Thursday, July 20, 2006
Psalm 19:7a The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.
THE USE OF GOD'S PERFECT WORD
Scripture, if we only use it, reminds us every moment of our weaknesses and failure -- a perfect word exposes our imperfect thoughts, words, and deeds. It shows us not only that we sin much, but that we are born in sin and that sin mars our best intentions and behavior. This is what the Law does -- it acts as a mirror to show us our sins.
But as we read today's text we realize that this use of the word "law" -- the use we learned in Catechism instruction class where it was contrasted with the word "Gospel" -- cannot be what is meant here, where the psalmist speaks of how the "law of the Lord . . . converts the soul." Here the word law is used in the wider sense, in a sense that our theologians sometimes speak of as the will of God, a will founded on the Ten Commandments, but combined and intertwined with the whole plan of redemption through the blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the will of God as it is made known to us through the Holy Scriptures.
Thus the TORAH or Law of the Psalms refers to the whole Bible. This TORAH that reveals our sins is the TORAH that assures us of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ -- a TORAH that actually creates faith and trust, a word that has power in itself to save men from themselves and their worries and problems and ultimate destruction. The Word of God is the only perfection that we know on this earth, a word that can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
But a word of caution is in order. Just because the TORAH of the Psalms, the Holy Scripture, is the only power to save our souls, it follows that a failure to use that word will mar the effectiveness of that power. A failure constantly to measure our behavior in the light of His will only lead to a careless Christianity, where our pet sins no longer seem so wrong, and at the same time where the one and perfect answer to our sins no longer seems as precious and as meaningful as it really is.
May the Holy Spirit give us the strength and the zeal to hold fast to the Holy Scriptures as the only thing that is perfect in all the world; may we measure our imperfect lives according to it, and may we find in it forgiveness of sins and everlasting life!
