Bow to the Head or Become the Tail

Psalm 119:65-72 Teth ט 65 Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word. 66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. 68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes. 69 The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. 70 Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law. 71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. 72 The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.

There is a moment in out walk with God where we realize He has done, and is doing, everything He said he would do when we first stepped out on our journey in faith. That as we seek Him, His light grows and magnifies and pushes back the darkness in our lives and in us. This is where we can see that He truly is who He says He is, and that He accomplishes all He says He will accomplish.

Interestingly, the letter Teth represents this same paradox. Please take a moment to look at the pictography of the letter as you read what I am about to explain. We can either bow down to the crowned man, submitting our lives to Him and receiving what He has to offer us and the magnification of His glory in our lives. In this we can see the man bowing to the crowned man as the letter shows. Or, we might choose to become the crowned man. If we choose this path, the picture becomes a snake and what should have been the bowing man in the picture becomes the tail of the snake.

The psalmist states, "before I was afflicted, I went astray." And while the affliction does not come from God, rather from the enemy, it is allowed with the intention of teaching us something about God's statues. Notice in verse 70, the psalmist says, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes." The affliction is allowed for in order to teach us something about who God is, and what He commands us to live like. God corrects those He loves.

"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Hebrews 12:6

When we stray from Him, in order that we might learn to following Him, he allows us to experience the pain and consequence of our choices apart from Him. Certainly, God does teach us that we are His children, and that we should obey and follow Him out of a "fear of the Lord." The Fear of the Lord itself, is the feeling of fear to make a move without him. A knowing that when we do things without His counsel things do not work out as God's best. Teth represents the goodness of God.

There are many incredibly enlightening versus about the fear of the Lord, pointing to this very concept, that seeking relationship with God and His instructions is the key to making sound decisions that lead to life and the fullness of it.

"The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7

"The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10

Let us look at Proverbs 8:13, "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride and arrogance, and the evil way, and the forward mouth, do I hate." This proverb directly explains the fear of the Lord, to hate evil, which is defined as pride arrogance and destructive words. It is a clear picture we have been given, and it can help us identity how exactly we exhibit the quality of fearing God. This also brings us back to the initial illustration of the choice we have before us to choose bowing to the King, or becoming the tail of the snake.

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We can humble ourselves or chose pride; we can love God and hate evil, or we can hate God and love evil; we can live in truth or we can live in lies.

We can find this elaborated upon in the blessings of God promised in Deuteronomy 28. Note the same phrase here in verse 13, as you read the promises.

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: 3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. 4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 7 The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. 8 The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. 9 The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. 11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. 12 The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

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Dear bothers and sisters, choose blessing over cursing. This will be better to you then the treasure of Gold and silver!