Those who fear God, should they see me and rejoice?

"Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice,
because I have hoped in your word."

~Psalm 119:74

This is King David writing. In this passage he says that those who fear God will see him (David) and rejoice. The reason for this rejoicing is because David has hoped in God's Word. I find this to be quite interesting. I mean, could I (and should I) be able to say this as well?

I am trying to imagine myself saying it... "Lord, the people that fear you are going to rejoice when they see me."

OK... That is poorly phrased. I am aware that saying it in that way is emphasizing the wrong way to say this. First, I have left out an entire phrase, the key phrase that is demonstrating the real source of the people's rejoicing! Second, I placed the source of the rejoicing squarely on me, which is not where it should be. This poor phrasing serves its purpose illustrate the problem that I am having though: For King David to say this, that is fine, but for me to say something like this feels prideful.

But maybe I could say something like this.

If I am hoping in God's word, that is a reason to rejoice. It is definitely a cause to rejoice in people who fear God. Maybe I should say this... Maybe I should not hold back, but cling to the Gospel of Jesus Christ! There is nothing good in me, but because of the grace of God alone, I am hoping in the Living Word! People who fear God will rejoice when they see this!

Maybe I could even go the next step... hmm... (Saying to myself right now, "Tread carefully on Grace, Matt. Cling to the Gospel! Matt, you are a sinner, but saved by the grace of God alone. And as a preacher of this same Gospel, it must be said... not because of you, Matt, but because of the truth of God's Word.")

"Let those who fear you turn to me,
that they may know your testimonies."

~Psalm 119:79 ESV

Comments

The Seed and The Soil of Education (New Learning Project Part 1)

(This is my entry for the first part of my project for my New Learning course that I am taking.) Introduction Corn Fields in Illinois I have lived the majority of my life in the Midwest: mid-state Illinois to be specific. Where I live, farming is everywhere. My grandparents and great-grandparents on both sides of my family were farmers. My dad grew up on a farm and owned farmland, well into my own adulthood. But, even if it wasn’t in the family, I still would have been surrounded by farming. You can’t go more than a mile outside of my city’s limits without encountering miles and miles of fields. Most of our highways, and even interstates, are located between acres of farmland.

This too shall pass...

Gam zeh ya'avor (Hebrew) "This Too Shall Pass" Welcome! According to Google Analytics, this is by far the most visited post that I have ever written. If someone comes here from a search engine, most of the time they are looking for " this too shall pass quote " or simply " this too shall pass " on Google or one of the other search engines. I am sure that most of the time visitors are looking for the originations of this quote, but I have to wonder, why is this quote on people's minds? Why are they pondering the passing of events? Here is my thought: It is probably because most of us have realized that the adult life is much harder than we ever imagined it to be. There is more pain and more sorrow than we had ever imagined as children, but we have learned that time keeps ticking. And as time continues to flow things pass. In fact, even the really big things and the really hard things will still pass. If you are here because you are thinking ...

The Minnesota Crime Commission wrote:

Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it: his bottle, his mother's attention, his playmate's toys, his uncle's watch, or whatever. Deny him these and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He's dirty, he has no morals, no knowledge, no developed skills. This means that all children, not just certain children but all children, are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free reign to their impulsive actions to satisfy each want, every child would grow up a criminal, a thief, a killer, a rapist.

HARMLESS THOUGHTS

Search This Blog