"My soul hath kept thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. I keep your precepts and testimonies, for all my ways are before you."
Psalm 119:167-168
Part 1
Today: Keeping God’s Testimonies
Believers, I trust that you have grown to the point in your Christian walk where you love to share with others what God is doing in your life. This is an essential part of your growth and witness. When we tell others what God has done for us, we call this a “testimony,” because we are “testifying” to what God has accomplished, in us or through us. We are witnessing to others, His goodness to us. And indeed, He is good!
The word “testimony” is used in the Bible to refer to “God’s testimonies.” This is seen often in the Psalms. But what does it mean? If our testimony is about what God has done for us, what is God’s testimony about? We need to remember that Jehovah, our God, is a God of “revelation.” That is, He reveals Himself to us in numerous ways. He wants us to know Him and what He is like, so He tells us. Generally, His Creation, this universe, and what is known as “nature,” speaks volumes to us about Him. He exists, He is powerful, and He is the Creator! Creation does not tell us enough information to be saved from our sins. God has chosen to give us an even greater special testimony about Himself through His Word. When God reveals to us divine truths about Himself in His Word, these are His testimonies. These truths are wonderful and noteworthy. In fact, the entire Bible is a testimony to Him. Unfortunately, some people think of the Bible only as a list of rules. It is not. It is a compilation of the testimonies of our God.
As we look at David’s affection towards God’s testimonies, we need to pay close attention to how he sees these. They are personal truths that he needs to believe with his whole heart. And then God’s testimonies are to become actions in a believer’s life. These are not a moldy list of rules that need to be checked off one at a time when accomplished. But these truths have become a way of life for God’s child.
“My soul hath kept thy testimonies.”
David did not say, “I have kept these testimonies with my eyes, hands, feet,” or any other part of his body. That is interesting because when we think of “keeping rules” we usually think of what we “can do,” or “can’t do.” David is way beyond that. He understands where obedience to God must begin in his very soul! If we do not decide to obey God from the depths of our souls, we have lost the battle before it has even begun. Our human tendency is to see a list of rules and instantly rebel in our hearts. Just ask Adam. The first man, hearing God’s first restriction, didn’t buy it, at least not down in his soul. God had given him thousands of “yeses,” for his life in the Garden, He gave him only one limitation, and that’s where his focus stopped. At the time, he must not have understood that “God is good” – His testimony. So he looked beyond a good God to the restraint imposed, and sadly he rebelled against it.
What is David’s lesson for believers today? Know your God’s testimonies by heart! Believe them and practice them!
“Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart” (Psalm 119:111).
It is easy to love things that rejoice our hearts. How can we get to know God’s testimonies so that we can practice them? Tomorrow we will read more about it from Psalm 119. See you then!
Quote: “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (1 John 5:9-11).