^89(A)Forever, O LORD,
Your word ^[a]is settled in heaven.
⁹⁰Your ^(B)faithfulness continues throughout all generations;
You ^(C)established the earth, and it ^(D)stands.
⁹¹They stand this day according to Your ^(E)ordinances,
For ^(F)all things are Your servants.
⁹²If Your law had not been my ^(G)delight,
Then I would have perished ^(H)in my affliction.
⁹³I will ^(I)never forget Your precepts,
For by them You have ^(J)revived me.
⁹⁴I am Yours, ^(K)save me;
For I have ^(L)sought Your precepts.
⁹⁵The wicked ^(M)wait for me to destroy me;
I shall diligently consider Your testimonies.
⁹⁶I have seen a limit [end, goal] to all perfection;
Your commandment is exceedingly broad. (Psalm 119:89-96)

Israel’s history proves that men cannot perfectly obey God’s Law in their flesh. I have said that perhaps ten thousand times in my brief teaching career, but I cannot say it every time that I teach about God’s Law. The New Testament teaches that Jesus is the “end” or “goal” of the Law. This means that we who believe in him should come to the place in our understanding where we want to be like him, i.e., where his perfect character becomes the end or goal of our existence.

This explains why Jesus said, “Be perfect, even as my Father in heaven is perfect.” He meant what he said, but today the multitude of those who call themselves by his name think that he must have been kidding. After all, “no one can be perfect!” can they?

Those who claim that no one can become perfect actually say that Jesus is a liar. If he lied he is not God and he is no savior of yours or mine. But, he did not lie. All the types and shadows of Scripture prophecy that man will one day be fully formed and created into God’s image, the image of perfection. Jesus himself exemplified this image as a human on earth. He became our example. I recently completed a series of writings called “A Perfect Jewel” that teaches about some of these prophetic Scriptures.

Now consider the stanza from Psalm 119 above. God’s word is settled forever in heaven. His faithfulness, that is his “truth,” continues throughout all generations. The heavens and the earth were all created by and even today continue to exist according to and because of God’s ordinances.  God’s ordinances, precepts, and law all exist as God’s servants and manifest his truth in all creation. Therefore the psalmist proclaims, “I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have made me live (quickened me).”

Yet Paul says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2 KJV) Isn’t this “law” the psalmist keeps extolling nothing more than this law of sin and death? No, this law praised continually in Psalm 119 is the royal law which James proclaims, the Law of the King of the universe. He gave Moses bits and pieces of it and man’s history proved he could not keep even its most basic commands. Man’s last generation even calls God’s Law “evil.”

But, Paul does not teach that God’s Law is evil.  He says that it is good and that it is “spiritual.” Psalm 119 repeatedly teaches the same thing and in the last verse of this particular stanza declares, “I have seen the goal to all perfection: your commandment is exceeding broad.” In so saying he makes the startling declaration that God’s Law literally is the goal of perfection. That’s a little different than we have been taught, isn’t it?