Psalm 32: the Bit Between the Teeth.

Psalm 32:9 "be ye not as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee."

This verse sums up the attitude of non christians towards christianity and religion in general. People think that being a Christian means sticking to a bunch of rules that nobody actually wants to stick to and having to use great self control in order to be able to do so. This attitude may carry some weight in relation to certain religions which are based on sticking to rules and finding favour through carrying out good works; but this kind of attitude holds no weight with true christianity and shows the lack of understanding of those who are not forgiven by Jesus and do not have the Spiritual understanding that is gained through putting your trust in Christ. (1 corinthians 2:14 but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.)

People see Christianity as a religion and the Bible as its rulebook; if it is, that is only what man-made church has made of it. For true Christianity, that is, being forgiven by and trusting in the Lord Jesus, this is not what Christianity is. For the Bible is not a book of do's and don't's but rather a book of whys; why you should refrain from certain things and why you should do certain things. In todays' world people put great importance on the notion of freedom and believe that being 'free' is having the ability to do what they like when they like (and boy do they like to push the boundaries), but what they do not realise is that not all things are profitable and many of the things that they do in pursuit of 'freedom' are actually damaging and ultimately binding. 

For a follower of Christ, they refrain from certain things, not necessarily because they 'have' to but rather because they want to and they understand why they should do.

Many examples come to mind, some that may appear more trivial to others in some people's mind. The 3rd commandment commands to not take the Lords name in vain. In today's world blasphemy is common place. A born again Christian does not blaspheme, not because they can't but rather because they would never in a million years want to. God loves us and has given us life through Christ, therefore why would we want to use his name as a swear word and why would we want to break one of his commandments? (John 15:14 "if you love me, keep my commandments").

This example applies to all aspects of our lives and God's commandments. If we love God, we do not seek to keep God's commandments because we have to, it is not that we are bound like a horse with a bit between it's teeth, but rather it is because we want to. We recognise what God has done for us and therefore we cannot have any desire other than to live in a way that pleases Him and is worthy of the sacrifice that He made for us. 

If you find yourself in a life or death situation and a person gives their life so that you may live and have a second chance you are not going to squander that chance. You would take it and strive to do something to make it worthy of the sacrifice that the person has made for you. 

In the same way Christ gave His life for you so that you may have a second chance. Romans 6:23 states "for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is Eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." This verse shows two groups of people: the first are those who are without Christ and live with sin prevailing in their hearts; the second are those who have accepted God's gift. We are all guilty of breaking Gods commandments and find ourselves within the first category. However because God loves us He does not want us to remain in that first category and therefore sent His only son, Jesus to die on our behalf. The Lord gave himself in our place and took the punishment for that sin which we deserve. Therefore by trusting in Him we can be made free and find ourselves placed into the second category. 

God Has given us a great gift. We do not keep his commandments because we are bound by rules but we keep his commandments because we know the gift that he has given us and the cost that it came at. We do not want to squander the second chance that we have been given. We trust in Gods commandants because we know that each commandment protects and helps to build up. There is a reason why the Bible says what it says, there is a reason why God puts importance on the things that He puts importance on.

At the time of writing Psalm 32, the Lord Jesus had not yet come. God's law was prevalent and was what showed the people the problem of sin that we all have. The nation of Israel tried and failed again and again to keep Gods commandments. However like a horse with a bit between its teeth, the people would break the commandments and have to be brought back again and again.

Galatians 3:23-25 states "but before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed, wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith has come we are no longer under a schoolmaster for we are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus." 

Before Christ men had to seek in vain to try to remain pure by 'living good', but as we know from psalm 14:3 "there are none who are good no not one; all have turned aside." However today, we have Christ Jesus who came to earth as one of us and has kept those laws for us and died on our behalf taking that sin upon Himself so that now through faith in Him those natural commandments are not laws that we have to keep in order to earn God's favour, but rather they are written on our hearts through faith in Christ (Romans 2:15).

We do not keep God's commands because we have to like a horse with a bit between its teeth, but rather because we want to because we recognise the great cost that God has given to rescue us from the chains of sin and the consequences that brings because He loves us so that we may be able to appear justified before Him and no longer be bound by the snares of sin but find ourselves truly free. 

- BACChristian