Message 60
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Scripture Reading: Psa. 119:11, 57-58, 65, 98-101, 114, 133, 135, 169, 175; 19:7b
This message continues the “day” aspect of the law. In fact, we may even say that we have come to the “noontime,” for, as we shall see, through the law as God’s living word we have the enjoyment of God Himself as our portion. To be sure, this is the highlight of all the blessings we receive through the living Word of God.
In Psalm 119 the psalmist uses different expressions to refer to the law. One of these terms is the testimony, or the testimonies (vv. 88, 24). The law is God’s testimony. As the testimony of God, the law describes God and presents a picture of what He is like. A law is always a testimony, or expression, of the person who makes the law. For example, if bank robbers could make laws, they would no doubt legalize the robbing of banks. A law is always the expression of the legislator. In like manner, the law given by God on Mount Horeb is the testimony of God as the divine Law-giver. God’s law is His portrait. As the expression of God, the law shows us what kind of God He is. This is the reason the word testimony is used in the Old Testament with respect to the law. The Ten Commandments inscribed on two stone tablets were called the testimony (Exo. 34:29; 31:18; 32:15). Because these tablets were placed in the ark, the ark was called the ark of testimony (Exo. 25:22; 30:6). Furthermore, the tabernacle in which the ark was located was called the tabernacle of testimony (Exo. 38:21).
Other terms for the law in Psalm 119 are statutes, ordinances, precepts, and judgments. The law truly judges us. Apart from God’s law, there is no yardstick of judgment. The law tells what is right and what is wrong, what is of God and what is not of God, what is for God and what is not for God. As the law judges, it measures and exposes. It also accuses and excuses, justifies and condemns. For all these reasons, the law is called God’s judgments.
According to verse 91, the law is also called God’s ordinances. Ordinances are regulations or rules. For example, in the city where you live there are ordinances about where you may park your car and where parking is prohibited. Every city has its own ordinances. Likewise, the law is the divine ordinances.
In Psalm 119 the law is also called God’s statutes (v. 12). Each of the commandments is a statute.
The psalmist also referred to the law as God’s precepts (v. 4). A precept is instruction given as a proverb in which people are taught concerning their behavior.
In the foregoing message we covered ten aspects of the blessing received by the loving seekers of God through His law as His living word: enlightenment, life supply, watering, restoration, deliverance, strength, comfort, nourishment, upholding, and safeguard. The first blessing we receive is that of enlightenment (119:130, 105; 19:8b). If our condition is right when we come to the Word of God, we shall enter into a realm of light and thus be enlightened. Then we shall receive the life supply and experience the watering. These three items go together and bring in restoration, deliverance, strength, comfort, nourishment, upholding, and safeguard. This sequence is according to spiritual experience, not according to doctrine.
We praise the Lord that the word spoken by God has been written and printed. The invention of the printing press was for the distribution of the Word of God. Millions of copies of the Scriptures have been printed and circulated around the world. Although the Bible is so available, whether or not we receive blessing from it depends on our condition. As we have pointed out, we need a proper heart. If our heart is proper when we come to the Word, we shall enter into the realm of light. God is light (1 John 1:5), and this light is consolidated in the Word. This means that the Word of God is the embodiment of God as the divine light. This is the reason verse 130 says, “The entrance of thy words giveth light.” Because the Word of God is light, the entrance, the opening, of the Word gives light. Actually, there should be no need for us to say that we receive light from the Bible concerning certain points. We should enter into a sphere of light and not just receive a particular kind of light.
Light brings in life. However, it is also true that life brings light. It is difficult to say which comes first, life or light. According to the Old Testament, light comes before life (Gen. 1:3). But according to the New Testament, life precedes light (John 1:4). Although we may not be able to say accurately which comes first in our experience, we know that as long as we have the one, we also have the other. We have light and life, and then the life supply becomes water. As we have seen, light, life, and watering bring in many other blessings.
These ten blessings will lead us to the highest blessing of all — the enjoyment of God Himself as our portion. In 119:57 the psalmist declares, “Thou art my portion, O Jehovah” (Heb.). When we have God as our portion, we have not only light, life, water, and all the benefits these bring us, but we have the very God Himself. Some may think that the Old Testament saints did not enjoy God as their portion. But the writer of Psalm 119 says definitely that the Lord was his portion. Because the psalmist kept God’s word, God could be his portion. It is a very great matter to have God as our portion.
God can be our portion because He is real and not a superstition. If God had not been a reality to him, the psalmist could not have testified that the Lord was his portion. Everything superstitious is vain, unreal, and not at all substantial. How could something vain and unreal be our portion? It would be impossible. When the psalmist declared that God was his portion, he was enjoying and touching something very real.
In order for God to be our portion, He must also be very practical, present, enjoyable, and available. How could something become our portion if it were not near and available? And how could something be our portion if it were not enjoyable and practical? For many Jews, Moslems, and even Christians, God is far away. To them, God is not practical, present, enjoyable, and available. In their experience, they do not have Him as their portion.
I can testify from personal experience that my God truly has become my portion. I have never seen Him with my eyes or touched Him with my hands, but in my inner being I enjoy Him all day long. Some may claim that this is merely a psychological phenomenon. However, psychological phenomena usually do not last very long; yet the enjoyment of God as our portion is long-lasting. God is ever the same; He does not change. This One who is real, practical, present, enjoyable, and available is my portion. I am sure that you also have had some experience of God as your portion. Even though your experience may be limited, you cannot deny that to you God is real, practical, present, enjoyable, and available. He truly is our portion.
We all face problems in life. From years of experience I have found that there is just one antidote to our problems. This antidote is all-inclusive and very effective — it is God Himself. He alone is the answer to our problems and the cure for all our troubles. If we do not allow God to come into our situation, life will be nothing more than an empty dream. Without God, all our dreams first become problems, then troubles, and ultimately turn into death. But if we take the Lord and apply Him to our situation, things will be different. We shall be able to testify that our portion is not this matter or that thing. Our portion is not a good marriage, a high position, a large bank account, or a piece of real estate. Our portion is the Lord Himself. Because He is living, real, and practical, we can taste Him and enjoy Him.
We enjoy God as our portion through the Word and by the Spirit. We may compare the Word and the Spirit to an antenna and a ground wire which are the means for divine “electricity” to be conveyed to us. When we come to the Word with the Spirit, we receive God. Yes, we enjoy light, life, and watering. However, it is actually God Himself who is light, life, and living water to us in our experience. He is even our restoration, deliverance, strength, comfort, nourishment, upholding, and safeguard. By contacting the Word in a proper way, we receive the Lord Himself. We do not receive light, life, or water as things apart from Him. No, the light, life, and living water we enjoy are actually God Himself. God is also our salvation, food, drink, comfort, and protection. Every aspect of the first ten blessings we receive through the living Word is God Himself.
The declaration in Psalm 119 that the Lord is our portion is extremely crucial. We can receive light because God is our portion. We can have life and living water also because He is our portion. All the different blessings come to us through the Word because the Lord is our portion. As long as we have Him, we have everything. I repeat, the blessings we receive through the living Word are not things apart from God Himself. They are different attributes or virtues of the living God as our portion. In all kinds of situations, we may have deliverance and salvation because God is our portion. All the blessings we receive from the living Word of God bring us to the Lord Himself. The testimony of the psalmist was that the Lord was his portion because he kept His word. By keeping God’s word, he participated in God Himself and enjoyed Him. When we keep the Lord’s words, we also enjoy Him as our portion.
Only of the Bible can it be said that the author of the book is the portion of those who read it. Many Chinese have studied the writings of Confucius, but Confucius has not become their portion. Likewise, students do not experience the authors of their textbooks as their portion. But there is one book — the Word of God — whose Author eventually becomes our portion. The more we come to the Bible in the right way, the more the Author of this book, God Himself, becomes our portion.
As we enjoy God Himself, we also enjoy His countenance. Immediately after speaking of God as his portion, the psalmist says, “I entreated thy countenance with my whole heart” (v. 58, Heb.). It is also true in our spiritual experience that when we enjoy God, we desire to see His face. According to verse 58, the psalmist entreated the Lord’s countenance. This expression is rather unusual. Have you ever heard of someone praying by entreating the Lord’s countenance? If you consider your experience, you will realize that out of love for the Lord, there have been times when you longed to see His face. You wanted to be under the shining of His countenance. His countenance was all-important to you, and you wanted nothing else but to remain under His countenance and enjoy it. In verse 135 the psalmist prayed, “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant.” This indicates that the psalmist also enjoyed the shining of God’s face.
The utterances of the psalmist about the Lord’s countenance and the shining of His face are not doctrinal teachings; rather, they are words of experience. The psalmist was not just taught about these things; he experienced them. I also can testify that although I was never taught to seek the Lord’s countenance or the shining of His face, from my experience I have learned how marvelous and wonderful it is to enjoy the Lord Himself, His countenance, and the shining of His face. In seeking the Lord’s countenance, I experience the shining of His face.
In his book The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence emphasizes the presence of God. However, I do not recall that he said much, if anything, about the shining of the Lord’s face. The psalmist’s expression regarding the shining of the Lord’s face is very sweet, more dear and intimate than Brother Lawrence’s words about God’s presence. We should pray, “O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon me. Lord, I long to enjoy Your shining countenance.” To enjoy the shining of the Lord’s face is richer and more satisfying than simply experiencing His presence.
If you are faithful in contacting the Lord through the Word, you also will experience the shining of His countenance. Your desire will be to remain under this pleasant, delightful shining. Such an experience and enjoyment prove that our God is real, present, practical, and available. What we have is not merely doctrine, but the genuine enjoyment of Him.
Some say that they find it difficult to believe in God. But because I have tasted Him and enjoyed so much of Him, I find it even more difficult to deny that God exists. When I was a child, my mother loved me very much. But she could not give me the kind of enjoyment I have in the Lord. Only God Himself affords the supreme enjoyment. I do not have the words to utter how wonderful is the enjoyment of the shining of the Lord’s countenance.
To experience the shining of the Lord’s face is even easier than to experience the shining of light by turning on the switch. When I was a child, we did not have electricity in our house. We used old-fashioned oil lamps. It was my responsibility to keep the lamps clean and supplied with oil, a task I disliked very much. How happy I was when electricity was installed! No longer did I need to clean the lamps and fill them with oil. To get light in a room, all I had to do was turn on the switch. Enjoying God is even easier than this. Because we have been regenerated, God is now in our spirit. He is the light, and our spirit is the switch. If we want to experience Him and enjoy His shining, we simply need to turn on the switch by exercising our spirit.
Once God comes into us, He never leaves us. This fact, however, is not realized by all Christians. Many years ago, a certain booklet on the Spirit put out by a German mission was popular in China. In this booklet there was a picture of a dove, which represented the Spirit. According to the picture in this booklet, if we are good, the dove stays with us. But if we offend the Spirit, the dove flies away. At first, I appreciated this book and valued it highly. However, Watchman Nee wrote articles in protest to the teaching that the Holy Spirit leaves us. The dove of the Spirit never flies away. He always remains with us; we cannot chase Him away. At most, we can cause Him to be unhappy. In Paul’s words, we may grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30). If the Spirit fled from us whenever we displeased Him, it would not be possible to grieve the Spirit. The fact that we can grieve Him proves that He never leaves us. God is with us even when we lose our temper. However, when we are tempted to be angry and lose our temper, we should call on the Lord. Then the One who is always with us will rescue us from our anger. How real, available, and practical He is! With the ancient psalmists, we who believe in Christ can testify from our experience, not from mere doctrine, that the Lord is real and that we enjoy Him.
Another blessing received by the loving seekers of God through the living Word is that of enjoying God as their hiding place and shield. The psalmist declared, “Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word” (v. 114). When we enjoy God as our portion and experience the shining of His countenance, He becomes our covering and hiding place. From every direction — top and bottom, front and back, right and left — He covers us and hides us. Because of our commission to bear the Lord’s testimony, we face opposition and attack. But we have a hiding place, and this hiding place is God Himself. Nearly every day in my prayer I tell the Lord that I take Him as my hiding place. Often I say, “Lord, You are a high tower to me. Teach me to hide in You.”
As the hiding place, the Lord is for our rest and our living, but as the shield, He is for our protection in fighting. When a soldier goes forth to battle, he cannot bring his house with him. In order to fight, he must come out of the house. But he still has a shield to protect him from the enemy. Likewise, whenever we must face the enemy, God will be a shield to protect us. Because we are here living and fighting, we need both a hiding place and a shield. For our living, God is our hiding place; for our fighting, He is our shield.
The psalmist also enjoyed God’s help (v. 175b) and well-dealing (v. 65). God’s well-dealing is His dealing with us in a way that fits His purpose and our need. God is never wrong in the way He deals with us. His intention is always good, and His motive is always pure. Because God is sovereign, He cannot be wrong. He has a purpose concerning us, and we ourselves have a need. As God deals with us, He cares both for His purpose and our need.
We all have complained to God at times. If we do not complain openly, we at least complain inwardly. Sometimes when I have been tempted to question the Lord’s dealing with me, I have had to stop short. I realized that God’s dealing was His well-dealing.
A brother may be tempted to complain to the Lord about his wife, or a sister about her husband. But God gave you a particular wife or husband according to His well-dealing. Again I say, God cannot be wrong. His intention is good, His motive is pure, and His way is right. Therefore, His dealing with us is always His well-dealing.
Through the living Word of God we may also enjoy God as our wisdom, understanding, discernment, and knowledge (Psa. 119:66, 98-100, 169; 19:7b). Those who enjoy God have understanding. The less we enjoy Him, the less understanding we have. Lacking understanding, we may conduct ourselves in a foolish manner. But the more we enjoy the Lord, the more understanding we receive.
It is rather easy to define knowledge, but it is difficult to define wisdom, understanding, and discernment. Knowledge is a matter of knowing things. Compared to wisdom, understanding, and discernment, knowledge is superficial. I may know a certain brother and his wife by name. This is knowledge.
I would not try to define wisdom, understanding, or discernment, but from my experience I can say something about them. Whereas knowledge is related to things we have learned, wisdom is not a matter of learning. It consists of something deep within us, mainly in our spirit. Wisdom is both deeper and higher than knowledge. Understanding involves both wisdom and knowledge. If you have knowledge but not wisdom, you cannot have genuine understanding. Discernment requires all three — knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. According to spiritual mathematics, if we add together knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, we shall have discernment. However, the matter becomes much simpler when we realize that as long as we experience the Lord and enjoy Him, we have knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and discernment. Out of his experience, the psalmist could say that because he enjoyed God Himself, he was wiser than his enemies and understood more than the ancients and all his teachers. Enjoying God through the Word, he gained knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and discernment. In fact, God was all these things to him.
I believe the young people can testify that when they are far from the Lord in their experience, they often act in a foolish way and are short of understanding. But when they turn to the Lord and experience Him, even a little, they immediately have wisdom and understanding. This understanding comes not from education or training; it comes from loving the Lord, contacting Him, and inwardly turning to Him. Knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and discernment issue from our enjoyment of the Lord.
Through the living Word of God the loving seekers of the Lord are also preserved from sin (v. 11), from stumbling (v. 165, Heb.), and from every evil way (v. 101). It is very easy to sin, go astray, or be stumbled. Many Christians are bothered by these three things. But if we enjoy the Word and daily get into it, we shall be preserved from sinning, from going astray, and from being stumbled. Our footsteps will be established, and we shall be overcomers (v. 133). No iniquity will have dominion over us. All negative things will be under our feet. This also is a result of enjoying God through His living Word.
If our contact with the Bible does not bring in the harvest of blessings covered in this message and in the foregoing message, our contact with the Word must be wrong in some way. The proper approach to the Word of God should issue in all these blessings. If we come to the Word in a right way, we shall enjoy the Lord’s enlightenment, life, watering, restoring, and delivering. Ultimately, we shall enjoy God Himself as our portion. Then we shall have knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and discernment; we shall be preserved from every evil way; we shall be established; and we shall be overcomers, those who are above every negative thing.
