Psalm 43:1-5 KJV
1 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
2 For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
4 Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.
5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

The Sermon on the Mount impart can be found in Matthew 5 impart posted in Continual Scripture Study for a cross reference of today lesson in Psalms. The idea that Christ taught Old Testament law is clear as he minister to the people. Now the author of Psalm 43 is not clear but what is clear is the teaching hear was being taught in the New Testament. The first verse talking about God judging a person against an ungodly nation, and request for deliverence from deceitful and unjust men. What is judgment but against evil ways, and corruption/deceit or just plain evil. Plead my cause before you, a need of intercessor at the time it was the religious priest, who administer sacrificial laws and rules, yet there was one great High Priest coming his name was Jesus who would plead our case before God. Those of faith can perhaps relate when they get in a situation of not their making, a situation not caused by their sin but the sin of deceitful and evil people.

This week President Joe Biden visited his Holiness Pope Francis of Catholic Vatican in Rome. He is called holiness not because he is a perfect man, but perhaps more on the leadership role he is suppose to exhibit among not only his peers, but also the people true humility as he perform his duties not only to the best of his abilities, but trying to do so with purity of heart and faith. Or that what he suppose to do. Most ministers are suppose to do this. The point being the church is suppose to choose holy people of God to lead the churches. Catholic church and even Methodist leave that role to the clergy and make clergy subject to other church elders, the fallacy if evil group of men get into power. It happens it even happened in the jewish day, however these evil group of leaders seldom get to far up in rank. We see our minister even not in the Catholic church have a close relationship with God, trying hard to keep their purity of faith as they minister to the people. A hard task when our human nature sometimes fails the minister. Yet in all in all, the call to serve God is often stronger then the ministers human nature, even when it comes to fasting and praying.

The writer is asking for the light of God's word to lead him, the light not of man but the light of the word to get him to the holy hill, a reference to Jerusalem as well as to God dwelling place. To hold him to get him to God's city. Then the psalmist said he will go to the altar of God. To go to the altar is to make sacrifices for sin and so forth. God would be light of Psalmist countenance. In other words God would be his judge, with the word of God bring conviction on his life for change.

A little note on this the Psalmist is going through a form of sanctificiation, baptism and justification as he heads toward Jerusalem and the altar of sacrifice. His purity coming from the laws, sacrifices for sin, and the cleansing process both mentally on his journey to the Temple, and also as he enters the temple he will purge the road dirt from his skin in the bath water in the temple before making sacrifices to God. The first time this is seen is at the time of Jacob as far cleansing before going to the place of sacrifice but it continued into the Levitical laws. Not only inward cleansing but outward cleansing. This custom actually is not strange to other religions, perhaps the one thing some groups of people have in common even to the worship of false gods. Yet at a believer in Christ one baptism is sufficient for our needs because the santification process continue after one first gets saved and baptized as a demonstration of faith in Christ Jesus who purges us from all sin upon belief and confession of our sins. Saying I am a sinner and receive Jesus Christ as atonement for my sins and receive his salvation for my sins.

We get to the sermon on the mount, and Jesus is sitting on a hill sitting and talking to the crowd of on lookers, and he begins to preach first the blessing of the purity of heart upon the people, then he begins to speak about the Psalms 43 whether anyone realizes it or not, and how the light on the hill, and then he goes into the topic of different sins concerning the law. I want to focus on the light on the hill. Jesus being the light to the world. He sitting on the hill and he is the light of the world. No pun intended on his part I am sure, but Jesus has a way of talking to the people about things with them having blinders to his word. The light on the hill in the Old Testament was God the Father, the word also being light to the people. For Christians the light is Jesus. However he also talking about the light of Jerusalem. A city on a hill can not be hidden. Hills were a good place to fight from in Old Testament day, a good place to build a fortress, but as weapons changed it no longer was it safe. Jesus explains he did not come to destroy the law(which is the light) but to fulfill the law. Heaven and Earth could not pass away until the whole law was fullfilled. Israel understood a new time was coming when Heaven and Earth would pass away that the Judgment of God would come, but they also knew the Messiah would come to fullfill the law. To obey the law in perfection. Every part of the law. Often Jesus is looked at being perfect man, obedient to the law of faith, the law of the prophets. There was no law he broke except the one that he made himself equal to God, however knew not nor understood who he was. That he was the light of the world, but the people were also the light of the world. People of faith, people of purity, and people that strived to obey the law. With the knowledge we have of what is to come, we know without Christ coming a second time, to prove who he is, heaven and earth will not pass away til his return. This leaves us back at Matthew 5, when Jesus begins to talk about the fact they were the light of the world, why because they made known to the world by their city the reality of their God. They testified of God by the light in the city, God's holy city and temple.

When I began to really study God's word on my own as a young adult the one thing that got me was the light of faith, Light being the testimony, the place of worship in Old Testament, and then Jesus being the light as we are also the light, Jesus being the word of God. We are not the word of God but we carry the light of God through the testimony of God's only begotten Son in our hearts. We carry his word and his teaching. Christ being our Savior and Lord, Christ being God's word: the light: the only begotten Son. These three description being the key to how God's word spreads and is taken into our very being, to save, to judge, to sometimes condemn us for our disobedience in the form of correction, so we get inline with his word. Yet this was true of the Old Testament if we only take the word light/the law/God and use it as revelation of who we worship, obey and serve. How we walk in a form of being cleansed first through word, which is the light, by God through the sacrificial law and then his Son and how all these things were light to the world because of our own baptism and sanctification process through his word to the rest of the world.

No you not going to get this in a basic teaching, because most think it confuses people on whether they obey the Old Testament God or the New Testament God no understanding they trully are the same, and yet part of each other. Being equal, and yet seperated so we can see God in his light of both individual, teaching the law as Christ taught it, and then dying to the law of man because of his obedience to the law of faith. Yet when we receive Christ as Savior and obey Christ we are given eternal life, Our hope coming because of change in our hearts to conform to God and not to man. God only requires us to believe in Jesus, and follow Jesus despite the cost to our life in the world. Yet we know God is willing to allow us to obey the law of man because his own Son paid the price for is disobedience and obedience to the law of man. Which law is greater in your life.

America is a land where we should not have to fear to obey the law of God because in general if we look at the laws of our land it does go inside with scripture until you get to the laws like abortion, then those are individual laws. No one has to observe any Federal or public holiday if they do not want too, but there is respect for the flag, but some even disagree with that. No one requires you to worship another religion, though you may be required in school to learn about different religions to know a little about a different group of people. Then why is their religious persecution, it generally comes with the group of faith, or outside if one thinks that person is someone breakings laws of faith, or laws of government. If the laws of faith go against the laws of government.

Does scripture teach a law different then our country, culturally if we abided by the laws in scripture it more fundamentalist to our nations laws. If we observe how King David and King Solomon applied laws, we understand there was religious laws and laws of the land that might vary to give all people freedom in a land. Were not the wives of the kings protect from having to worship one God. Did they have a right to kill their infants, yet we look at the laws of abortion and say oh my we got to save a life and by alrights I agree to fight for life, because it is against God's law of killing. See there were two laws the law of the land and the laws of faith, that have always divided the world. It will always be divider as long as people are given same godly freedom given in Romans 1. God unleashed his law of allowing people to sin if they wanted too, but when evil gets so corrupt he does destroy it, allowing his judgment to reign. Who in charge God is, we may have earthly laws, but God still reigns. Even our governments can not stop God's wrath, or his power to rule upon our earth. Light of God is what exactly it called love. Love being given by government sometimes goes against the laws of God. It called choice of the world and not the way of God.

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to desire your will, your way, your truth, your light, so we will be light to the world and you are no longer hidden to the world because your testimony is in each and every believer. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Continual Scripture Study: Genesis 35:2-3 KJV
2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:
3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

John 12:35-38 KJV
35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Matthew 5:14-18 KJV
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.