43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
For I have hoped in Your ordinances.
Have you ever seen a flower growing up out of a crack in the sidewalk? Try to keep that picture in mind as we study this verse.
This seems like a strange request to me: “Lord, don’t take Your word out of my mouth.” It almost begs the question, “does God want to take His word out of my mouth?”
He is very clear that He doesn’t want to take His word out of our mouth, dozens of times in the Scripture (Josh 1:8, Psalm 1:2, etc.) So why would the psalmist pray that?
I can’t say that I have a good answer. But it’s been my experience that it can be exceedingly beneficial to puzzle over the word of God. To let difficult questions marinade in your mind, and ask the Lord about them.
When the Scripture doesn’t make sense, when there seems to be a contradiction to another verse or passage, or when it just seems outright weird - we can step into error by assuming a meaning and moving on.
The main message here is this: be at peace with not having the answer to every question at every moment. Put that question before the Lord, and if it’s really important to you, keep asking Him about it. He will bring light and revelation to you.
There are certain questions that are like little fissures in my mind:
- If Jesus knew that Judas was a thief, why would He choose him to be the treasurer for His ministry?
- When Jesus cast out all of those demons in the gospels, where did they go? Where are they now?
- Why was there such a heavy emphasis on the priests examining the lepers in the Levitical law?
- Why did Ahithophel hang himself just because his advice wasn’t taken?
- How did Jacob know to peel the rods to make the sheep speckled and spotted?
- What is righteousness?
- Why were Jesus’ hands and feet pierced with nails? What’s the significance in that?
- And why crucifixion? Why wasn’t Jesus electrocuted, or a firing squad, or hanged?
Those are just a few simple examples of actual questions that I have really puzzled over. I have the answer to some of them, and some I am still pondering. Some of the answers have given me an amazing understanding of Jesus’ character; His thoughts, desires, and His heart. But I’m not in a rush to have them answered just for the sake of having answers.
I like to think that those questions, those little fissures in the mind, create a crack in the heart to allow the seed of the Word of God to be planted.
Some of the greatest revelations you will receive of God will come from questions that nag you, gnawing at your assumptions and creating a crack in the concrete thought pattern of your mind.
It will open your heart to the word of truth, and ultimately bring hope, life, and comfort into your life.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment