Cornerstone

Psalm 119:161-168 (163)

¹⁶¹ Rulers persecute me without cause,
but my heart trembles at your word.

¹⁶² I rejoice in your promise
like one who finds great spoil.

¹⁶³ I hate and abhor falsehood
but I love your law.

¹⁶⁴ Seven times a day I praise you
for your righteous laws.

¹⁶⁵ Great peace have they who love your law,
and nothing can make them stumble.

¹⁶⁶ I wait for your salvation, O LORD,
and I follow your commands.

¹⁶⁷ I obey your statutes,
for I love them greatly.

¹⁶⁸ I obey your precepts and your statutes,
for all my ways are known to you.

Some people don’t like going by the rule book.  The Psalmist tried to express his exasperation regarding this when he said, “Princes have persecuted me without a cause.”  Today we may shake our head in exasperation when we see someone making a left turn from the right lane of a four lane road.   We are disgusted when we see someone throwing trash from their car onto the side of the road as they drive by.  We may be angered during a board game when an opponent keeps coming up with their own “rules”.

A cubit may have meant one thing for Noah and another for his son.  If a cubit was the distance from the tip of the finger to the elbow then the length would vary depending on who you talk to last.  This is the reason that various countries developed a standard for weight and measurement which over time became accepted globally.  People realized that only when everybody followed the same set of rules could a sense of equity be determined.

This fact is one of the main reasons there is so much conflict in the world today.  Even though many have agreed to an international standard of weight and measurement for trade, they cannot seem to agree on a standard for moral conduct.  God has given us the rule book that must be followed if we hope to be delivered from sin, know the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and have a hope of eternal life.

Dr. Gayle Woods

Deut. 11:18-25 (19)

James S. Hewett tells that every Sunday morning the fifth graders would line up and recite a section of the creed that had been assigned to them. That continued well for awhile. Then one Sunday they began the class the same way. The first girl recited her line flawlessly: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” Next, a boy, stood up and said: “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.” Then silence settled over the class. Finally, a little girl, spoke up loudly to say, “I’m sorry, sir, but the boy who believes in the Holy Ghost is absent today!”*

If we do not have a vital relationship with the God of the Word there is no way that we can properly learn the Word of God. Learning facts from the Word of God may help us to do well in a Bible Quiz but it certainly won’t shape our character so that we are more like Christ. Only when we are in love with the Author of the Book can we have an intense love for the Bible. Having this love for the Author and the Book we then must make a concentrated effort to blend the Word of God into our lives so that it is part of the fabric of our being that determines our motives, attitudes and actions.

*Adapted from Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 63.

Dr. Gayle Woods