Apparently there are some who wonder if I’m in denial . . . who think perhaps I’ve been putting on a front . . . who worry that I may have been suppressing my emotions as our family has worked through the circumstance introduced to us last August. Good question . . . perhaps a valid concern. Maybe I wonder it myself sometimes. But maybe there’s another answer . . . one so succinctly stated by the psalmist this morning as I approach the end of his mega love letter concerning the word of God . . .

Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.    (Psalm 119:165 ESV)

This morning the psalmist’s love for the words of God grab me as he declares, “my heart stands in awe of Your words . . . I rejoice at Your word like one who finds great spoil . . . I love Your law . . . My soul keeps Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly” (v.161-163, 167).

And in the midst of the psalmist’s adoration for God’s word is this great promise of great peace . . . of abundant shalom. There is abundant shalom for those who are crazy in love with heaven’s precepts. That, says the psalmist, is the divine cause and effect realized by those who have a passion for God’s word . . . for those, who while feeble and perhaps thick-headed, sincerely and humbly cry out, “Word of God speak!”

And if you think about it, it kind of makes sense.

Everything life can throw at us can be “received” in the context of God’s true and faithful Word. The tempests . . . the trials . . . the hard-times . . . the uncertainties . . . the confusion . . . rejection . . . death . . . everything can be encountered and filtered through a biblical mindset. A mindset that knows God is sovereign . . . that rests in the fact we are children of God . . . that remembers that the here-and-now is but a season in lives that will be lived for eternity . . . that recalls the promises of God’s word and clings to them by faith. And the result of living life through a “Bible-filter” is great peace, . . . abundant shalom!

And as I think about it further, isn’t Jesus the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6)? . . . and as I’m being conformed into His image (Rom. 8:29) shouldn’t I, by His grace, be becoming more a person of peace? And isn’t the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit love, joy, and peace (Gal. 5:22)? . . . and so, as He controls me more and more shouldn’t this piece of the fruit, i.e. the fruit of peace, be growing in my life through the power of the Spirit? And isn’t my Father the God of peace who Himself has undertaken to sanctify me completely (1Thess 5:23)? . . . and shouldn’t that manifest itself, to some degree, in practically knowing the peace of God? I’m thinkin’ . . .

Denial? Putting on a front? Suppressing the emotions? Or, the “peace of God which surpasses all understanding” (Php. 4:7) . . . available to me, and to all who love His Word . . . setting a garrison about our hearts and minds to guard and protect them . . . His word reminding us that we have access through the blood of Christ into the most holy place . . . to draw near to the throne of grace . . . to lay our brokenness and desperation before Almighty God . . . and to find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16) . . . and, in turn, know abundant shalom.

I honestly don’t think it’s about me . . . or what I’m doing . . . or what I’m not doing. It’s just God being faithful to His promise . . . it’s the heavenly dynamic that’s been promised to those on earth who desire to feed on His word.

Through a love for the Word of God and a mindset which filters life through divine principles and promises, there is abundant shalom, great peace, and nothing causes the lover of God’s word to stumble. What a promise!!!

Oh to become more and more a lover of the Word . . . with a heart that stands in awe of God’s gracious revelation to redeemed sinners . . . to rejoice at the great treasure that I have the privilege of opening up every morning . . . to drink deeply . . . to know great peace . . . to rest in abundant shalom . . . all by His grace alone . . . and all for His glory alone. Amen?