Tuesday 10 November 2015

Psalm: Psalm 119:161-176

  Background

Verses 10 to 12 are not the most elegantly written of verses.However, the main point seems to be that the salvation which therecipients of the letter have received was prophesied through theinspiration of the Spirit of Christ. Peter does not tell us whothese prophets were but he probably had the Servant Song of Isaiah53 in mind as he wrote of the prophet's prediction of Christ'ssuffering and his subsequent glory. He also later quotes from thispassage (1 Peter 2:19-25). Peter seems to make a clearlink here between the experience of suffering and future glory.

The prophets that Peter wrote of were no longer living, but hetells us that they knew they were serving generations to come inthe form of the original readers of this letter, ourselves todayand all who have responded to the gospel in between times; a trulyinspiring idea. Peter highlights the great treasure of this goodnews of salvation by telling us that the angels long to look intothese things. Perhaps we can picture an image of angels craningtheir necks in order to see what wonderful things God is doing.

Verses 13-16 start with the word "therefore" and there follows acall to holy living. This holy living should be motivated"therefore" because of this "living hope"(v.3) of an "imperishable inheritance" (v.4) in which we have "indescribable joy" (v.8) which was "testified in advance" (v. 11) by the prophets andhas the angels craning their necks to look at it (v. 12).

And this holiness is achieved by 'preparing your minds' (v. 13),disciplining ourselves and not conforming to our desires. Butperhaps the greatest motivation to holy living are the words: "Youshall be holy, for I am holy" (v. 16). This phrase appears severaltimes in the book of Leviticus (eg Leviticus 11:44-45) but in particular inchapters 17 to 26; a section referred to as the Holiness Code;writings that contain a code of conduct, not just for priests butfor everyone in Israel.

To Ponder

• What would it mean for you to serve generations as yetunknown?

• Are all desires wrong and to be disciplined against? Why?