By Pastor Tim Clark
The Herald
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Some of the most vitriolic discussions being held in our nation today are characterized as “right or left.” Such is the domain of human opinion – resulting in never-ending debate. Instead of perpetually arguing issues from the perspective of “right or left,” we need to refocus our national attention on “right or wrong.”
This is at the core of the meaning of Psalm 14:34: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
But, how are we to discern what constitutes “righteousness” or “sin,” “right” or “wrong”? Experience has taught us that attempting to define these terms through the exercise of human democracies results in definitions that change with each successive generation. We are left wondering if there can ever be a changeless understanding of these terms.
Thankfully, there is hope. More than that, there is an unshakable standard to which we may make our appeal.
The longest Psalm in the Bible is Psalm 119. Contained within its text are four words that occur in combination nowhere else in Scripture – “I love your law!” These four words direct us to the source for the ultimate definitions of right and wrong.
Even a casual reading of the Psalm tells us that love for God’s word and will stand at the center of the text. 176 times in the Psalm, Hebrew synonyms occur that are variously translated with the English words “commandments,” “decisions,” “law,” “precepts,” “promise,” “statutes,” “testimonies” and “word.”
Who is the author of the Psalm? Humanly speaking, we don’t know (spiritually speaking we do – the Holy Spirit, according to 2 Timothy 3:16). Many attribute the Psalm to King David. As a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) he seems a likely candidate. Others make a powerful argument for Judah’s King Hezekiah. This makes sense when one considers that Hezekiah was arguably the most ardent of Jewish reformers in a time when the people of God had forsaken Divine order – even to the point of closing the temple. Still others suggest that the Psalm may have flowed from the inspired pen of the scribe Ezra, who was instrumental in leading God’s people back from their Babylonian captivity.
What do all three of these potential candidates share in common? A consuming passion for the will and word of God. Each of these men were powerfully convinced that national greatness was inextricably linked to the people’s submission to, and pursuit of, the law of God.
When men and nations love God’s law, they demonstrate their devotion by informing themselves of it. God’s instruction to His people upon their initial entrance into the Promised Land contained a direction to the future king that underscored this very idea.
“When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel” (Deuteronomy 17:18-20).
Can you imagine what would happen if today those requirements were demanded of our politicians? Can you imagine a candidate needing to provide his hand-written copy of the first five books of the Bible as part of his credentials for assuming his elected office? Further, can you imagine that same office holder having those first five books on his office desk so as to facilitate their study at the start of each business day? Such images may bend our imagination, but they were the Divine expectation of Israel’s kings.
It’s interesting to note the two-fold purposes God stated for this direction. First, it was designed to keep the king from thinking “himself better than his brothers”. Humility – now there’s a great aspiration for those in authority! Second, it was designed to keep him focused on the law of God (i.e. right and wrong) and to keep him from the partisan tar pit to be found “to the right or to the left.”
It’s all about truth. God’s truth, not man’s.
Some might say this sounds too simplistic, too theistic. The historical reality would argue them into their place. Every society that has loved the law of God, making it their foundation personally and politically, has experienced peace, prosperity and power.
Tim Clark is pastor of Emmanuel Christian Church in New Vernon Township.
