Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
When the sanctuary service was the center of Israelite national interest, there were two ways to observe the annual day of atonement: (1) old covenant, and (2) new covenant. Both are explained in Leviticus--the fear response (1) of being destroyed or "cut off" (23:29, 30), and (2) the joy of being "clean from all your sins," "a sabbath of solemn rest," reconciled or made "one" with God (16:29-31).
What is troubling to us is the phrase, "you shall afflict your souls, and do no [worldly] work at all," which included fasting. Where was there any joy in that?
One day in the year without pampering appetite! The key idea in "afflict your souls" is simply self-denial--a truly joyous experience to anyone who has been a slave to an addiction. Freedom from the tyranny of self; mastery over your self-destructive habits. "I will walk at liberty" is the theme (Psalm 119:45), because a grand miracle has taken place in your heart, "for I have sought Your precepts" (vs. 94). "O how I love Your law! it is my meditation all the day" (vs. 97). "How sweet are Your words to my taste! ... Through Your precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way" (vss. 103, 104).
In a nutshell, Psalm 119 is cosmic Day of Atonement living, all the way through. It's the joyous hymn of being reconciled in heart to God, not wearing a hair shirt or starving wholesome desires that are God-implanted. It's the opposite of fanaticism. It's dwelling on earth in the atmosphere of heaven. It's sharing with Christ His "one-ness" with His Father; it's following the Lamb "wherever He goes" (Rev. 14:4), and loving every minute of it.
And what changes us who are naturally worldly and self-centered, so we want this joyous reconciliation with God? Believing His New Covenant, something called the gospel.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 10, 2001.
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