist prays, “Give me understanding.” The only way we can hope to understand the righteousness of God and His ways is by divine illumination. This comes as a result of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. As the Apostle Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 2.14, “But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.”
Of course, the question for our psalmist remains, “how can we, as fallen individuals, experience or participate in the righteousness of God?” As our psalmist confesses, “I am insignificant and despised, but I do not forget your precepts.” (Verse 141) Compared to God’s righteousness, our righteousness is nothing more than “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64.6). We are sinners, and even our best attempts at cultivating our own righteousness fall short of the standard of righteousness that God is in himself (Romans 3.23). For our psalmist, however, the answer to this question is simple; it is to live in submission before and obedience to the Word of God. As he says in verse 140, “Your word is completely pure, and your servant loves it.” Now, we must be careful here, because this answer could come across as a legalistic effort to earn righteousness. I don’t believe that is what our psalmist is saying. As we have already seen, even our best efforts at attaining righteousness are tinged with sin. No, our psalmist understands that righteousness is something that is imputed from God to us. This is why he says in verse 144, “Your decrees are righteous forever. Give me understanding, and I will live.” In other words, he understands that the righteousness of God comes to us by the transformative revelation of God. This is why he prays for understanding.
As New Testament believers, we know that that ultimate revelation of God’s righteousness came to earth in the person and work of Jesus Christ; He was God incarnate in all the fullness of His being. “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5.21) Ours is an alien righteousness; it is not our own. It is imputed to us by grace through faith because of Christ’s death and resurrection. This is why the Apostle Paul could write,
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. (Romans 1.16-17)
Our justification, our right standing before God, is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. And I think even our psalmist knew that. Old Testament saints were made righteous in the same way that New Testament believers are made righteous, that is by faith. This principle is confirmed in the example of Abraham, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness .” (Genesis 15.6, c.f. Romans 4 and Galatians 3) The point of all this is to say that righteousness is a perfection of God’s eternal being, and by grace we who believe in Christ have been covered in that same righteousness. This is the beauty of the Gospel. “It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption—in order that, as it is written: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.“ (1 Corinthians 1.30-31)
129 Your decrees are wondrous; therefore I obey them. 130 The revelation of your words brings light and gives understanding to the inexperienced. 131 I open my mouth and pant because I long for your commands. 132 Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your practice toward those who love your name. 133 Make my steps steady through your promise; don’t let any sin dominate me. 134 Redeem me from human oppression, and I will keep your precepts. 135 Make your face shine on your servant, and teach me your statutes. 136 My eyes pour out streams of tears because people do not follow your instruction.
The next stanza of the acrostic begins with the letter פ/pe (pronounced like pay), and at this point, it would be tempting to think that our psalmist is beginning to be a little repetitive. After all, hasn’t he said what he needed to say in the first 130 verses of this Psalm? But no, there are five more stanzas after this one containing some 40 more verses. Let’s be honest with ourselves, the sheer length of this chapter is intimidating, especially in a culture that prefers 240 character soundbites. We have lost the capacity for sustained reflection; we simply have no taste for prolonged meditation on the scriptures. And as Christians, this is much to our shame. The Bible invites us into the life of the mind, to the disciplines of reading, study, and meditation. We must read and reread, we must ponder and linger over the scriptures, if we truly desire to be transformed by them. A 240 character nugget simply cannot provide the soul sustaining nourishment our life in Christ requires. It is clear that our psalmist has learned what it means to linger over the Word of God, to nourish himself on its inexhaustible depths. This psalm, 22 stanzas, 176 verses, is an invitation to linger, to pause, to meander slowly in the perfections of God’s sufficient Word.
Another reason that this psalm intimidates us as modern readers is that not only have we lost the ability to appreciate sustained reflection, but we have also lost the ability to appreciate beauty for the sake beauty. Of course, the psalms are not the only poetry that is found in the Bible, but they do represent a whole collection of hymns, prayers, and songs that speak to the human soul in ways that are unique and distinct from other portions of Holy Scripture. One of these ways is through their beauty. This psalm, in particular, is a masterpiece in poetic form and verse. We should be enraptured by its majesty, caught up in its elegance; it should capture our soul’s imagination and transport us to the pristine presence of God himself. In a world that is filled with ugliness and horrors and the sheer grossness of sin, we desperately need to reminded of what is beautiful, what is praiseworthy, what is lovely, what is good and righteous and true (Philippians 4.8). As our psalmist himself writes, “The revelation of your words brings light and gives understanding to the inexperienced.” (Verse 130) Interestingly enough, that last word could also be translated as “thoughtless”.
Speaking of beauty, there are two lines that stand out to me in this stanza; the first is verse 132, which reads, “Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your practice toward those who love your name.” Here again, in a psalm where almost every line contains some synonym for God’s Word, this verse stands out from the pattern, although “those who love your name” could be taken as a loose reference to obeying God’s Word. In the Old Testament, and in Deuteronomy in particularly, love of God is synonymous with obedience. After all, Jesus himself said, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” (John 14.15) But we must be clear in affirming that this verse does not condition our reception of God’s grace upon our obedience. Love for God is much more than simply obedience; it is obedience that grows out of the soil of faith. Obedience apart from faith is nothing more than dead works. Faith in the ground of obedience resulting in our love for God. And grace is simply God’s response to those that come to Him in genuine repentance and faith.
The second verse that stands out is verse 136, which reads, “My eyes pour out streams of tears because people do not follow your instruction.” In other words, the disobedience and sin around him causes our psalmist great and deep mourning. Of course, we have seen similar sentiments throughout the psalm, and just a couple of stanzas back, our psalmist confessed his hate for the double-minded (verse 113), a statement that is somewhat startling to modern sensibilities. (For more on this verse, see my post here.) But here, we see that this hate is not malicious or malevolent in any way; rather, it issues forth in tears of sorrow and genuine grief. We live in a culture of outrage; in fact, there was a book recently published by Ed Stetzer entitled Christians in the Age of Outrage. When we are faced with the sin and disobedience of this world, it is easier to scoff, to respond in anger and outrage, but we should respond in mourning, in deep grief and sorrow over the corruption of God’s good creation, over the enslavement of human beings made in the image of God to the world, the flesh, and the devil. Our psalmist loves the Word of God so much; he is convicted by the goodness and righteousness of God’s ways so deeply that the disobedience of his fellow human being drives him to real grief.
But, of course, we have seen that our psalmist’s tears are not the end of the story; no, he is looking forward to a day when God will judge the living and the dead, when he will establish his righteousness on the earth forever, when God’s people will be perfected in holiness. This is the hope; this is the silver lining. This is the light at the end of the darkness. It is the grace of redemption. As our psalmist prays, “Redeem me from human oppressionand I will keep your precepts (verse 134), or again, “Make your face shine on your servant, and teach me your statutes (verse 135). Even when we are confronted with the total depravity of the world we live in, we can maintain our hope, because God has promised to right every wrong, to heal every wound, to deliver and vindicate his people. We stand firm in this promise by faith, even as our dear psalmist did so many centuries ago.
121 I have done what is just and right; do not leave me to my oppressors. 122 Guarantee your servant’s well-being; do not let the arrogant oppress me. 123 My eyes grow weary looking for your salvation and for your righteous promise. 124 Deal with your servant based on your faithful love; teach me your statutes. 125 I am your servant; give me understanding so that I may know your decrees. 126 It is time for the Lord to act, for they have violated your instruction. 127 Since I love your commands more than gold, even the purest gold, 128 I carefully follow all your precepts and hate every false way.
The sixteenth stanza of Psalm 119 (ע/ayin) deals with the age old dilemma of faith; it is a question that the people of God have been asking for four millenia. “How long, O Lord?” How long will the wicked prosper? How long will sin and evil endure? How long until you come again to judge the wicked and vindicate the righteous, O Lord? Is it all worth it? Is my obedience and my faithfulness and my suffering worthwhile in the grand scheme of your eternal plan, O Lord? These are the perennial questions of faith. In the face of ever growing evil and the ongoing glorification of sin and wickedness, we are left to wonder if our struggles to walk in faith and obedience are worth it? If we are honest with ourselves, these are questions that even the most faithful of Christians have asked themselves at some point or another. Our psalmist puts it this way: “My eyes grow weary looking for your salvation and for your righteous promise.” (Verse 123)
This is perhaps what is most refreshing about the Word of God, especially in the Psalms but equally so throughout the canon of Scripture, namely that it is real and honest about the human predicament. The Scriptures do not whitewash the ugly and painful realities of human experience; rather, they acknowledge them with an honesty that is both brutal and refreshing. Moreover, they speak to the complexities of maintaining faith and hope in the face of such realities that would otherwise drive us to depression and despair. This is why our psalmist can say, “It is time for the Lord to act, for they have violated your instruction.” (Verse 126) Even though he feels the weariness and the temptations to despair, our psalmist holds on to his hope that God will act, that He will judge those who have violated His instruction. Our psalmist sees this hope as both good and right; it is both good and right that the wicked should finally be punished.
And it is this hope that drives our psalmist to maintain his faith in steadfast obedience to God and His word. He says, “I have done what is just and right; do not leave me to my oppressors,” (Verse 121) and he says, “I carefully follow all your precepts and hate every false way.” (Verse 128) His hope in God and his justice drives his perseverance in faith and obedience. He is convinced that his obedience is not meaningless, that the persecution and suffering that he has endured in not random or without purpose. No, our every effort to walk by faith and obedience, our every difficulty and heartache for the sake of God and His Word, will be ultimately vindicated and rewarded. We look forward to those gracious words of our Lord Jesus, when He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into your master’s joy.” This is why our psalmist can pray, “Deal with your servant based on your faithful love; teach me your statutes.” (Verse 124)
The word here translated “faithful love” is a central and primary concept in the Old Testament’s conception of God. It’s closest New Testament equivalent is the word “grace.” This attribute of God’s character is enshrined in the covenantal formula,
The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation. (Exodus 34:6-7)
This covenantal formula is the basis for all of the Old Testament’s theology, and it forms the foundation of our psalmist’s faith in this stanza of Psalm 119. The God of the Bible is a God who is longsuffering and gracious toward those who submit to Him in faith, but He is just and holy toward those who reject His sovereign rule over their lives.
And it is this faith that leads him to pray, “Guarantee your servant’s well-being; do not let the arrogant oppress me.” (Verse 122) Literally translated, the line reads, “Be surety for your servant for good.” The idea is that God himself is the surety, the earnest money, the down payment, of good for his servant. In other words, our good, our blessing, our prosperity and human flourishing flows only from God and His promises. This is why we must trust in Him and walk in His ways. As our psalmist puts it, “Since I love your commands more than gold, even the purest gold, I carefully follow all your precepts.” Our fulfillment, our purpose, our joy and happiness is only available when we submit ourselves to God Word, when we walk in God’s ways, even if when it feels like everyone is going in the other direction. Christian perseverance is driven by a faith full of hope. When and only when we walk in this hope will we experience genuine human flourishing and fulfillment.
One of the most important advances in Biblical Studies in the last 100 years has clearly been the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Thanks to the curiosity of a young Bedouin shepherd, the first scrolls were discovered at Qumran in 1947. Over the next ten years, hundreds of papyrus fragments were found in some eleven caves in the area containing various biblical and extra biblical writings dating from 200 BCE to 100 CE. The general consensus has been that these represent the religious views of a sect of early Judaism known as the Essenes, known previously only through the writings of Josephus. Over the past 50 years, the study of these scrolls has provided valuable insight in the religious thought world of Jesus, Paul, and the first Christians, and comparative studies are now basically the norm in New Testament monographs and the other academic publications.
In this post, I am not interested in the content of the Dead Sea Scrolls, as fascinating as the material may be; I am more interested in the textual transmission of the scrolls, particularly as that might be compared to the textual transmission of the biblical text. It is truly a wonder of God’s providence that the Dead Sea Scrolls were preserved they way that they were. They were likely buried in the caves prior to the Jewish War (66-70 CE), and then subsequently abandoned when the Essene community was destroyed by the Romans. Thanks to the arid and dry climate of the area around the Dead Sea, these scrolls were preserved in glass jars for over 2000 years. However, they do show the signs of their age. They mostly consist of fragmentary pieces, and even the larger documents are missing significant parts due to decay (see the picture above, for one example). This means that translating the scrolls into English for modern study is mostly piecemeal at best. Large portions of the text must be reconstructed through textual emendation and scholarly conjecture, in order to make the text readable and understandable.
For example, one paragraph from The Temple Scroll (11QT) reads,
On the fifteenth day of the month …[the corresponding] grain offering [and drink offering, all on] the altar, an offering by fire, of s[oothing odour to YHWH. On] the second [day:] twelve young bulls, [two rams, four]teen [lambs] and on he-goat [for a sin offerin]g [and the corresponding gr]ai[n-offering and drink-offering] according to the statue concerning the young bulls, the ram[s], the lambs [and] the he-goat; it is an offering by fire, of soothing odour to YHWH.
The braketed text in the quote above indicates where the text has been conjecturally emended and filled in by the translator. The point is that as valuable as the scrolls are, the condition of the text is partial, fragmentary, and dependent on scholarly interpretation and emendation.
By contrast, the textual tradition of the biblical text is far more substantial and stable. The earliest portions of the New Testament that are extant today can be dated to within in a century of the actual writing of the documents themselves, and the earliest complete manuscripts that we have today are removed by only 2 or 3 centuries from the time of the New Testament. Further, we have over 5000 extant manuscript witnesses to the text of the Bible, in addition to ancient versions, liturgies, and quotations in the church fathers. The point is that through the discipline of text criticism (see my post here), we can reconstruct the text of scripture with 99% accuracy, and any questions that do remain are mostly of peripheral concerns and have no bearing on the actual meaning of the text. Unlike the Dead Sea Scrolls, the biblical text is not fragmentary and dependent on emendation; no, it is stable, clear, and firm in it is manuscript foundations.
This then is an even greater wonder of God’s providence as he has preserved His Word throughout the centuries. He has graciously and providentially watched over His Word, and He has not left himself without a witness. This should give us a great amount of confidence and faith in the textual foundations of our faith. The text of the Bible has been preserved and passed down by God’s providence through the ages, so that we might have reliable witness to His revelation of Himself in Christ. Where would we be if the text of the Bible had been hidden in desert caves for over 2000 years? I shudder to think of the possibilities. When we read the Bible, we should give great thanks that God has not left us as blind to grope in the darkness hoping we might find Him. No, he has spoken clearly, firmly, and faithfully, so that we might know Him even as we are known. Thanks be to God!
For further study, see: Geza Vermes, trans. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English. Revised Edition. London: Penguin Books, 2011.
113 I hate those who are double-minded, but I love your instruction. 114 You are my shelter and my shield; I put my hope in your word. 115 Depart from me, you evil ones, so that I may obey my God’s commands. 116 Sustain me as you promised, and I will live; do not let me be ashamed of my hope. 117 Sustain me so that I can be safe and always be concerned about your statutes. 118 You reject all who stray from your statutes, for their deceit is a lie. 119 You remove all the wicked on earth as if they were dross from metal; therefore, I love your decrees. 120 I tremble in awe of you; I fear your judgments.
The fifteenth stanza of Psalm 119 begins with the Hebrew letter ס/samek, and in this stanza, we read some lines that are quite startling to our modern sensibilities. Right out of the gate, we read, “I hate those who are double-minded” (Verse 113), and a couple of verses later, we read, “Depart from me, you evil ones” (Verse 115). Again, to our moderns ears, these lines seem unduly harsh. But I think we have to look at where our psalmist ends in verse 120, “I tremble in awe of you; I fear your judgments”; in the King’s English, the line reads, “My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments” (KJV). The word for “tremble” here only occurs in the Hebrew Bible in one other place, that being Job 4:15, and the context there clearly implies trepidation (see Job 4:13-15). So likewise, here the word implies that our psalmist is feeling fear, healthy trepidation, a holy terror, at the authority of God and His Word. And it is this fear, this holy terror, that drives him to pursue obedience and submission to the Word of God.
Likewise, it is this intense sense of fear and respect, of submission and devotion to the Word of the one true and living God, that motivates our psalmist’s statements regarding the wicked. Our psalmist understands that God rejects all who stray from His statutes (verse 118) and that He removes all the wicked on the earth (verse 119). So, in verse 115, he says, “Depart from me, you evil ones so that I may obey my God’s commands.” He doesn’t want anything, or anyone for that matter, to prevent him from obeying the laws and statutes of God. I will say more about his obedience in a moment, but suffice it say here that he is so devoted to God and to His word, that he “hates” those who are “double-minded.” The NET Bible renders the line this way, “I hate people with divided loyalties.” The word in question refers to those who are split in their allegiances, those who are two faced or hypocritical in their intentions. They are those who say one thing and yet do another; their verbal confession and their actual behavior are not consistent. “Their deceit is a lie.” (Verse 118). They lack integrity, and in the face of the authority and gravity of God and His word, this kind of attitude is wholly unthinkable for our psalmist.
However, it is imperative that we understand that our psalmists submission to God and His word is not simply motivated by fear of punishment. On the contrary, it comes from a place of deep conviction and faith regarding the goodness of God and His commands. His commands are not burdensome; they are not dull drudgery meant to keep us from enjoying the pleasures of life. No, they are the only path that leads to ultimate fulfillment and genuine human flourishing. This is why our psalmist writes, “You are my shelter and my shield; I put my hope in your word.” It is also why he says, “I love your instruction.” (Verse 113). There is nothing that is more delightful, nothing that is more empowering, nothing that is more fulfilling for our psalmist than obeying the Word of God. By committing himself to God and to keeping His word, he has entrusted his entire self to the goodness and grace of the law-giving God. His obedience is nor forced; it is not against his will. No, his entire will is submitted to the one before whom he stands in awe.
He expresses his faith further when he prays, “Sustain me as you promised, and I will live; do not let me be ashamed of my hope. Sustain me so that I can be safe and always be concerned about your statutes.” (Verse 116-117). It is interesting, though, that this would be his prayer. He has already committed himself to obey God Word. Why, then, would he need to ask God to sustain him? I think there are two reasons. First, he is asking God to sustain him in his obedience. Our psalmist is not naive; he knows the power of temptation, he knows the weakness of his own heart. He knows how easily and how quickly he would abandon his obedience if he were left to himself. So he prays that God would sustain him in his obedience. But secondly, I think he prays for God’s sustaining power because he understands that obedience before God cannot be motivated purely by what we might get out of it. We don’t obey God, so that he will in turn bless us. This tit for tat reckoning is in many ways alien to the economy of God. Our psalmist understands that we obey God because it is right in and of itself to do so; we obey God because that is what we owe Him as creatures. But, as creatures, we are completely dependent upon his sustaining grace every moment of every day for every need that we have. Without Him, we can do nothing. So he prays, “O God, sustain me.”
Sadly, for many Christians in the world today, this attitude of holy terror coupled with desperate faith is somewhat of an oxymoron. On the one hand, we have domesticated God and diminished his authority in our lives to the extent that we treat Him like an elderly grandparent who might give us a piece of candy if we behave, and on the other, we are so self-reliant and comfortable that we have forgotten just how weak and needy we truly are. In this light then, the attitude of our psalmist in this stanza is both a rebuke and an invitation. It is a rebuke of our selfishness and pride, and it is an invitation to rediscover the greatness and the grace of the God that we serve. As C.S. Lewis puts it, “‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path. 106 I have solemnly sworn to keep your righteous judgments. 107 I am severely afflicted; Lord, give me life according to your word. 108 Lord, please accept my freewill offerings of praise, and teach me your judgments. 109 My life is constantly in danger, yet I do not forget your instruction. 110 The wicked have set a trap for me, but I have not wandered from your precepts. 111 I have your decrees as a heritage forever; indeed, they are the joy of my heart. 112 I am resolved to obey your statutes to the very end.
The fourteenth stanza of Psalm 119 starts with the letter נ (nun/pronounced like noon). Yes, that is right; the fourteenth stanza out of twenty-two. Remember, Psalm 119 is an acrostic psalm in which every stanza starts with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It truly is a wonder of our psalmist could write 22 stanzas, 186 verses, extolling the perfections of God’s Word. There is no repetition, no redundancies; no, every stanza addresses some new or different aspect of God’s Law than the one before. His heart was clearly enamored – no, that’s not right – it was consumed with love, affection, devotion for the precepts of God. They were his very life, the only nourishment that could satisfy the pangs of his soul. This attitude should challenge and convict us. Modern Christians struggle to devote 15 minutes of their day to reading the bible; I know, because I am one of them. Why do our souls not hunger and thirst for the nourishment, the soul satisfying pleasures of the Word of God? This is the question that Psalm 119 is asking us.
In this stanza, our psalmist begins with those famous words, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (verse 105, KJV). If you were raised in church like I was, then you probably just sang the lyrics to yourself. The fact that someone set these words to music captures the right sentiment, I think. The Psalms were originally prayers and songs that were meant for Israel’s corporate worship, so in singing them, we are no doubt emulating the practice of our psalmist. However, the connection between song and lyric and the affections of the heart is one that is often so underappreciated in modern worship services. Music has a way of touching us, of forming us, in the most vulnerable recesses of our hearts. What we sing, what we shout, these are the things that are planted in the memory of our hearts. This is why we should sing songs that are biblically faithful. As our psalmist goes on to write here, “I have solemnly sworn to keep your righteous judgments.” (verse 106). He is clear in these verses that his greatest affection, his first and foremost guiding principle for life, is the revelation of God in his Word.
And it would appear that he is in particular need of this guidance, as he goes on to write, “I am severely afflicted” (verses 107), and again, “My life is constantly in danger” (verse 109). And in the next verse, “The wicked have set a trap for me” (verse 110). Of course, we do not know the nature of this particular psalmists troubles; we have no narrative of his life to appeal to for background information. But it would appear that he is deeply troubled; he is facing some kind of opposition, some kind of persecution or threat, possibly even up to and including his very life. There are several occasions in the Book of Psalms where David faces similar circumstances, so we may reasonably infer that this was no light or temporary concern for our psalmist. And yet, in the midst of this trail, he continues to affirm his allegiance to the commands and ordinances of God. “I do not forget your instruction” (verse 109); “I have not wandered from your precepts” (verse 110). In fact, he goes on to say in the last verse of the stanza, “I am resolved to obey your statutes to the very end” (verse 112). Here again, we don’t know if the persecution he was facing was directly caused by his commitment to the God and His Word, but we do know that he was resolved, committed, and steadfast in keeping that Word until the very end, no matter what opposition he may face.
Where does a person find this kind of strength, this kind of steadfast loyalty to keeping the Word of God? I think we have our psalmists answer in verse 111, “I have your decrees as a heritage forever; indeed, they are the joy of my heart.” The word “heritage,” or perhaps “possession,” implies the idea of an inheritance; it is a surety of future prosperity. It is the reward that awaits the firstborn. And for our psalmist, the inheritance that he is anticipating is nothing less than the promises of the Word of God. It is the words of Lord Jesus, when he says, “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master.” It is a certainty, a sure and firm hope, of future glories, even in the midst of present difficulties and hardships. The Word of God is our hope, and it is the joy of our hearts. Hope and joy; two out of three of the great triad of Christian virtues. These are the defining characteristics of those who trust in God’s word – unshakable hope, indomitable joy. Clearly, our psalmist had these in his heart, and no matter what troubles or heartaches may come, he was able to persevere because of he found his hope and his joy in the abiding Words of the living God.
This stanza, nay this entire psalm for that matter, is a wonder to me. It challenges and convicts my soul in ways that I am still trying to define even after writing on these first fourteen stanzas. I wonder why God would put a psalm like this one in the Bible; it seems somewhat self-congratulatory – 186 verses on the soul satisfying perfections of His own Word. But perhaps, he put it here because he know that in it he has provided the salve for every every need of the human heart. So often, we look for our comfort, our peace, our security, our hop, our joy in all the wrong places. This is sin. But if we could learn to emulate the attitude and affections of our psalmist, if we would truly begin to hide his Word in our hearts, then we might be able say with the psalmist, “I have not wandered from your precepts.” In His goodness, God has provided the solution to every problem, the cure for every heartache, the peace and comfort for every trial. It is Him, God himself; He is the only one who can answer the deepest longings of our souls. And he has done this in His Word. May we learn to emulate the conviction of our psalmist and find our peace, our hope, and our comfort in His Word.
97 How I love your instruction! It is my meditation all day long. 98 Your command makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is always with me. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers because your decrees are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the elders because I obey your precepts. 101 I have kept my feet from every evil path to follow your word. 102 I have not turned from your judgments, for you yourself have instructed me. 103 How sweet your word is to my taste— sweeter than honey in my mouth. 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every false way.
The question of the Law and its relevance for New Testament believers is a question that has boggled the minds of Christians ever since the first disciples. As New Covenent believers, we understand that Christ has fulfilled the Law, and this in every way. No part of the Law has been left unfulfilled by Christ. Paul even says that the Law has been “abolished” in the work of Christ (Eph 2.15). And yet, we also understand that the Law, as part of the Old Testament Scriptures, is profitable and valuable for “training in righteousness.” (2 Tim 3.16) Genuine believers love the Word of God, and they yearn to be transformed by its truths. The Law, however, appears to be so difficult, so out of touch, so unrelated to life in Christ, we naturally wonder what transformative relevance it might still have.
More than that, we are well aware of what the New Testament says about the Law, particularly in the Pauline Epistles. For example, we understand that “the letter [of the Law] kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor 3.6), and that “[we] are not under the law but under grace.” (Rom 6.14) We all stand condemned by the law, for “it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law.” (Gal 3.11) We have been taught that the purpose of the Law is to expose our failures to live up the righteous standards of God, to convicts us of our sin, and to reveal our need for a savior. In other words, if the Law has a role in the faith of New Testament believers, then it is largely negative, convicting, and condemning.
But this does not seem to be the attitude of our psalmist here in Psalm 119; he views the law positively and with deep adoration and affection. In this stanza, he writes “How I love your instruction” (verse 97), and “How sweet your word is to my taste—sweeter than honey in my mouth.” (verse 103) Of course, we could simply conclude that this psalmist is writing before the advent of Christ, and so perhaps his words are no longer relevant for how we should relate to the Old Testament Law. For Old Testament believers, the Law was the basis for their covenant relationship with God. It was the gift of God’s grace to make them His people and enter into a covenant with them. Clearly, we have something greater. We are under the Law of Christ. (1 Cor 9:21)
But I believe this perspective would fail to do justice to the words of our psalmist. Believers in both the Old and the New Testament are united by the principle of faith; they are a part of us. So, the attitude of our psalmist throughout Psalm 119, but especially here in the mem (מ, pronounced maym) stanza, is particularly instructive for us. We too should learn to love God’s Law, to meditate upon it all day long. We should find in it words of wisdom and life and understanding about the ways of right and wrong as they are determined by the one who gave it. We should read Old Testament books like Leviticus and Deuteronomy, and let them be like sweet honey in the mouths of our soul, because they reveal the one whom our soul loves.
The bottom line is this, that the Old Testament, especially the Law, is good and valuable and profitable and transformative for God’s people of all times. It does not merely convict us and condemn us and reveal to us that we deserve hell and need salvation; it also reveals the character, the virtues, and perfections of the one who is true and pure and holy. We must learn to appreciate these positive aspects of the Law’s role in our lives as Christians, because if we do not, we cut ourselves off from the sustaining and nourishing benefits that come through its pages. No, we are not bound under the covenant mediating authority of the Law; it is not the basis of our relationship with God in Christ by the Spirit. But it is part of God’s revelation of himself, and as such, it continues to have value and relevance for those of who are in Christ, much as the writer of Psalm 119 affirms.
Faith seeking Understanding 