A man of understanding
[Psalms 119:97-104]
Today, there is an interesting article in the Korean Gospel Newspaper of the America and I want to share with you. The article is about a questionnaire to 3,338 senior pastors of about 3,000 Korean churches throughout the America. The result of analyzing the contents of 333 who responded double, the biggest difficulty in the immigration ministry was conflict between pastors and church members (21.35%). Ask the question why the conflict between pastors and church members is the biggest challenge for pastors like me. One of the reasons seems to be that we the pastors lack interpersonal skills or problem or conflict resolution skills. If we think about this in light of Psalms 119:97-104, I think that these conflicts become a great difficulty for the pastors in the ministry because they lack understanding or insight.
"Understanding or insight" is defined in a biblical dictionary as "relates to intelligent knowledge of the reason". It is also referred to as "wise dealing and use of good practical common sense" (Dictionary). However, the problem is that the word of prophecy of Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” is being fulfilled because we have rejected the knowledge. In more detail, the prophetic word that God's people are destroyed is being fulfilled because “priests”, in modern words, pastors like me have rejected the knowledge of God. It seems that the ministry is a mixed worldly principle and method rather than doing the ministry according to the principles of the word of God as we pursue the knowledge of the world by throwing away the knowledge of God. The cause is lack of knowledge of God, that is, lack of understanding. Since we pastors who don’t use good practical common sense, one of the consequences can be the conflict between pastors and church members.
This is what Jeremiah 9:24 says: “but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.” Looking at this word, the understanding that God is pleased with can be thought of in two ways: (1) knowing God and (2) realizing that God exercise lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on the earth. With this knowledge and understanding, I would like to think about three things about who is a man of understanding or what kind of person is the man of understanding with hope that I can become a such pastor or a saint with understanding who pleases God.
First, the man of understanding meditates on the word of the Lord.
Look at Psalms 119:99 – “I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.” The psalmist said that because he meditated on the word of the Lord, he had more insight than all his teachers. This is talking about the intellectual side. That is, the psalmist got to know the Lord through the word of the Lord and also the actions of the Lord. Having tasted the fruits of these two meditations, the psalmist was more understanding than all his teachers. Further, he became wiser than his enemies by the Lord’s commandments (v. 98).
As we go through our daily lives, we often encounter the temptations of our enemy, Satan. Satan is much wiser than we are. Of course, that wisdom is perverse wisdom, but it is clear that Satan knows the word of the Bible more and better than we do. He is just talking to us by twisting the word of God he knows. Therefore, we should not fall into this satanic plots and let him distort our hearts. In order to win this intellectual fight or mind fight, we must eagerly meditate on the word of God. Therefore, we must sharpen our minds with the word as if sharpening the sword of the Holy Spirit. In addition, we must let His word to control our minds and hearts. Then we will be wiser than our enemy and will be able to fight him and win.
Second, the man of understanding loves the word of the Lord.
Look at Psalms 119:97 – “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” The psalmist, who meditated on the word of the Lord all day long, was a man who loved His word. He wasn’t the man who knew the word of God only intellectually. He was the man who loved His word very much. This speaks of the emotional side. The saying that he loved the Lord's word tells us that he loved the Lord, and he was happy to hear the Lord's voice. The psalmist who had understanding wanted to know the Lord more and more. He also wanted to experience more and more that the Lord was working in his life through His word.
Although the word of God we know is the same word of God as the psalmist knew, it seems like so many times it is too hard for us to know that even in many sermons and Bible studies, God is working in our lives through His word. Although we know His word in our heads and we proclaim to know Him, it seems that there are so many times we cannot experience the Lord in our lives. Therefore, we reflect ourselves on whether we are truly loving the word of God or not.
Third and last, the man of understanding observes the word of the Lord.
Look at Psalms 119:100 – “I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts.” This is the volitional aspect. The psalmist devoted himself to observe the word of the Lord, not only intellectually and emotionally, but also willingly. More specifically, how the psalmist dedicated himself to keep His word can be thought of in three ways:
(1) The psalmist had restrained his feet from every evil way.
Look at Psalms 119:101 – “I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word.” We live by making decisions every day. Some decisions are made by our faith, but in too many times, our decisions are guided by unbelief and temptation by Satan. We are standing at a crossroads every day as if there is one path of truth and ninety-nine satanic paths of temptation or lies ahead of us. Satan’s paths of temptation and false paths are so clearly visible to our eyes. The ninety-nine Satanic paths of temptation or false paths are good for food, a delight to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise. Statistically, we are far more likely to choose the Satan’s ninety-nine false paths rather than a single path of truth. Therefore, there are many times when we lay one step down on Satan's false paths, suffer in guilt, and wander in confusion. But the psalmist didn’t. He didn't even set foot on every evil way. He forbade his feet at all. How amazing was he who had the power of His word? It was the life of the man of understanding who pleased God.
(2) The psalmist didn’t turn aside from the word of the Lord.
Look at Psalms 119:102 – “I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me.” How many times do we use words and actions that are not related to the Word of God every day? How many emotional aspects are inappropriate as God's people? I know the common sense that fish cannot live outside the fish tank (water). But aren’t we ignoring the eternal truth that God's children cannot live apart from Heavenly Father's word? We are breathing and living our daily life today in a spiritual state separated from His word. We have to seriously reflect on whether we are living the life of the (spiritually) dead or not. The psalmist confessed that he had not left the word of the Lord (v. 102). When we get to the end of life, we must make this confession too.
(3) The psalmist hated every false way.
Look at Psalms 119:104 – “From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.” The psalmist who meditated on the word of the Lord, and who loved the word of truth hated every false way because their minds and hearts were filled with only His word. He had holy wrath because he knew God's word whole personally (mind, emotion, will), saturated with His word of truth. In other words, those who love the truth have no choice but to hate every false way. Lies couldn’t penetrate the the psalmist because he loved the truth.
When I think about how the psalmist devoted himself to the word of God, I found the answer in Psalms 119:103 – “How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” The psalmist who knew the sweet taste of the Lord's words couldn’t help but devote himself more and more to the Lord's word. The psalmist who meditated on His word, loved it, and devoted himself to keeping it, was a believer who devoted himself to the word of God. Therefore, the Bible says that he is a man of understanding. I hope and pray that all of us will be able to become people of understanding like the psalmist and experience the happiness of life of those who keep the word of God.
With the heart of asking the Lord to change the foolish me into a man of understanding,
James Kim
(Desiring to be saturated with the word of God)