Psalm 19 - A Call to Meditate on the Torah

Psalm 19 is one of my favorite Psalms, as I can see it daily when I'm outside, looking up into the heavens.  "The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies display the work of his hands..."  Gazing into the sky, even the unbelieving world is gripped by the awe and the majesty (of Yhwh) that they feel when looking at the sky.


In the first six verses, the Psalmist paints a poetic image of God's glory displayed and seen throughout the earth, to which the Apostle Paul alludes in Romans ch. 1:19-20.  But then the Psalmist (King David) moves to praising the beneficient attributes of Yhwh's Torah, His revealed instruction given to His people Israel via Moses.


My point in this blog is not to do a sermon or bible study per se in this blog, as time won't allow today, but rather to share an insight I think the LORD showed me about this Psalm.  Often we quote the Psalm's first verses and its last verse, but sooo out of context!


"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer!" (Ps. 19:14).


Certainly, following this beautiful image of the Torah and all its benefits to the soul, David cries out to let his speech and the meditation (continual thoughts, ponderings) of his heart, be pleasing in Yhwh's sight.  This was not just a prayer for a good thought life and speech.  This was a prayer, acknowledging the command Yahweh commanded Joshua:


⁸ This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may ^[a]be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will ^[b]have success.  Joshua 1:8 [www.biblegateway.com]


It is a prayer that one's thought life and speech be centered upon the Torah! The instruction given by Yhwh to His people, by which obedience or disobedience to can be the cause of life or death.  As the world and society moves away from the word of God, and global hatred for the Jewish people grow, is it any wonder that our sicknesses and diseases and FEAR are on the increase (Dt. 28:1-2, 15)?

The Biblical Path to Good Health!

Does the Bible speak to having/maintaining health? More than you know!

Proverbs 3:5-8 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones. 

As Jesus said: "Your Word, O LORD, is Truth!" Jn. 17:17 
Living by wisdom and sound discretion (Pr. 3:21; i.e. obedience to the Lord) is healing for your body, and refreshment to your bones! Don't believe me, believe God! 

For those who still are not convinced of this, take a look at Deut. 7:15 and ch. 28:58-61, making special note of the phrase "diseases of Egypt" to understand covenental timing and the immuteable character of God.  (Hint: Paul told us all about it in Rom. 6:23; 1 Cor. 11:27-31; cf. Jas. 5:15-16)

The Wages of Sin is Death, Believing God's word!

Something that's been weighing on my heart as I grow in my relationship with the LORD, and my understanding of who God is, of His character, and ours (mine).  I've grew up in a Southern Baptist Church, believing the word of God is completely inerrant (without error), and totally true.

But the LORD has shown me some inconsistencies that we who call on His name have, at least here in the western world.  Many who claim the name of Christ and say we believe His word is true, but then we do not act on it, or live as if we believe it.  I think this might be what Jacob ('James' in most Bibles) was referring to when he said "if a man says he has faith, but he has no works, how can such faith save him (Jas. 2:14)?"

Proverbs tells us that if we keep God's word, that is, we obey it and keep His commands, it will result in health to our life. 

Proverbs 4:20-22

²⁰ My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. ²¹ Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart. ²² For they are life to those who find them And health to all their body.

 

As of 2008, one in four American teenage girls has contracted an STD.  My wife pointed out that most people don't realize the amount of sexual diseases would be prevented, if we kept just one of God's laws, "You shall not commit adultery"  Dt. 5:18. 

 

Today, through numerous scientific studies, the medical communities are finding out what the Bible told us two-three thousands of years ago.  Stress, fear, anxiety, bitterness, unforgiveness... all these are detrimental to you health.  If you want to be healthy, you have to get rid of stress/anxiety/fear either through exercise, training or ("preferrably" according to them) through prescription drugs.  They say you have to let go of past wrongs and forgive, don't become bitter!

 

God told us about that long ago.  Human health and prosperity are ALWAYS tied to enjoying God and joyfully living in obeidence to Him.

Philippians 4:4-7 ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. ⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 1:7 ⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of timidity [i.e. fear], but of power and love and discipline.

For those of you who didn't catch, 'spirit' is another word for 'demon,' or 'unclean spirit'!

Isaiah 26:3 ³ "The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You.

We sing hymns, "Faith is the victory, faith is the victory, O glorious victory, that overcomes the world!"  If we are so victorious, why are we still getting the same diseases as the world?  God has told us why in His Word.  It's because we claim the faith, but we still live like the world!

Deuteronomy 28:58-61 ⁵⁸ "If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God, ⁵⁹ then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses. ⁶⁰ "He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you. ⁶¹ "Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring on you until you are destroyed.

Every incident in Biblical history, where man thought he knew better than God, always resulted in a lot of trouble being made, and often ended in death.  In fact, scripture tells us:
 Proverbs 14:12 ¹² There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. 

Many American believers will say, "The sickness is to God's glory!"  According to Deut. 28:58-61, the only thing sickness does is point out that there is unconfessed/unrepented sin in your life. 

"But if God wanted this for us, He would talk about it in the New Testament," you will say.  He does, the brother of our Lord Yeshua, Jacob, tells us in the book of James
James 5:16 ¹⁶ Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
It is God's will that you be healed, not to be sick!  Sickness is death, the wages of sin! (Rom 6:23).

1 Thessalonians 5:23 ²³ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ

3 John 1:2 ² Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

Amen.  So there you have it.  It is God's will for you to be in health.  We are tri-une beings, created in the image of God, body, soul, spirit.  It's all connected.  If something is coming between you and your Maker in your spirit, causing death to your spirit, it causes an imbalance or deficiency of hormones in your body, which manifests as tumors, cancers, pains, shingles, or other diseases. 

There is a huge industry out there which studies to find cures for these diseases, but the best they can do is to remove the disease, 'manage' it, or set it in regression for a little while.  But only God's word has the spiritual diagnosis to address the cause of the sickness.  If we really want to save the Taa-Taas, cure cancer or whatever else, let's start praying and looking to the Word of Yahweh!

Healing in Jesus' name!

As one who has seen and experienced God perform healings in accordance with his word, I was very interested with this below article. 

Seeking Miraculous Healings: Musings and Cautions

I would like to make a few comments in response to it:  Certainly, there are, and always will be "showboatmen" who abuse and exploit the Biblical teaching of healing... but it seems scripture teaches that it's really a matter of holiness, a.k.a. obedience to God's ways, repenting of our sins and living in holiness, with no sin seperating our triune being (body, soul, spirit) from God.

When Moses died, scripture says
Deuteronomy 34:7 ⁷ Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated.

Nothing in scripture is there without reason.  I believe this was mentioned because Moses had just laid out in Dt. 28 the consequences of covenant obedience and disobedience.  The consequences for disobedience to God's law was that He would bring on them the sicknesses and disease which they knew "while they were in Egypt" (living in idolatrous sin; pre-Torah).  Moses was a friend of God, and lived a life of holiness and sanctification before Yahweh, God of Israel.  This is why scripture says that his vigor (health) had not abated and his eye was not dim.  He lived a life of obedience to Yahweh, and was in perfect health.  Check out the consequences of sin laid out, before the Old Covenant with the Jews!

Deuteronomy 28:58-61 ⁵⁸ "If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God, ⁵⁹ then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses. ⁶⁰ "He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you. ⁶¹ "Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring on you until you are destroyed.

"Confess your sins to one another and pray for each other that you may be healed."  James 5:16
The problem with our world is that we "possess" our sicknesses and I identify our selves with the sickness (ex. "I" have diabetes/breast cancer, etc.) and get offended if someone tells us that it's the result of sin.  Paul tells us that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23).  Cancer is death.  Whatever form of sickness you may have is death working in you.  Let me say again, the wages of sin is death! 

Scripture says much more on the topic, but if we seek the Lord, he can reveal to us sin hidden in our lives, or generational curses on our lives, or demonic oprression in our lives through some sin that remains unconfessed and unforgiven in our lives (i.e. harbored).  And this is not to say that there will always be a healing, but there will be many more, much more if we confess our sins to one another, pray for one another in the mighty name of Jesus (Jas. 5:16).

Many people know John 3:16, one of the most famous verses of scripture, but do you know Acts 3:16?
Acts 3:16
¹⁶ "And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.