How close to the edge of a deep cliff or drop-off do you like to get? Are you a daring one who likes to get right up to the edge, believing that you have steady balance and footing, and nothing will happen? Or are you a more hesitant person who stays way back? I have a terrible fear of heights, so I never get near the edge of anything, even when the height isn’t so much. We occasionally hear of someone who fell off the edge of a cliff, and we might wonder why they didn’t take proper precautions, as one slip can mean serious injury or even death. Our psalm for this week warns us about getting too close to something else that is even more dangerous than a deep cliff.
Psalm 19, written by King David, can be divided into two parts. The first part briefly describes God’s revelation in nature, specifically with the heavens and particularly the sun. The second part is God’s revelation to us through His Word, His Law. Even though most of the Bible had not been written yet, basically only the first five Books of Moses, David loved God’s Word, as he expresses here. He knows that God’s Word, what he had and what was yet to come, is perfect, sure, pure, true, and righteous (vs. 7-9).
As king, David could have anything that he wanted. He had plenty of gold and riches, and the choicest of food, and yet what did he want and think was more desirable than that? David proclaimed that God’s Word was more desirable than gold, and sweeter than honey (vs. 10). Honey is sweeter than cane sugar, and can give one energy. Honey is sometimes added to skin lotions because it is a natural humectant. It is also a probiotic, and has other healthful properties, being used for when one has a cold or sore throat. Because it also has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, honey is used in treating wounds and burns. With all of these benefits, honey was very valuable, especially in the days of the past. Yet David valued the Word of God even more, as we should, too.
One reason David valued God’s Word was that as long as he read and studied it, God’s Word kept him from sin (vs. 11-13). When we follow and obey the Bible, it will keep us from harm. It is like a guide-line that one can follow to know the way to go. Living in the Midwest part of the United States there are many farms, and one can visit some old, historic farms that show us the farming practices of the past. Many parts of the Midwest are prone to strong and blinding blizzards in the winter. Even during these dangerous storms farmers in the past needed to get to the barns to take care of the livestock. In the old historic farms one can sometimes see ropes or cords strung between the house and the barns which were used as guidelines to help the farmer go safely from his house to the barn in a blinding snowstorm. As long as he held onto the cord with one hand he knew he would be safe and not wander off course into danger. We, too, can use the lines of God’s Word to guide and guard us through life.
David also prayed that God would keep him back from getting too close to sin (vs. 13). Like those daring souls who try to get right up to the edge, sometimes we try to see how close we can get to sin and wrong actions before we fall headlong into behavior that will leave our life shipwrecked. Curiosity can draw us toward the darkness of sin.. We think we can flirt with temptation, get very close to the edge, and safely walk away. But that is impossible. We know an action is wrong, and yet we toy with it, and then we are drawn into deeper and darker perversions. We need to pray to the Lord to help us before we get that far, just as David did.
Each of us has hidden faults, those we deliberately try to hide from others and even from God, and also those that we are unaware of. We need to repent of our sins, the sins we know, and the sins of which we are unaware (vs. 12-13). When we do, God will declare us innocent for the sake of His Son, Jesus.
In closing his psalm, King David prayed that his prayers, and all the words of his mouth would be acceptable to the Lord (vs. 14). We need to make sure that the words that come out of our mouth are pleasing to God (Ephesians 4:29; Ephesians 5:4). Not only do we need to be careful not to curse, we need to watch that we don’t always speak doom and gloom.
Let’s be sure to follow David’s example here, valuing God’s Word above all else. Let’s cling to it like that guideline in the storm, and allow it to keep us back, way back from the edges of sin, before we topple in to our destruction.
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