THE GOSPEL OF PSALMS

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Mat 5:16-18)

  The Law is the Torah; they are the five books of the Law, and as they are five, the Torah is called the “Pentateuch” – the five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Law was expanded upon, as Jesus explained when he said, “These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me” (Luke 24:44). Thus, Jesus indicated that the entire Old Testament is tantamount to the Law, and his ministry (the things he spake) are the entire Bible. The letters in the New Testament are commentary on the Word of God and the sayings of Jesus. He also noted that all the Old Testament was “concerning me.”
  All my life, as I read the Old Testament, I thought it was history about God and the Jews. One day the truth slapped me in the face; as I contemplated Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only son (as Ishmael had been emancipated), I thought, The willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his only son is a portrayal of Yahweh’s willingness to sacrifice his only Son, Jesus. That slap of truth was that the Old Testament was concerning Jesus, and that the Law was about respecting the words of Jesus. If only I had understood Luke long before, I could have saved myself much grief!
  The summary of the Law are what Christians call the Ten Commandments. The Jews got it right, as they call them the “Ten Words.” Why is that? They were written on stone by the “finger of God” (Exod 31:18).  Hidden in the Ten Words of Jesus was this tidbit: “Shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Exod 20:6). God manifested to mankind is Jesus. God showed his writing finger to Moses. Moses did not see God’s Face (Jesus) but he did see Jesus’s finger!
  Jesus’s Purpose was to show mercy to those who are righteous. His mercy is salvation, and salvation is for those who love him. Then Exodus 20:6 has a contingency, “and who keep my commandments.” Hence, commandments are how righteous people manifest love to God. Mercy manifests Jesus to us, and obedience manifests Christians to Jesus.
  The purpose of the Law has divided Christians since the days of Christ. It imploded with John Calvin’s response to Jacobus Arminius. Calvin’s response was the five points of grace, or five-point Calvinism. The five doctrinal items define sola gratia (grace alone) for mercy. “By grace alone” is of the Doctrine of Christ. It was Christ who was crucified, and our part was as the crucifiers. Sinning is crucifying God in that He died for all the sins of mankind. People had nothing at all to do with redemption, but they had all to do with crucifying. Any Christian must believe in sola gratia. Jesus referred to God who does the saving when he referred to the serpent on the pole which saved the Hebrews from dying during the exodus from sin (Egypt) and safety from the Serpent (Pharaoh.)
  In that verse, Jesus referred to the mercy that he showed to those who would see his purpose; that the Law has much ado with salvation! Jesus pointed to Moses to make his point about mercy and grace. He did not point to Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John! Jesus pointed his finger at himself.
  The bronze serpent on the pole, seeming to drip with blood, was what Jesus’s crucifixion did to the Serpent. For the Hebrews who looked at that “tree” with the Serpent dead upon it, realized that God would do that. What does the Law have to do with salvation? Quite a bit. Jesus, just as the prophets, psalmists, and such, further fulfilled the Law. Jesus defined the Law as two in one: The Greatest Commandment and the one like unto it:

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Mat 22:35-36)

  Always, when those verses are read, the focus in on the Greatest Commandment (to love). What is missed is the last verse about the Law of Love hanging on the Law and the prophets. Jesus pointed at his Ten Words written by his finger! He implied that the Greatest Commandment and the one like unto it hang from the Ten Commandments. It turns out that the first four Words of Jesus is the Greatest Commandment and the last six Words are the one like unto it – to love one’s neighbor as himself.  Hence, the Ten Words are the Ten Prescriptions for eternal healing, and each Word is one of the prescriptions for love!
  Jesus not only pointed to the Law and prophets, but he also pointed to the psalms (Luke 24:44). The longest psalm is numbered Psalm 119. It makes sense that Jesus was pointing to that Psalm to explain the Law and the terms of the Law. Mosaic Law is the body of Laws from the Old Testament. Many are Moses’s words and are ways to observe God’s Laws. They were written on manuscripts which would decay, and were regulations to see that a remnant of the Jews would survive their times to fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant. However, Jesus’s actual Words were written on stone for perpetuity. They would always be efficacious in some manner for blessings (bliss in Heaven).
  It turns out that “Commandments” is not the best translation from the Hebrew. The Ten Words of Jesus is much better; thank you Jews! Like any parent, their words are law, and children show respect for the law by obedience. Obedience is as a spiritual hug and a verbal, “I love you!” Obedience to the Ten Words are expressions of love for Jesus. All ten are the metrics of love. How can I love you God? “Thou shalt not have other gods before me.” How can I love you friend? “Thou shalt not steal from me or lie to me.” How can I love you, enemy of mine? “Love me as you would a friend!”
  Look at the pointer Jesus left, as he pointed toward the psalms:

Lord, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.

My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.

I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee. (Psalm 166-168)

  David, likely the writer, wrote that he loves to keep God’s Commandments! Why would that concern God? Because the Commandments are God’s Will for things for us to do. “Will” is the key word. David did not say that he was required to keep the Law, but loved to! His will was in harmony with God’s Will. His willingness to please God, just as Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice, is the difference between must and want to. Psalm 119 is filled with passages that indicate that commandment-keeping is pleasurable, and not a burden. People’s attitudes about rules is what makes them enjoyable or a burden. Indeed, keeping the Law because it is a MUST is burdensome and makes people slaves to laws.
  The only MUST BE in the Bible is to not be amazed at this, but, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). Commands are not MUSTS. They are DESIRES. Christians desire to have no other gods! Why? Because they reciprocate God’s love for the ultimate sacrifice of Himself! Christians must desire to bear only truth. Why? To demonstrate love and respect to others. Now, perhaps you can see why the Law is important but not saving. They are not the cause for the effect of salvation, but rebirth is the cause for the affect of loving the Law.
  Now let’s look some more at Psalm 119:

My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.

Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts.

I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord; and thy law is my delight.

Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me. (Psalm 119:172-175)

  Christians, when born again, twist from unrighteousness to righteousness. It is a process just as darkness twisting from light (from Geneses 1). What is righteousness? “Thy Word” is Jesus, from that psalm, and David says, “All thy (Jesus’s) commandments (Words) are righteousness.” The Ten Words of Jesus summarizes the entire Law.
  David longed for God’s salvation. He delighted (was overjoyed) to keep the Law. For his soul to live on (salvation), the Law is how to praise Jesus, and the Law is how Jesus is to judge David and us! The Law has two purposes: (1) For us to judge our own degree of love so that we are without excuse, and (2) for Jesus to judge us with the same metric and a fair scale.  How could we be held accountable if God did not decree standards for love in that love is what saves in the end?

My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.

The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts. (Psalm 119:110-111)

  Christians cannot forget the Law. Things that we love, we reflect upon often. To love the Law is to keep it in mind continually. However, the cunning Serpent uses the Law to his advantage. Given one Law in the beginning, the Serpent figured out a way to get at God; to trick his creatures to misuse the Law. Eve added to it, and was damned. Never can we add to the Law that it is redeeming, for it is not. It is more behaviorial attitudes in gratitude for spiritual safety! The Devil uses the Law to ensnare non-discerning people. Eve erred. David promised not to do as Eve did. However, when he was in sin, he was snared by the Evil One, and his “snare” was naked Bathsheba.
  Why is “Thou shalt not covet,” one of the Commandments? So that we won’t do as David did. Look at all the consequences of David’s coveting. He sinned against Uriah, and had him killed because David coveted Bathsheba. By grace, God covered all those sins, because one sin led to another, and David sinned all Ten Words in some form or the other!

  The following says so much:

Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.

Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. (Psalm 119:132-133)

  The psalmist asked for mercy, and the giving of mercy is by grace. Psalm 119 is all about by grace alone, but it is predicated on love! David asked that his steps be ordered. Jesus’s Word is the order in which people are to step. The continuous “stepping” is the condition for mercy; not stepping to a drill sergeant’s commands, but to a loving God’s gentle Words!
  Why “step” according to the Way of Jesus? So that iniquitous behavior will not “step” on us. If we step to Master Jesus, the steps of Devil can never master us! That is the safety that Jesus provides along the Way until we are out of the way of Satan in the end!
  I encourage the reader to read and study Psalm 119 yourselves. I have merely touched on “the Gospel of Psalms.” Psalm 119 is full of mercy and grace, and the significance of the Law. Abandoning the Law of God is denying the Words of Jesus.

DAVID DANCED (credit: pininterest)