“A good understanding”
[Psalms 111]
Last night, I was reading John chapters 11-13, and my gaze stopped at John 13:2 – “During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him.” Then I continued to read the Bible, and read another passage about Judas Iscariot, John 13:27 – “After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, ‘What you do, do quickly.’” As I meditated on the words of these two verses, I thought Judas Iscariot, who wasn’t able to fight spiritually in the realm of thought, and eventually became deceived by Satan and let the thought of selling Jesus come into his heart and let it grow. Why do you think Judas Iscariot has come from the through realm of selling Jesus to the action realm of selling Jesus? I found the answer in John 12:4-6: “But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?’ Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.” In John 12:4-6, when Mary, at the house of Lazarus living in Bethany, took very costly perfume of pure nard and pour it on Jesus' feet, and wipe His feet with her hair (v. 3), Judas Iscariot told Mary, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?” (v. 5) The reason Judas Iscariot said so wasn’t because he thought of the poor, but because he thought of money. He was a thief in charge of the money box and stealing what people put in there (v. 6). In other words, Judas Iscariot was a money lover. As a result, the Satan put the thought of selling Jesus into the heart of Judas Iscariot (13:2). In other words, the Satan put the idea of selling Jesus in the mind of Judas Iscariot who loved money. And this thought matured, and Satan entered Judas Iscariot (13:27) and eventually Judas Iscariot sold Jesus to the high priests for thirty silver (Mt. 26:15, 26:46-50).
As I meditated on these words, I remembered the words of James 1:15 – “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” In the end, Judas Iscariot, who loved money which is “a root of all sorts of evil“ (1 Tim. 6:10), accepted the thought of selling Jesus in his heart when the devil put that though in him. He didn’t guard his heart and thus he was deceived. As a result, the sin of thought matured and brought froth the fruit of sin. As I meditated on the life and death of Judas Iscariot, who grew a tree with bitter roots and eventually bears rotten fruit, I came to rethink the importance of fighting thoughts. When the devil puts bad and sinful thoughts in me, I reaffirmed my responsibility to fight with good thoughts. To do that, we must meditate on the Word of God day and night. In the midst of that, we must have understanding through the Word of God. What is this understanding? James Pecker said in his book, “Guard Us Guide Us: Divine Leading in Life’s Decision,” that understanding means understanding how to live by obeying God's revelation. Wisdom is above all understanding (Packer). Furthermore, wisdom includes taking realizations into action carefully (Packer). This is referred to as “a good understanding” in Psalms 111:10. I would like to receive God's grace from Psalms 110, focusing on verse 10, as I think about how to get good understanding under the title of “A good understanding”.
How can we get the good understanding? The answer can be found in Psalms 111:10 – “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.” The Bible says that in order for us to gain good understanding, we must keep the commandments of God. Then, what is the commandments of God that the psalmist speaking here? It is to fear God (v. 10). What really is fearing God? I mainly thought of the fear of God is to hate evil (Prov. 8:13). Of course, I don't think I'm wrong because that is what the Bible says. But while I was reading James Packer's book “Guard Us Guide Us: Divine Leading in Life’s Decision,” I realized that I didn't know what it was to fear God. ‘Fear has nothing to do with fear,’ Packer said. He said, ‘Fearing God means respecting Him. Fear refers to an attitude that looks up to God's greatness and at the same time actively acts to obey Him and make Him happy’ (Packer). As I read this saying, I came to realize that fearing God is of course obeying God's Word and hating evil, but it goes further that fearing God is praising and worshiping the greatness of God. So, what must we do to praise and worship the greatness of the Lord? I came up with three answers to this question in Psalms 111. I hope and pray that we will be able to gain good understanding through praising and worshiping the greatness of the Lord by learning and practicing these three biblical principles.
First, in order for us to praise and worship the Lord's greatness, we must all study the Lord's works.
Look at Psalms 111:2 – “Great are the works of the LORD; They are studied by all who delight in them.” Specifically, the “work of the Lord” referred to here is that God brought the Israelites out of Egypt by bringing down ten plagues through Moses (v. 4), that God gave manna, quail, and water for food in the wilderness (v. 5) and gave Canaan, the promised land, to the Israelties as an inheritance (v. 6). This “work of the Lord” refers to the “redemption” God gave to the Israelites (v. 9). Why did the psalmist say that those who enjoyed God's great work of salvation that God gave to the Israelites at the time of the Exodus in the past should be studied? The reason is to learn more about the saving work that God gave to the Israelites in the past, and to believe that God's saving righteousness will be eternal in the present and in the future (v. 3) (Park). In short, the reason why we should study God's works in detail is for our faith and assurance. The kind of faith and assurance is that of salvation.
We must study the works of God's salvation in the Bible for faith and assurance that God, who accomplished the work of salvation in the past, saves us from the hardships and difficulties we face in the present. Among those studies, Joseph is my personal favorite God’s work of salvation. God delivered Joseph from his older brothers, from Potiphar and his wife, and from prison, so in the end, God sent Joseph ahead of them to save the life of Jacob's family (Gen. 45:5). Therefore, God made the Israelites prosper in Egypt, and about 400 years later, through Moses, He delivered all the Israelites and led them to Canaan, the promised land. The work of God's salvation in Joseph's life indicates that Jesus, who is the true Joseph, saved us through life and death and led us to the promised land of heaven. Therefore, even if we face such a crisis unjustly like Joseph, we can have trust and assurance that God will save us and bring all things together for good. For this faith and assurance of salvation, we must study in detail and diligently the work of God's salvation in the Bible. Therefore, in understanding, we must praise and worship the Lord who is great.
Second, in order for us to praise and worship the Lord's greatness, we must all remember the Lord’s works.
Look at Psalms 11:4 – “He has made His wonders to be remembered; The LORD is gracious and compassionate.” God, who is gracious and merciful, reminded the Israelites of the psalmist's time to remember the work of salvation that He had done to the Israelites during the Exodus. What was the purpose? The purpose was to reveal that God is the faithful covenant God who remembered and established the covenant He made with the Israelites (vv. 5, 9).
Our God is the God who makes us remember the works of salvation and the wonders that He has done in our lives. Therefore, no matter what kind of adversity and hardship we face in our present life, He gives us the faith and assurance that God will save us even the present adversity and hardships because it reminds us of the works of salvation in the past. Therefore, we can sing the fourth lyric of the hymn “O, Lord my God! When I in Awesome Wonder”: “When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart! Then I shall bow in humble adoration And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!” Our Lord, who faithfully fulfills the covenant He have made with us, has already begun salvation, which is a good work within us, and at the moment Jesus Christ comes again, He will complete our salvation. Therefore, we will praise and worship His greatness in heaven all the days of our lives.
Third and last, in order for us to praise and worship the Lord's greatness, we must all delight in the Lord’s works.
Look at Psalms 111:2 – “Great are the works of the LORD; They are studied by all who delight in them.” The great work that the Lord did to the Israelites at the time of the Exodus was “redemption.” Here, “redemption” refers to God’s given grace of salvation by paying the price of His Son Jesus’ death on the cross by shedding His precious blood just as God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt by telling the Israelites to put the sheep blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts during the tenth plague. Look at 1 Peter 1:18-19: “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
Therefore, we can sing the first lyric of the hymn “I Know not Why God’s Wondrous Grace”: “I know not why God's wondrous grace To me He hath made Known, Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love Redeemed me for His own.” The reason is because we have “the joy of Your salvation” (Ps. 51:12). We must enjoy the great work, splendid and majestic of God's salvation (111:2, 3). And with the joy of the Lord's salvation, we must praise and worship God. I hope and pray that all of us will be able to glorify God by gaining good understanding by obeying His commandment to fear God, that is, to praise and worship the greatness of the Lord.
“Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art!” (The chorus of the hymn “O, Lord my God! When I in Awesome Wonder”),
James Kim
(Remembering the great works of salvation the Lord has done throughout my life)