Psalm 40:8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”
There are 55 Psalms entitled to or for the Chief Musician or the Director of Music, of which this Psalm is among that number. These were the ones chosen to lead the Levitical choir and orchestra in the Temple; it can be supposed that the first of these “Chief” Musicians were Herman and Jeduthun (1 Chronicles 16:41).
During the life of
David, that great honor and blessing fell to Asaph (Nehemiah 12:46).
Asaph’s name lingered for several generations after his death. His life and
talent were consecrated to God and used only in worship and praise for the
Lord. For these many generations following his death, the Temple singers were
known only as “sons of Asaph.”
During David’s life, God had blessed and protected him to such a grand scale that David had surrendered his life to God as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2), which is what Paul is calling on every one of us to do, as we see in this verse in Romans 12. David was God’s anointed King to lead His people and follow the directives handed down through God’s Holy Word. Instead, David said that he desired to do the will of God and that God’s Word was in his heart, meaning that he was not following the directives of God out of any obligation but because it was his heart’s desire.
We cannot follow God, surrender our lives to Him and stay in the perfect center of His will out of some misdirected motive; it must come from our heart’s desire, just like the example of David. Some say that a person who entirely surrenders to God is on fire for our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. But that fire will only continue to burn throughout one’s life if God lit the fire; if we try to light our fire, it will eventually burn out.
The animal sacrifices of the Mosaic Law would not appease the demand of God; they were just a temporary removal of sin and an insincere and shallow form of worship. The only offering that would completely satisfy God was Christ Jesus willingly laying down His perfectly sinless life, as a sacrifice for all sin, for all time.
Still today, so many out there are trying to work, in and of themselves, to find a right relationship with God, who spends countless hours fanning the flame of a self-started fire. If only they might close their eyes on their worldly pride, Christ Jesus would open their eyes to the only true Light of the World (John 8:12; 9:5; 12:46; 3:19; 1:9; 1:4; 1:7; Luke 2:32; 2 Corinthians 4:6).
No comments:
Post a Comment