Psalm 111:4,5 – “Changed”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁴…gracious and compassionate [is] the LORD.

⁵He has given food to ones fearing Him;

   He remembers His covenant to the ages.

Before I leave these two verses, there is one more thought I’d like to record.

We all need to change. If we’re honest we all would admit we still have a lot of bad habits, get impatient too easily, need to love more and better, need to do a better job controlling our tongues, and on and on. But how will this change happen? That of course is the subject of a lot of best-sellers in the secular world and practically every sermon and book in the religious world. How do people really change? How can I change me?

There may be a lot of elements in the process of actually and finally effecting change, but here is what I believe I have found: what changes me the most, what changes me most permanently, what really changes me from the very depths of my heart is simply this – knowing God.

The verses before us today I believe are case-in-point. Consider them again:

⁴…gracious and compassionate [is] the LORD.

⁵He has given food to ones fearing Him;

   He remembers His covenant to the ages.

I have been pondering these words for a couple of weeks specifically and in general for almost a lifetime. As I have recorded in my earlier posts, if we actually pause and ponder on these verses for a while, they are amazing. It is the wonder of wonders that the Creator of the Universe, the Judge of all the earth, the God of Heaven is gracious and compassionate. And I so desperately need Him to be just that. Further, His faithfulness to care for us is so profound that we actually take it for granted. He is utterly and totally and completely faithful, dependable. We can completely count on Him. He provides us what we need – “He has given food to ones fearing Him” – and He never forgets His promises, He never forgets to do what He said He’d do – “He remembers His covenant to the ages.”

What does all this have to do with change? What I find is that, seeing these things in God, seeing how much I need Him to be that way, seeing how much all of that means to me, I cannot help but want to be like Him. Seeing the wonder of His grace and compassion to me makes my heart want to show grace and compassion to the people I affect. Seeing how important His faithfulness is to me makes my heart want to be faithful too, faithful to Him and faithful to the people who depend on me, to keep my promises and do what I said I’d do.

And it is not because I should. It’s not another rule to implement. It’s because I want to.

I think Martha and Mary perfectly illustrate this. Martha was busy “serving the Lord,” but what was Mary doing? Sitting at Jesus’ feet. And what did He tell Martha? “Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” Mary’s priority was simply knowing Jesus, to sit at His feet, to listen to His words, to marvel at His wisdom, to see the world through His eyes. I guess this is my point – sitting at Jesus’ feet Mary would be changed. When she rose to her feet she would be a different person. She could never be the same. Her eyes had seen the Lord. Having drunk deeply of His grace, how could she not be more gracious herself? And as we sit at His feet and ponder verses like Psalm 111:4,5, how can we walk away and not be different ourselves? Mary’s “service” to the Lord would be the overflow of a heart in love with Him. Her love to other people would be a reflection of His love to her. And all of this because she knew Him. There was probably nothing wrong with anything Martha was doing, but she had missed the proper order of life. The first priority is simply to sit at His feet and know Him and fall head over heels in love with Him. Then we rise up to “serve the Lord,” to be changed people, to make a difference in other people’s lives. And not because we “should” but because we have seen His face and we can never be the same.

I love Jesus’ words in John 17:3, “For this is eternal life, that they might know Thee …” That they might know Thee. That, says Jesus, is eternal life. That is the very essence of “the life which is eternal.”

How can I ever be the same? “Mine eyes have seen the King!”