Ruth 3

Naomi gives Ruth instructions verse 1- 4

Then Naomi her mother-in-law

said to her

My daughter – shall I not seek REST for you

that it may be well with you?

And now is not Boaz of our kindred – with whose maidens you was?

BEHOLD – he winnows barley tonight in the threshingfloor

wash yourself therefore – and anoint you

and put your raiment upon you

and get you down to the floor

BUT make not yourself knownto the man

until he shall have done eating and drinking

and it shall be – when he lies down

that you shall mark the place where he shall lie

and you shalt go in – and uncover his feet

and lay you down

and he will tell you what you shall do

Ruth follows instructions of Naomi verse 5- 6

And she said to her

All that you say unto me I will do

And she went down to the floor

and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her

Boaz realizes that Ruth is at his feet verse 7- 9

And when Boaz had eaten and drunk – and his heart was merry

he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn

and she came softly – and uncovered his feet

and laid her down

And it came at midnight – that the man was afraid – and turned himself

and behold a woman lay at his feet

And he said

Who are you?

And she answered

I am Ruth your handmaid

spread therefore thy skirt over your handmaid

For you are a near kinsman

Boaz informs Ruth of what he will do verse 10- 13

And he said

Blessed be you of the LORD – my daughter

for you have shown more kindness in the latter end than

at the beginning – inasmuch as thou follow not young men

whether poor or rich

And now – my daughter – fear not

I will do to you all that you require

for all the city of my people does know that you are

a virtuous woman

And now it is true that I am your near kinsman

howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I

Tarry this night – and it shall be in the morning

that if he will perform unto you the part of a kinsman – well

let him do the kinsman’s part

BUT if he will not do the part of a kinsman to you

THEN will I do the part of a kinsman to you

as the LORD lives – lie down until the morning

Boaz gives gift of grain to Ruth verse 14- 15

And she lay at his feet until the morning

and she rose up before one could know another

And he said

Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor

Also he said

Bring the veil that you have upon you – and hold it

and when she held it – he measured six measures of barley

and laid it on her – and she went into the city

Ruth gives Naomi accounting of the night verse 16- 18

And when she came to her mother-in-law

she said

Who are you – my daughter?

And she told her all that the man had done to her

and she said

These six measures of barley gave he me

For he said to me

Go not empty unto your mother-in-law

Then said she

Sit still – my daughter – until you know how the matter will fall

for the man will not be in REST

until he have finished the thing this day

COMMENTARY:

DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers

: 1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? (4497 “rest” [manowach] means resting place, repose of soul, to seek marriage, home, cease movement, security, or settled spot)

DEVOTION: Here is a mother-in-law looking for a new husband for her daughter-in-law. Ruth has come with Naomi to Bethlehem and has been working in a field that is owned by a kinsman.

Naomi is more concerned for her daughter-in-law than herself. She wants to make sure that she has a place to call home. It would mean security for the future for her.

We need to make sure that we are concerned for the security and rest of our relatives. Here it is marriage to another man who can provide for her. For those relatives of ours who need security and rest it could be their eternal salvation. That is the rest that the LORD promises to those who become followers of Jesus Christ.

Naomi’s heart went out to this foreign woman she had brought from Moab to Israel. She wanted her to have the best because she was treating her better than expected. This was her motivation.

Are we helping others to enter the rest in the LORD? Are we in the rest of the LORD ourselves? The Word of God, the Bible, gives us instructions regarding how to live in the “rest” God has provided for us while we are here on the earth, as well as, what we can expect in the future in heaven.

What is our motivation to help those around us who care about us? It should be our love for them and prayer that their future will be in heaven with us. One of the definitions is “repose of soul.” What is your soul resting on for eternity?

CHALLENGE: Are you concerned with the security of those around you for eternity as well as the present?

DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers

: 4 And it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall go in, and uncover his feet, and lay you down; and he will tell you what you shall do. (1540 “uncover” [galah] means to reveal to view as by removing a cover, remove, expose, to disclose, discover, or make known)

DEVOTION: Naomi was giving Ruth instructions in Jewish culture. This is the end of the wait for Ruth to find out who her next husband is going to be.

Naomi is hoping that Boaz will act as the kinsman redeemer to give Ruth the security she needs for the future. If he will not do it he will find some other kinsman redeemer who will marry Ruth and produce a child to keep the family property in the family and give Ruth a place to live for the rest of her life.

The plan is done according to the LORD’S instructions for something to happen in the near future. They didn’t want to wait any longer. It was all according to the plan of God.

We know the rest of this story. Boaz did what he was supposed to do and Ruth had a future and a hope.

We need to do what the LORD instructs us to do as HE is our kinsman redeemer. HE died, so that, every human being would have a choice to either join HIS family or not. Once a member of the family of God there, would be security for the rest of their lives.

This is the promise the LORD gave to the disciples and HE gives the same promise to us as we need to open HIS word, the Bible, to find out HIS instructions to us regarding how we should live for HIM and receive our inheritance even while we are on this earth of HIS blessings in our life.

Are we looking for instructions from the LORD on a daily basis as we study HIS word to see what our inheritance is from HIM even today?

CHALLENGE: Are we listening to the LORD? HE has instructions each day in HIS Word of us.

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: 9 And he said, “Who are you?” And she answered, I am Ruth your handmaid: spread therefore your skirt over your handmaid; for you are a near kinsman. (1350 “near kinsman” [ga’al] means to redeem, to be next of kin, avenger, deliver, ransom, or revenger)

DEVOTION: The law of the day was that if a man died without children his brother was to raise up children to inherit the brother’s inheritance. If there was no brother than the next closes male relative was to raise up children through the wife.

Here we have a case where both brothers were dead and the mother-in-law could have no more children. Therefore, the only one who could raise up children for Ruth was a next male relative. This relative was called a kinsman redeemer.

Naomi wants to give Ruth rest. What is meant by this rest? She was setting up Boaz to act as the redeemer of Ruth. Naomi knew the law of the LORD regarding kinsmen redeemers. Part of the price that had to be paid for being a redeemer was that the person had to marry the widow and raise children in the name of the first husband. Ruth went to Boaz with the words that Naomi put in her mouth. Boaz acted on the words. He was willing to be the redeemer of Ruth. However, he knew that there was a male relative that was the next in line to redeem her. He was going to contact that man to see if he was willing to redeem Ruth. If the man was not, then Boaz would do it.

Here we have an illustration of what Christ was willing to do for us. HE was willing to come to this earth and die on the cross for our sins, so that, we could have a place in eternity with HIM. Without HIM, we would spend eternity in the lake of fire with the devil and his angels.

We need to be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God. HE was the only sacrifice that the Father would accept. We were in the family of Satan until Christ redeemed us.

If there is someone reading this devotional that has never realize the truth of the Word of God there is an action needed to become a follower of Christ. There is a choice that needs to be make regarding becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. Repentance of sin is necessary. The Holy Spirit works in the lives of those who need to be a follower of Christ. Today can be the day.

It is a move in an opposite direction of living for self. Our top priority would be to obey the LORD. What are we willing to do for the LORD? HE came to redeem us. Praise HIS name.

CHALLENGE: Realize that there is a redeemer available to all that believe. Once you have become a follower of Christ – tell others!!!

DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers

: 11 And now, my daughter, fear not: I will do to you all that you, requires: for all the city of my people does know that you are a virtuous woman. (559 “requires” [‘amar] means answer, to answer, to say in one’s heart, to think, to promise, to intend, to express in words, declare, or mention.)

DEVOTION: Boaz was awakened to find Ruth at his feet asking for a kinsman redeemer. She was sent by Naomi to get things settled. Naomi knew that she needed someone to take care of her the rest of her life. She knew that the LORD had a plan for such circumstances. So she wanted Ruth to have the husband that the Jewish law requires, so that, she could inherit the land that was owned by her husband’s family.

Ruth followed the instructions she was given and Boaz woke up to find her at his feet and heard what she expected of him. He promised that he would make it right for her.

He also commented that she had acted with virtue which everyone in the community knew she had. Her testimony was good in front of all those who knew her.

God has a plan for each of us while we are here on this earth. HE does allow circumstances that are not to our liking in our lives. HE has a reason for these circumstances and we might not understand until we get to heaven but we have to know that HE cares for us and is doing what is best for our growth.

We have to have a testimony that is pleasing to HIM. HE allows everything to happen for our good and for our growth. Ruth was learning more and more about how HE worked in the lives of HIS people.

Is our testimony one that people will say that we have lived a life that is pleasing to the LORD? If not at present, can we change people’s opinion of us by actions we can do from now on.

Our lives are a testimony of who the LORD is in our world. Make sure that each of us is trying to live the way the LORD wants us to live while we are here on this earth. Ask HIM for help.

CHALLENGE: What will people say about us at our funeral? Will they say that we tried to live for the LORD? Or will they say other things about us?

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: 18 Then said she, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fall, for the man will not be in rest, until he has finished the thing this day. (1697 “matter” [dabar] means affair, some situation or event that is thought about, discourse, happening, acts, chronicles, business, or case)

DEVOTION: Once Ruth had done all that Naomi had told her and Boaz had sent a gift to her she knew that she could rest in the knowledge that Boaz would do all he could to get the matter settled soon.

When we are going through a crisis in our life and we have done all that we can do, we need to do as Naomi told Ruth to do. We need to rest in the LORD that HE will bring to pass what HE wants to happen.

This is not easy for us to do but it is something that Naomi told Ruth to do after she had done all she had told her to do. There was just time to sit and wait for the next action to be done by the LORD in our case and by Boaz in the case of Ruth.

The lesson we need to learn and it is repeated throughout the Word of God is that we can wait on the LORD and HE will do HIS part in HIM time. One of the reasons we have a difficulty waiting is because we have a tendency to think that we can act faster than God and better than God and that thought comes from the enemy not the LORD.

CHALLENGE: Are you willing to wait on the LORD after you have done your part according to the LORD’S instructions?

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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:

BODY

Chastity (Purity in living)

Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)

Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)

Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)

Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)

SOUL

Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)

Frugality (wise use of resources)

Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)

Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)

Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)

SPIRIT

Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)

Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)

Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)

Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)

Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)

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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:

Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)

God the Father (First person of the Godhead)

LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 10, 13

God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)

God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)

Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)

Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)

Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)

Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)

Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)

Rest verse 1

Blessed verse 10

Kindness verse 10

Virtuous verse 11

Provision for poor verse 17

Sit still verse 18

Israel (Old Testament people of God)

Naomi gives Ruth instruction verse 1- 7

Boaz gives Ruth instructions verse 2, 7- 13

Ruth at the feet of Boaz verse 8- 14

Kinsman redeemer verse 9-13

Boaz gives Ruth barley verse 15

Report of Ruth to Naomi verse 16- 18

Church (New Testament people of God)

Last Things (Future Events)

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DONATIONS:

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QUOTES regarding passage

15 Before he allowed her to leave, Boaz asked Ruth to hold out the “shawl” she was wearing (“cloak,” JB, NAB, NEB; “mantle,” RSV; the Hebrew word miṭpaḥaṯ is found elsewhere only in Isa 3:22, and its exact meaning is uncertain). He filled it with six “measures” of barley; six ephahs is understood, but the exact quantity of barley is unknown as the ephah measure varied in ancient times. Then she returned to the city. Some have interpreted the gift of grain as a bridal price, the môhar; but this is unlikely. Others interpret it as some kind of message intended for Naomi, perhaps a gift in recognition of her part in bringing Ruth to him or to secure her consent to the marriage. It has also been interpreted as a gift for sexual favors or as a “cover” for Ruth so that, should anyone chance to see her, it would appear that she had been at work gathering grain. Others see it simply as a gift from a man to a woman whom he hoped to make his wife. (Huey, F. B., Jr. (1992). Ruth. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel (Vol. 3, p. 539). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)

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3:15. Into Ruth’s shawl Boaz put six measures of barley for her and Naomi. Naomi was entering more and more into the fullness of her wise decision to return to Bethlehem. The “measure” was probably the seah (one-third of an ephah or about 10 pounds). Thus six seahs would equal about 60 pounds. Ruth was a strong woman to be able to carry such a heavy load. Probably Boaz placed the burden on her head.

Some Hebrew manuscripts read, Then he went back to town, but others have “she” in place of “he.” Since Ruth returned to Bethlehem at that time and Boaz a bit later that morning (4:1), both renderings (“she” and “he”) fit the facts. (Reed, J. W. (1985). Ruth. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 425–426). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

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During her days as a gleaner, Ruth had received generous treatment from Boaz. His workers had allowed her to follow the harvesters; they protected her from harm; they deliberately dropped sheaves for her to pick up. Boaz had shared the noon meal with Ruth, even handing her the parched grain with his own hands (2:14). On that first day of gleaning, Ruth had gone home with a little more than half a bushel of grain; but now Boaz filled her cloak with two bushels of grain, which would be more than two weeks’ supply.

Boaz not only calmed Ruth’s fears and gave her assurance for the future, but he also met her present needs in a gracious and generous way. She had not asked him for anything, but he gave the grain to her because he loved her. He was about to marry her, and he didn’t want his prospective bride gleaning in the fields like a poor laborer. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1993). Be Committed (p. 48). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

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3:15 six measures. The Hebrew text gives no standard of measurement, but some translations use the word ephah. However, 6 ephahs would weigh about 200 lbs., far too much for Ruth to carry home in her shawl. Therefore, deemed most reasonable is 6 seahs (60–80 lbs.), which would have been twice the amount Ruth had previously gleaned (see 2:17). (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Ru 3:15). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

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Ver. 15. Also he said, &c.] Which seems to confirm the first sense, that what he had said before was to Ruth, beside which he also said to her what follows: bring the tail which thou hast upon thee, and hold it; by which it appears that he rose also thus early, since he ordered her to bring her vail to him, and hold it with both her hands, whilst he filled it from the heap of corn: this vail was either what she wore on her head, as women used to do, or a coverlet she brought with her to cover herself with, when she lay down; the; Septuagint renders it a girdle, that is, an apron she tied or girt about her; which is as likely as any thing: and when she held it, he measured six measures of barley; what these measures were is not expressed; the Targum is six seahs or bushels, as the Vulgate Latin version, but that is too much, and more than a woman could carry; unless we suppose, with the Targum, that she had strength from the Lord to carry it, and was extraordinarily assisted by him in it, which is not very probable; rather six omers, an omer being the tenth part of an ephah, and so was a quantity she might be able to carry: and laid it upon her; upon her shoulder, or put it on her head, it being, no doubt, as much us she could well bear, and which required some assistance to help her up with it: and she went into the city: of Beth-lehem, with her burden; or rather he went for the word is masculine, and to be understood of Boaz, who accompanied her to the city, lest she should meet with any that should abuse her; and so the Targum expresses it, “Boaz went into the city.” (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 2, p. 405). London: Mathews and Leigh)

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FROM MY READING:

(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)

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First, as her mother-in-law, Naomi asks if she should not provide “rest” (NIV “home”) for her daughter-in-law. The word mānôaḥ, “place of rest,” derives from the same root as mĕnûḥâ in 1:9 and speaks of the security and tranquility that a woman in Israel longed for and expected to find in the home of a loving husband. (Block, D. I. (1999). Judges, Ruth (Vol. 6, p. 681). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publisher)

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In 2010, a company called Hanson Robotics spent more than a hundred hours interviewing a woman named Bina. They collected memories of her childhood, noted her emotional reactions and mannerisms, uploaded the data into a mechanical bust that looked like the real Bina, and then programmed the robot to answer questions in real time. Robot Bina now resides in a research lab. Real-life Bina’s partner said the venture was a shot at “immortality.”

Recently, Hanson Robotics announced plans to release thousands of what they’re calling “Sophia” robots. Sophia is a “social robot” that can perform rudimentary medical tasks, like taking a person’s temperature, but can also make facial expressions and utter a few phrases. According to company CEO David Hanson, “Sophia” is programmed to offer “human warmth” and is being released this year in order to help especially elderly people who are living in isolation due to the pandemic.

Back in 1984, in her provocative book The Second Self, MIT professor Sherry Turkle made a prediction. It was a prediction that seems obvious today but was pretty bold at the time. She predicted that computers would become more than just tools of mathematical calculation and increasingly become places where we live our lives. A decade or so later, in a book entitled Life on the Screen, Turkle predicted that we’d soon move beyond merely living some of our lives on the internet to creating entirely new, different, and multiple lives on the internet. So far, Turkle is two for two.

Turkle’s third book, titled Alone Together, wasn’t written until 2011. In it, she made another prediction. She believed that a culture so accustomed to digital life and so bad at human relationships would not be able to resist replacing those relationships with artificial intelligence.

Again, Turkle got it right. The difference between this book and her previous two was that Turkle’s optimism about where technology was taking us was gone.

Sophia the Robot is Turkle’s prediction plugged in and turned on, with an important clarification: Hanson Robotics didn’t make Sophia just because they could. They’re capitalizing on something in our culture that needs to be recognized. We’re failing each other.

In Alone Together, Turkle predicted that a culture obsessed with convenience would grow increasingly averse to the inconvenience of love. The rise in family estrangement during 2020 is just one piece of supporting evidence. Why bear with people when a robot that looks like a person can give us everything we think we want without all the neediness? A booming market for human-like artificial intelligence isn’t just a sign that we’re expecting too much from robots. As Turkle says in her subtitle, we’re also expecting too little from each other. Maybe that’s because we’re giving too little to each other.

Also priming the global marketplace for companion robots are almost universally low birth rates. Japan’s plummeting birth rate means an increasing number of citizens have no extended family or even siblings. Chuck Colson talked about this all the way back in 2005,when a Japanese company began selling lifelike baby dolls to the lonely elderly. A childless society, Colson said, learns too late that it’s created a void no “toy” can fill. Neither can Sophia the robot.

There’s also a deeper moral problem with these “humanoid” robots. The sexual revolution separated body from soul, pretending to elevate the body but actually degrading bodies into mere objects to be used for pleasure. Christians also sometimes make a similar mistake when they treat the body as an “obstacle” to a truly “spiritual” life.

An honest reading of the Bible, however, reveals Christianity to be what author Christopher West calls an “en-fleshed” faith. As he says in his book Our Bodies Tell God’s Story, God created His image-bearers with bodies and souls. To try to separate the two is to reject His design.

To replace a real human-to-human relationship with an artificially intelligent robot is to also separate body and soul. Except, instead of looking for bodies without souls, we’re looking for souls without bodies.

Of course, no collection of charming phrases, human-like movements, injected life memories, or empathetic facial expressions will be an image-bearer. Interactions with Sophia robots may be interesting or even impressive. Sophia 2.0 and 3.0 may be even more “life-like” in different ways. We might find a human facsimile that never ages, is never demanding, and always there when we need it quite convenient. However, more convenient isn’t the same as better.

The greatest commandments, to “Love God” and “love our neighbors as ourselves,” are almost so familiar they’re boring. But, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. In the land of humanoid robots, someone who knows how to actually love another can change everything. (BreakPoint)

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Exodus 9
The plagues on Egypt intensify.

INSIGHT

Frogs and gnats? Boils and hail? Water into blood? What strange plagues! What reasoning went behind the selection of plagues? Were they chosen at random, or was there design behind it? Though we might not always be able to discern it, the God of omniscience does nothing without design. The Egyptians worshiped odd and debased gods. Each plague was designed to strike at the credibility of an Egyptian god and manifest the barrenness of belief in these objects.

God does the same today. Our gods are fortune, power, beauty, talent, and intelligence. There’s nothing wrong with them as servants, but when we worship them, they are cruel. God shows the barrenness of worshiping them by allowing people without them to be deeply joyful while those who worship them are tortured. Again, today, God’s personal mark of blessing is the fruit of the Spirit and not necessarily of the vine. Joy is found in God, not things. (Quiet Walk)

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A popular restaurant in Bangkok serves soup from a broth that has been cooking for forty-five years and is replenished a bit each day. The practice, called “perpetual stew,” dates back to medieval times. Just as some “leftovers” taste better a few days later, the extended cooking time blends and creates unique flavors. The restaurant has won multiple awards for the most delicious broth in Thailand.

Good things often take time, but our human nature struggles with patience. The question “How long?” occurs throughout the Bible. One poignant example is from the prophet Habakkuk, who begins his book by asking, “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” (Habakkuk 1:2). Habakkuk (whose name means “grappler”) prophesied God’s judgment on his country (Judah) through the invasion of the ruthless Babylonian Empire, and he wrestled with how God could allow corrupt people to prosper as they exploited others. But God promised hope and restoration in His own time: “For the revelation [of God’s help] awaits an appointed time . . . . Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay” (2:3).

The Babylonian captivity lasted seventy years. By human reckoning that’s a long time, but God is always faithful and true to His Word.

Some of God’s best blessings may be long in coming. Though they linger, keep looking to Him! He prepares every blessing with perfect wisdom and care—and He’s always worth waiting for (By James Banks, Our Daily Bread)

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HE POWER OF GOD

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Colossians 2:15
The plan of salvation displays to us, in a way that nothing else does,the power of God. The power of God was manifested in the Incarnation when He prepared a body for His Son and worked the miracle of the virgin birth—and what marvelous power! But not only that. I rather prefer to think of it like this: It is as we look at God in Christ and all that He did in Him and through this plan of salvation that we see His complete power to master everything that is opposed to Himself, everything that is opposed to the best interests of man, and everything that is opposed to the best interests of this world.
For the fact is that the whole problem has arisen in this way. One of the brightest of the angelic beings that were created by God rebelled against God and raised himself up against Him. That is the origin of Satan. He is a power, a person, an angel of great might. He is as great as this: He deluded a man and conquered him, thereby making himself the god of this world and “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). The power of the devil is something that we seriously underestimate. He believed he had overturned all the work of salvation when the Son of God went to the cross.
But, says Paul in Colossians 2, it is there Satan made his greatest blunder, for by the cross God “spoiled principalities and powers,[and] he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (verse 15). Christ met Satan face to face in single combat and routed him; at the cross He fulfilled the promise given to man at the beginning, when Adam was told that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent’s head. This was the plan of salvation.
A Thought to Ponder: The plan of salvation displays to us the power of God.
(From Saved in Eternity, pp. 50-51, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

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The Awesome Word
“Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.” (Psalm 119:161)
This stanza of Psalm 119 is rich in descriptions of the way God’s Word envelops the believer in awe and wonder. This initial focus is of the heart rather than the mind. Our minds are key to growth and maturity in Christ (Romans 12:1-2), but the heart must be engaged in our relationship with our heavenly Father (Luke 10:27).
The psalmist rejoiced in the Word of God “as one that findeth great spoil” (Psalm 119:162). Peter taught that the Word “liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23). It is far more than written text; it is the very God-breathed words by which the Lord Jesus will ultimately judge the world (John 12:48).
Love for the Word of God can cause the godly to “hate and abhor lying” (Psalm 119:163) and begin to recognize the way that God exercises His “righteous judgments” (v. 164) on those who dare to flaunt their wickedness. Nothing, the psalmist noted, “shall offend them” (v. 165). That mature perception brings praise “seven times a day” (v. 164). It also brings “great peace” (v. 165), the “peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).
Reveling in the wonder and awe of the Scriptures brings a stable “[hope] for [our] salvation” (Psalm 119:166), which in turn produces an open obedience to the commandments of God and a “soul” commitment to guard the Word (v. 167). This godly lifestyle is assured by those who understand that “all [our] ways are before thee” (v. 168). “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

(HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)

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