“How joyful are those who fear the Lord – all who follow His ways.” (Verse 1) No, it doesn’t say “who follow all His ways”. As Christians we know we still sin. I remember the night I received Christ as my Savior; I was so thrilled, so happy inside, I felt so clean.
But when I talked with the head counselor, he told me not to trust in my feelings because they would change. I didn’t understand that night, but it didn’t take long. Soon I found myself committing the same old sins; I didn’t want to; I didn’t intend to; it was a response I had no control over.
Soon Satan was whispering in my ear, “How can you claim to be a Christian when you do that?” I felt so much guilt, and I didn’t know how to deal with it. It was an emotionally crippling experience. Every six months our church would hold revival services, and I would go forward to rededicate my life to the Lord. But rededication didn’t change me; not because I didn’t want it to, but I had no idea what I was dealing with or how to handle it.
I think that in most churches we expect people to figure things out on their own, and that maybe why many Christians continue to live with guilt and doubt. We have a tendency to think, “they are saved now; that is the most important thing because they will go to heaven someday.”
But the Bible is about so much more than that. Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and John wrote letters to the churches of what life is about after we are saved. I don’t believe God had those men waste scrolls, ink, quills, and time for just a “hello and goodbye, we are thinking about you.”
Paul addressed this specifically in Romans 7:21-8:4. “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is Jesus Christ our Lord. . .So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” (Verses 7:24-25 & 8:1)
So, “How joyful are those who fear the Lord – all who follow His ways.” Everyone who understands how much we have inherited because of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.