Mensa Otabil - God's Judgment are Righteous

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We’re looking at Psalm 19, and we’re considering God’s revelation to us both in the general sense and specifically through His Word. Now we are in verse 9: «The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.» It’s always important for us to approach the Word of God with the right attitude. It’s great to know that God is speaking to us through general revelation; it’s even greater to know that God is speaking to us through His Word.

But how do we respond to God’s Word? What is God’s Word to us? Here, God’s Word is called «the fear of the Lord,» and that speaks to the weight of God’s Word in our lives and the reverence we give to it. If we don’t have reverence for God’s Word, then all that He reveals to us- as fantastic and precise as it may be-will be of no benefit to us. So, the Word of God has to be approached with fear, and this is not the kind of fear of running away from something or avoiding something. This is the fear of carefully observing, taking note of something, and respecting what that thing is.

So, we don’t run from God’s Word; we run to God’s Word, but we run with reverence. When God gives us an instruction, we don’t treat it casually, and we don’t throw it aside. As our world becomes increasingly modernized, as people become modernized, Christians also become modernized. We become accustomed to multiple voices and expressing our own views and thoughts. Democracy becomes our practice; sometimes we forget God. We bring God into the mix and think, «Well, God says it; I can also say what I want.»

While God encourages us to speak our minds, there is an authority with which He speaks that we must submit to, and that is the reverence we have for the Word of God. Don’t allow the way you speak to other people to become the basis of your relationship with God. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; it’s a clean fear, not a morbid fear, and it is a fear we must have all the time. Then it talks about God’s Word as God’s judgments, and the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

You know, God’s judgment is how He rules a situation in the Bible. Apart from having the written Word of God, many times people would take matters to God and say, «Lord, what do you think about this? We want to do this. Should we go to war? Should we not go to war? Is it the right thing to do? Is it not the right thing to do?» God would pronounce His judgment on the situation.

So, the Word of God also evaluates what we are doing and tells us the will of God. When God gives us His Word, provides direction, and pronounces judgment on something we are doing, that judgment is true and righteous altogether. It’s just like going to a law court; once a judgment is made, it is supposed to be upheld. God’s judgment, higher than any human judgment, is upheld in our lives in every situation. God’s Word is the final arbiter, the final judgment, the final say. When He says it, that’s it; it’s righteous altogether, and He is always true. He never lies and never tells us something that is not right.

So, the Word of God is presented to us in many ways: as the fear of the Lord as well as the judgment of the Lord. I pray that we will apply reverence in our appreciation of God’s Word, and we will accept His Word as the final determination of everything in our lives.

Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, Your judgments are true and righteous. You always do what is right for me. In Jesus' name, amen.»