Today’s fascinating thread from God’s word was,
“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul”.[1] It weaves together with Jesus’ words to his disciples as they
grappled with his resurrection, “‘These are my words that I spoke to you
while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of
Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’”[2]
When we read in our English translation, “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul,” the fact that LORD is in All-Caps means that it is referring to the
personal name of God. That personal name is Yahweh.
What David really said was,
“The law of Yahweh is perfect, reviving the soul”. He was not thinking
of a title given to Yahweh as, “the Lord”, but of the personal name of
the distinctive and particular God of the Israelites, the Creator of the heavens
and the earth, the God who appeared to Abraham and established a covenant that
would one day give us the Messiah. This God has a word that is law, and how we
understand this law and the one from whom this law proceeds, makes all the
difference to how we feel when we speak of such things.
“The law of Yahweh is perfect, reviving the soul”.
Let’s begin, then, with
this wonderful fact: there is a God whose name is Yahweh. He is the “High
King of Heaven”, as an old hymn describes.[3] He is distinct from gods that have other names. We
are repeatedly told to relate to him according to his name because that name
distinguishes him as unique in the most supreme of ways.
This is our Father.
We now know that Yahweh
has given his Son Jesus, “the name that is above every name,”[4] which we find in Revelation is, “King of kings
and Lord of lords.”[5]
This is our Brother.
The point for us is
profound: our heavenly Father is the particular God named Yahweh, and his Son
has been given the name that is above every name on heaven and earth, King of
kings and Lord of lords, and by his name we call on Yahweh as our Father. The
name is the person; the person is our security.
“The law of Yahweh
is perfect, reviving the soul”.
This person, our Father,
has “the law”. Do not think of the Ten Commandments with all its rules
and restrictions that prove us guilty as sinners. The New Testament does that
quite well all on its own, by the way.
Instead, think of the
whole of Scripture. What joyful rest and peace does it give the children of Yahweh
to know that it is our Father who owns “the law”. Our Father’s word is
law. No one can change that. What Father says will be is what will be. No one
can make it otherwise.
“The law of Yahweh is perfect, reviving the soul”.
Our Father’s word is “perfect”.
He is not like an earthly judge who cannot know for absolute certainty that
every fact in a case has been presented. He is not like an earthly law-giver
who is swayed by lobbyists and special interest groups that actually promote
lawlessness with their laws against Christians. His law, the whole of what he
has revealed in his word as what was, what is, and what will be, is perfect and
will not be out-ruled by something better.
Again, since there is no
one better than Father Yahweh, there is no rule of law greater than our Father’s
word.
This is our security.
“The law of Yahweh is
perfect, reviving the soul”.
With our Father’s full
word of law, our lives are restored. It is by our Father’s words that we are
revived to the life we were given. Life is about becoming our real selves
because “real” means the way God made us, and our Father’s law has declared
that we WILL be restored to the image and likeness of Jesus the King of kings
and Lord of lords.[6]
“The law of Yahweh is
perfect, reviving the soul”.
This reality applies to
the “soul”, the “inner self” that is governed by the thoughts of
the mind flowing through our inner beings by the activity of our hearts. The
heart will always pump what our mind gives it, so even this declaration of
wonder that “the law of Yahweh is perfect, reviving the soul,” is a
reality to feed our minds so our hearts can make it do its work on our souls.
Consider that, for David,
even without a great deal of what we call the Old Testament yet written, he
knew that the law of Yahweh was so vastly superior in perfection than the
babbling of the gods of the nations that he had to look at this diamond of
truth as though turning from one facet to another. And each facet revealed something
distinctive and complementary so that the whole consideration of the law of our
Father made everything stand out so brilliantly that he simply had to write a
song and sing about it!
Three thousand years later,
David’s song still speaks because our Father Yahweh’s law is perfect, and when
it is received as such, it continues to restore our souls to who we really are.
And we need the restoring of our souls today as much as ever.
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English
Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition:
2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News
Publishers.)
[1] Psalm 19:7
[2] Luke 24:44
[3] The Hymn is, “Be Thou
My Vision”.
[4] Philippians 2:10-11 in
context of Philippians 2:1-11.
[5] Revelation 17:14;
19:16
[6] Genesis 1:26-27 shows
that this was our design in creation. The New Testaments shows Gods’ work to
restore us to this (Ephesians 4:20-24). And the work God promises to carry on
to completion (Philippians 1:6) is fulfilled at the return of Christ (I John
3:1-2).
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