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Psalm 119:161-168
THE 119TH PSALM
Psalms 119:161-168 The Law of God
119:161 SCHIN. Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
119:162 I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.
119:163 I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.
119:164 Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.
119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
119:166 LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.
119:167 My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.
119:168 I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee.
"Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. (v.165)
This verse has been a particular problem to me in the past, or rather the mis-application of it has. In my circle, it has been used to brow-beat Christians into thinking that they were weak and unfaithful because they were offended somehow! The tragedy is that the offender goes on offending, because he is not rebuked, while the offended one is criticized and ostracized for being offended! This is a perversion of the scriptures. You see, if this verse meant what it first appears to mean, (and there are many that do not) then Jesus must not have loved God's law either, because He was offended too! (Mt. 16:23) No, this verse does not mean that we are never to be offended if we love God's Word, but instead, it says, that if we love God's Word, none of it shall offend us! Nothing in it, in other words, will offend us. I cannot number the times I have heard someone attempt to shame another by telling them that if they loved God's Word, nothing in this world, ever, would offend them. Jesus said that offences must come but He went on to say "woe unto that man by whom the offence cometh" focusing on the offender and not the offendee! (Mt. 18:7) When we love God's law, we have great peace because of it, so how could any of it ever offend us?
David praised the Lord seven times a day! (v. 164). I wonder how our life would be if we made a habit of doing that? This is even a step further than loving the Word with all our heart, it is loving to glorify God with all our hearts. What caused David to praise the Lord so much? God's righteous judgments. They ought to cause us to praise the Lord too. You see, they are not an offense to us, neither should they be, but we act as if they are when we fail to praise God for them. We can praise the Lord even seven times a day too, but why not do it all day, every day, even a hundred times a day?
--Marty Dunn
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