13 - With my lips have I declared
all the judgments of thy mouth.
"What we learn in secret we are to proclaim upon the housetops." ~Charles Spurgeon
© 2012 by Melani Brady Shock
"What we learn in secret we are to proclaim upon the housetops." ~Charles Spurgeon
As a person who has always done whatever it takes in this life to avoid confrontation or conflict, my personal preferred method of persuasion has usually been action instead of verbal. I have been one who has always preferred to "let my life speak for itself" (ever heard that before?) and "they will know I'm a Christian by my love" (that one has been turned into a sword these days! Not that I don't agree with it, but, wow...) So, Psalm 119:13 has been a challenge to me personally.
The Psalmist says he has declared "with his lips" the things of God! Verbal. Spoken. Words. Testimony. Witness. Lips. Sound. Putting himself out there. Just saying it. And somehow I don't get the impression that the sound was coming from behind a pulpit or a lectern or over a podcast or in front of a congregation. I get the impression that it was one-on-one, man-to-man, situational, verbalizing conviction and right and the Word--the Logos--the Voice.
Two things: he had to first know it. Then he had to say it.
So, I'm enumerating my faults to God as I ponder this verse, as I eat this verse. I'm praying that I may metabolize this verse.
"God, please help me know Your Word. Then, help me say it out loud."
"It is a great comfort to a Christian in time of trouble when in looking back upon his past life he can claim to have done his duty by the word of God. To have been, like Noah, a preacher of righteousness, is a great joy when the floods are rising, and the ungodly world is about to be destroyed. Lips which have been used in proclaiming God's statutes are sure to be acceptable when pleading God's promises. If we have had such regard to that which cometh out of God's mouth that we have published it far and wide, we may reset quite as assured that God will have respect unto the prayers which come out of our mouths."
~Charles Spurgeon
Ouch. Guilty of the “let my life speak for itself” thing. Working on that.
ReplyDeleteConcerning saying it out loud… By no means should it be limited to - but by all means it MUST include - our own. Deuteronomy 6:6-7… And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Hmmm. I perceive that my passion is showing itself… we must pass this on to our own… we lose toooooo many!
Absolutely agree!
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to me that we instruct our children verbally in every aspect of life at home, but, in many cases, they are left to learn the ways of God at church. They are force-fed every other aspect of life, but are left to absorb the ways of God through osmosis.
Okay. Shutting up. Joy, you and I both know we could go for days about this. :-)
mbs