Parable of the
Old and New
Wineskins
Matthew 9:14-15
The bridegroom's friends would
not think of fasting while he was with them.
For them, it was a time of festivity and rejoicing--
mourning was not appropriate.
When the bridegroom left them, their festivities would end,
and the proper time for fasting and sorrow would begin.
While Christ, the Bridegroom, was with His disciples,
it was a time for joy.
Expressing grief by fasting would have been
inappropriate at that time.
In addition, since Jesus was with them, they
had no need to draw closer to Him through fasting.
After Christ died, the disciples fasted when appropriate.
Matthew 9:14-17
The new wine represents the inner aspects of a Christian life,
and the new cloth pictures outward conduct and conversation. A person's behavior reflects his commitment, seen in the illustration of attaching new cloth to old clothing. The old clothing—our sinful, selfish life—cannot be mended but must be replaced. The new cloth is a righteous life. The Pharisees' ritual fasting was an old garment for which a new piece of cloth was useless.
It is untenable to attach Christ's doctrine to the old corrupt doctrines of this world's religions. The righteous system Christ came to establish cannot be forced into an old system. To attempt to force His teachings into the ways of Judaism, Protestantism, Catholicism, or any other of this
world's religions causes confusion.
Christ is warning against syncretism of beliefs;
it simply does not work
(Matthew 24:4-5, 24; Romans 6:5-6; 16:17-18; Galatians 1:6-10; Ephesians 4:14; 5:6-11; I Timothy 6:3-5; Hebrews 13:9).
Our Savior teaches
that life cannot be a mixture of
two opposite principles.
We cannot serve two masters
(Matthew 6:24).
We cannot trust in our own works for salvation in Christ,
nor follow the world and God.
His new way must
completely replace our old worldly ways
so that we walk in newness of life.
Ephesians 5:18–19 says,
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery,
but be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart”
(ESV).
Colossians 3:16continues that idea: “
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and
admonishing one another in all wisdom,
singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
So what is the difference between psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs, and how are they to be used?
The book of Psalms is the collection of songs
written under the direction of the
Holy Spirit
(Mark 12:36; 2 Peter 1:21)
by ancient Jewish leaders such as David, Moses, and Solomon. These inspired songs were part of the Hebrew Scriptures and used in corporate worship. The word psalm means “praise.” Although many of the psalms are cries for help, laments over Israel, or questions about God’s plan, the major theme in all of them is worship.
Even when the psalmist was crying out his questions or frustrations to the Lord, he usually ended with a call to praise God in spite of everything
(Psalm 42:11; 43:5; 71:13–14).
The psalms have a timeless quality and are as relevant to our lives as though they were written yesterday. Many people find great comfort in reading or praying the psalms when they have
difficulty finding adequate words to express their hearts to God.
We can encourage, challenge, and extend comfort to ourselves and others by memorizing and sharing a psalm. Many of our modern worship songs are based on the psalms, and when we sing them,
we are singing God’s Word.
A hymn
is a song that gives
praise, honor, or thanksgiving
to God.
Unlike psalms, hymns are not written by divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit and are not considered part of Scripture. However, the best ones often incorporate portions of Scripture and are filled with rich doctrinal truth. Hymns are often metrical poems arranged to be sung corporately. Even in Jesus’ day, hymns were part of Jewish worship.
After the Last Supper,
Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn
(Matthew 26:30).
The term spiritual songs is more general.
Believers are to express their faith in song—but not just any song;
Scripture indicates the songs of believers must be
”spiritual.”
That is, the songs of the church
deal with spiritual themes.
They might not directly praise God, but they will teach a doctrine,
encourage the body, or prompt others toward love and good works.
A spiritual song
might express the joy of one’s salvation,
revel in the grace of Christ,
or exalt the greatness and power of God—in short,
a spiritual song
can communicate a wide variety of sacred themes.
From Psalms to Revelation,
the Bible encourages us to
“sing a new song to the Lord”
(Psalm 96:1; 144:9; Isaiah 42:10; Revelation 5:9; 14:3). Psalm 40:3 says,
“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.”
A new song
is one that arises
from the spirit of a person
whose heart
overflows
with adoration for God.
Paul’s instruction to the Ephesians about
music is preceded by
the command to
“be filled with the Spirit”
(Ephesians 5:18)
When we are filled with the Spirit, then psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs
are the natural expression of our hearts.
A Spirit-filled person is a singing person. One clear indication that a person is filled with the Holy Spirit is a natural desire to sing and praise God. Musical ability has little to do with it. God created us to find great spiritual expression through music (Psalm 135:3; Judges 5:3).
Scripture is filled with music,
and God delights
when we use what
He created to worship Him
(Deuteronomy 31:19; Psalm 33:2; 149:3).
Music finds its highest purpose
when used as a tool
to extoll the greatness of God.
It can console, encourage, teach, and
even admonish
those who are away from God.
Music is a biblical way of expressing our worship of the Lord.
Spiritual music
gives voice to our joy and adoration
unlike anything else.
Whether a psalm or a hymn or a spiritual song, the purpose of music is to glorify God, and He wants us to use this gift as a means of worshiping Him.
Psalm 22
is a prophetic psalm of David
presenting Jesus Christ as the Savior
who laid down His life.
The psalm begins by portraying
the rejection and abandonment
Christ suffered on the cross
(Psalm 22:1–2; cf. Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).
Yet, immediately,
the suffering Messiah
makes a strong declaration of trust in God:
“But thou art holy,
O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel”
(Psalm 22:3, KJV).
As the bearer of humanity’s sins,
Christ was destined to experience untold pain and anguish
(Isaiah 53:4–6, 10; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
In the seemingly endless silence
in which God does not answer--
perhaps the worst moment of torment Christ
would ever know—the Son reminds Himself of
God’s sovereign position:
“Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel”
(Psalm 22:3, ESV).
The word enthroned here describes the circumstance of
sitting, remaining, or dwelling somewhere.
(The phrasing God inhabits the praise of His people comes from the King James Version of Psalm 22:3.)
When the Messiah declared,
“God inhabits the praise of His people”
in Psalm 22:3,
He expressed His absolute trust in God.
No matter what was happening at that moment or
how alone He felt, the
Messiah knew that God was present and in control,
ruling over His hour of greatest need
(see 1 Peter 2:23).
God the Father
had not abandoned Him.
God was working out His sovereign plan,
and the Messiah
would soon be delivered
(see Psalm 22:4–5).
Many examples of God’s enthronement exist in Scripture.
The psalmist urged,
“Sing praises to the Lord,
who sits
enthroned in Zion!
Tell among the peoples his deeds!”
(Psalm 9:11, ESV; see also Psalm 29:10; 102:12). “Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high” (Psalm 113:5).
When Isaiah saw the Lord
“high and exalted, seated on a throne”
over all creation in heaven and earth “
and the train of his robe filled the temple”
(Isaiah 6:1–6),
the prophet was utterly undone by God’s presence.
The idea behind God inhabiting the praise
of His people could be that
God’s throne—His dwelling place--
was the tabernacle,
the place where praise was continually offered to Him.
In Psalm 22,
the Messiah in His suffering
remembers the place and people of praise.
He is not among those congregants, but
He expresses with confidence that their praises are appropriate.
Even in the extremity of His distress,
the Messiah
trusts that God is holy and
worthy of praise.
Heaven is a place
where God is surrounded by praise, and
it is described in the Bible as
God’s temple
(Psalm 11:4; Habakkuk 2:20).
Yet the ultimate dwelling place for God is with His people:
“Look!
God’s dwelling place
is now
among the people,
and he will dwell with them.
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3; see also Revelation 21:22).
Jesus Christ revealed
that He is the Lord’s temple
(John 2:19–21),
and
God’s presence
now
inhabits His body—the church
(1 Corinthians 3:16–17).
Scripture repeatedly affirms that individual believers are “the temple of the living God” and “temples of the Holy Spirit” where God’s presence dwells (1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16). The whole church “is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord . . . built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit,” explains the apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:21–22. The church fits together like “living stones” being built into “a spiritual house” that offers “spiritual sacrifices” of praise to God (1 Peter 2:5).
The writer of Hebrews counsels, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name” (Hebrews 13:15).
The apostle Peter explains,
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
God’s special possession,
that you may declare the
praises of him
who called you out of darkness
into his wonderful
light”
(1 Peter 2:9).
God still inhabits the praises of His people. No matter what
our circumstances,
we know that God is holy and does all things right.
We can worship the Lord even in our distress.
The restoration of the
"Tabernacle of David"
is as relevant today as it was when the
Jewish Apostolic Council grappled with such issues in
Acts 15.
The fact is, the restoration if the
"Tabernacle of David"
is prophecy being fulfilled and began as
Peter began preaching to Gentiles.
Acts 15
tells the story of the difficult issues that can arise when
Jewish and Gentile
believers in Messiah come together.
How should
Jewish and Gentile believers
have fellowship in
Messiah
without breaking the law?
Jews were not supposed to eat with or associate with Gentiles.
What were these Jewish Apostles doing preaching to the Gentiles?
Should Gentile believers be required to be circumcised?
The Apostle James got the revelatory answer from
Amos 9 and in Acts 15: 16 & 17 quotes
‘After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David,
which has fallen down;
I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up;
17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name..."
Today this restoration and rebuilding the ruins is gathering momentum right across the globe. Since 1967 when Jerusalem was again in Jewish hands, there has been an acceleration of Jews recongising Yeshua as Messiah. The Holy Spirit is accelerating the joining of Jewish and Gentile believers into the one new man (Epehsians 2) to worship God together.
As more and more
Jews recognise Yeshua as their Messiah,
how Jew and Gentile relate is again a very relevant discussion.
FEATURES OF TABERNACLES OF DAVID
The features of the Tabernacle of David give an insight into what God is doing in the earth today among both His Jewish and Gentile people.
- ONE NEW MAN When believing Jews and Gentiles are ONE in Jesus the Messiah, a significant unity releases a powerful blessing of God. This is the kingdom Yeshua died for. Regardless of race, culture or traditions, there is ONE body of Messiah. (Ephesians 2,4)
- PROPHETIC King David's life, kingship and worship were all prophetic; all pointing to the life and ministry of Yeshua. In David's Tabernacle, Psalmists were called and appointed to prophesy on their instruments.
- GOVERNMENT King David reigned from the place of God's Presence and Glory. All government and business was influenced by the open heaven created by continual worship. Yeshua sits upon the throne of David, which is in heaven amidst 24/7 worship. When we allow the government to be the shoulders of Jesus, His Kingly authority is released in our midst.
- 24/7 WORSHIP & INTERCESSION King David installed worship choirs or teams in rosters that never stopped praising God. This is a picture of the harp and bowl ministry surrounding God's throne in heaven according to Revelation 5. Today the Lord is riasing up worshipping warriors to minister to the Lord in a similar way. Davidic worship often features the use of prophetic psalmists, singers, shofars, intercessors, banners, tambourines, and dance.
- INTIMACY David's Tabernacle was a tent set up in Jerusalem and all it contained was the ark, representing the Presence and Glory of God. This was prophetic of Yeshua coming to earth to "tabernacle" or dwell in the midst of his people. The ultimate fulfillment is intimacy with the Lord in the throne room in heaven. The writer to the Hebrews says that by the blood of Yeshua we can all enter into the Holy of holies. It is not restricted to the privileged few as it was in the Tabernacle of Moses.
- LIBERTY - SPIRIT & TRUTH David was an extravagant worshipper who danced and played his harp before the Lord without fearing man. David's liberty is a picture of the New Testamen Church worshipping with a true liberty that is only found when in "spirit and truth".
- END TIME HARVEST The Tabernacle of David is the one place that the Lord has said that ALL of mankind will be able to seek Him and find Him. For many reasons, it is God's divine strategy for preaching the gospel and discipling all nations.
- RESTORATION OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL God's purposes for the nation of Israel have not changed. The return of Messiah is totally connected to teh restoration of the Jewish people in their homeland, because He is to sit on the throne of David! Gentile believers have a responsibility to pray for, encourage, comfort and "make jealous" the "natural branches of the olive tree"(Rom 10,11)
- BRIDE The restoration of the Tabernacle of David is a preparation for the return of Yeshua. The Bride (made up of Jew and Gentile believers), makes herself ready and prepares the way of the Lord.The bride will be without spot or wrinkle, hence holiness is not only important, but it is not something that is achieved by works, but by faith in the Word, the blood of the Lamb and the work of the Holy Spirit. All is made ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Psalm 96 may hold the key to understanding why worship has continuously evolved throughout history, and new songs have ever been written and sung to the Lord. The psalmist declared, “O sing unto the LORD a new song: Sing unto the LORD, all the earth. Sing unto the LORD, bless his name”
(Psalm 96:1–2, KJV).
Many other psalms unite in the refrain: “Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him” (Psalm 98:1). David intoned, “I will sing a new song to you, my God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you” (Psalm 144:9). “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy,” insists Psalm 33:3. Again and again, God’s people are encouraged to “Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people” (Psalm 149:1).
In each of these passages, new means
“original,” “fresh,” “one of a kind,”
and “never seen before,” or, in this case,
never heard before
God is a creative God.
He’s always doing something new--
like saving, intervening,
answering prayers, and
working miracles
Through the prophet Isaiah, God said, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not
perceive it?
I am making a way in the
wilderness and streams in the wasteland”
(Isaiah 43:18–19).
Right before this, the Lord declared,
“Behold, the
former things have
come to pass, and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth I tell you of them.
Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the
end of the earth”
(Isaiah 42:9–10, ESV).
When we are born into the family of God, He makes
us new creatures in Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul explained,
“The old has gone, the new is here!”
(
2 Corinthians 5:17; see also Galatians 6:15).
To the Corinthians, Paul said,
“For we are God’s masterpiece.
He has created us anew in Christ Jesus,
so we can do the good things he planned
for us long ago”
(Ephesians 2:10).
One thing our inventive God loves is for His newly created people to express innovative, spontaneous, and unrehearsed praise and thanks to Him. Singing unto the Lord a new song is the natural reaction of an individual who is newly saved and transformed by the Lord: “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD”
(Psalm 40:3, ESV).
The “new song”
we sing does not have to be a newly composed worship number.
The new song is merely a fresh response of praise and thanks—one that matches the
freshness of God’s goodness and mercy, which
are “new every morning”
(Lamentations 3:23).
A new song
springs forth unrehearsed
from the heart of a worshiper who has
been struck anew with wonder at the greatness of God
and the salvation He has provided.
When we see the mighty hand of God working
in a way we’ve never observed before,
we can’t help but burst forth
with a song we’ve never sung before.
A new song has been heard from people of every generation—sung by a choir of born-again believers who have tasted and seen the goodness and salvation of the Lord. From days of old and for all eternity, followers from every tribe, language, people, and nation sing unto the Lord a new song (Revelation 5:9). Throughout the earth and before the throne of God in heaven, we can hear the redeemed singing a new song to the Lord (Revelation 14:3).
The scene in Revelation 5 is John’s vision of heaven’s throne room. When the Lamb had taken the scroll of God’s judgment into His own hand, “the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people” (verse 8). Revelation is the most symbolic book in the Bible, and in this passage the “prayers of the saints” are symbolized as golden bowls of incense, held by twenty-four elders. Of course, the more symbolic something is, the more its interpretations can vary, but it’s important to understand what these prayers of the saints are—and what they are not.
God established incense as a part of the sacerdotal system (and therefore as symbolism) in Exodus 30:1–10when Moses was told to build the altar of incense. The prayers of the saints in Revelation 5:8, especially as represented by incense in the context of temple imagery, should be understood to take the role of incense in the temple, which was to offer up a sweet aroma to God and to symbolize prayer. The prayers of the righteous are pleasing to Him. Psalm 141:2 describes this aspect of prayer perfectly: “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2).
Prayer is linked to the incense in the temple in other passages, as well. When Gabriel appears to Zechariah in the temple and tells him that his prayers have been answered, Gabriel is “standing at the right side of the altar of incense” (Luke 1:11). This happened when “the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense” (verse 10).
There are certainly different types of prayers. Prayers of supplication are the type most people are familiar with, because that’s the type where we ask God for help! But there are other types, too, like the prayers of imprecation (Psalm 55:1:15) and prayers of intercession (Luke 23:34). The fact that the “prayers of the saints” in Revelation 5:8 are not identified by type or in detail—and that they are together in an incense bowl—indicates that we should consider them collectively. God considers prayer-at-large as incense—a sweet aroma to Him.
The fact that these are prayers “of the saints” in Revelation 5:8 indicates that God hears the prayers of His people. Psalm 65:2 addresses God as “You who answer prayer.” Our Lord “hears the prayer of the righteous” (Proverbs 15:29), which is another way of saying that He listens to the prayers of the saints. The “saints” in Revelation 5:8 are not an elite class of people who are more holy than the rest; they are not mediators of our prayers (see 1 Timothy 2:5), and they do not ask us to pray to them. The term saint in Scripture implies parity, not hierarchy. We are all one in Christ (Galatians 3:28). The saints are all believers in Jesus, living or dead, saved by grace through faith. The church is “loved by God and called to be saints” (Romans 1:7, ESV), and,
when we pray,
it’s as if a golden bowl of incense is
being carried to the
very throne of God in heaven.
Whom are these prayers of the saints for in Revelation 5:8? Since these prayers are the aggregate of all believers’ prayers through all time, they are about everybody and about everything that is consistent with God’s will. If you pray for somebody’s salvation, that prayer is in the bowl. If you pray for the safety and relief of people after a natural disaster, that prayer is in the bowl. If you pray that God would conform you into the image of Jesus Christ, that prayer is in the bowl. Such prayers are well-pleasing to Him.
Does Revelation 5:8 lend credence to the tradition of praying for the dead? Not at all. The dead have already sealed their fate, for good or for evil (see Luke 16:19–31). There is no post-mortem plan of salvation. Now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). After death, a person faces judgment, not further opportunity (Hebrews 9:27). So, if you pray that God would save or relieve someone who has already died, that prayer would not be in the bowl. Such prayers are futile.
In Revelation 5,
God’s plan is near to being accomplished.
The judgment of the wicked world
is about to commence, and the ultimate
redemption of God’s people is about to be realized.
The living creatures and elders sing a hymn of praise to the Lamb:
“With your blood you purchased for God / persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. / You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, / and they will reign on the earth”
(Revelation 5:9–10).
The golden vessels
full of incense are proffered to God,
whose word will stand,
whose will is accomplished,
and who will pronounce the final
“Amen!”
to the prayers of the saints.
What is the tabernacle of David?
The tabernacle of David
is referenced in the Bible in Isaiah 16:5 and Amos 9:11, which is repeated in Acts 15:16.
The Hebrew word ohel, translated
as "tabernacle," means tent,
dwelling space,
or home.
In Isaiah, the usage is prophetic and speaks of the future dwelling place of God that comes through the lineage of David. This tabernacle, a Person, will sit on the throne and rule over all. The passage clearly refers to Jesus.
When James brought up the Amos passage, he was in a meeting of Christians who were talking about how to deal with the conversion of Gentiles into the church.
Some Jewish Christians
were uncertain about
the recent Gentile conversions
and believed any Christian should be expected to
keep
the Law of Moses.
James recalls Peter's
visit with Cornelius, a Gentile, where he was told by God to welcome this man into the fellowship. Then, he follows that up with the passage from Amos about the "tent of David" being rebuilt. He means that God would welcome all people who seek Him to worship Him—Jew and Gentile—into His house and would live within His people (Acts 15:13–19).
Gentiles being welcomed into the family of God
agreed with the words of the prophets.
Another application of the Amos passage is when, in the end times, the Jewish nation is to be restored to spiritual life. Some scholars believe that a new and actual tabernacle, like the one in David's time, will be rebuilt and remain for a time.
David's tabernacle
held the Ark of the Covenant
before his son Solomon
built the temple.
It was a sign of God's presence with the people and His favor toward them.
An important verse in understanding the
filling of the Holy Spirit is John 14:16,
where Jesus promised the Spirit would indwell believers
and that the indwelling would be permanent.
It is important to distinguish the indwelling from the filling of the Spirit. The permanent indwelling of the Spirit is not for a select few believers, but for all believers. There are a number of references in Scripture that support this conclusion. First, the Holy Spirit is a gift given to all believers in Jesus without exception, and no conditions are placed upon this gift except faith in Christ (John 7:37-39).
Second, the
Holy Spirit
is given at the moment of
salvation
(Ephesians 1:13).
Galatians 3:2 emphasizes this same
truth,
saying that the sealing and indwelling of the Spirit took place at the time of believing. Third, the Holy Spirit indwells believers permanently.
The Holy Spirit
is given to believers
as a down payment,
or verification of their future
glorification in Christ
(2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 4:30).
This is in contrast
to the filling of the Spirit referred to in Ephesians 5:18.
We should be so completely yielded to the
Holy Spirit that He can possess us fully and,
in that sense, fill us.
Romans 8:9 and Ephesians 1:13-14
states that
He dwells within every believer,
but
He can be grieved
(Ephesians 4:30),
and His activity within us
can be quenched
(1 Thessalonians 5:19).
When we allow this to happen, we do not experience the fullness of the Spirit’s working and His power in and through us. To be filled with the Spirit implies freedom for Him to occupy every part of our lives, guiding and controlling us. Then His power can be exerted through us so that what we do is fruitful to God.
The filling of the Spirit does not apply to outward acts alone; it also applies to the innermost thoughts and motives of our actions.
Psalm 19:14 says,
"May the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."
Sin is what hinders the
filling of the Holy Spirit,
and obedience to God
is how the filling of the Spirit is maintained.
Ephesians 5:18 commands that we be filled with the Spirit;
however, it is not praying for
the filling of the Holy Spirit that accomplishes the filling.
Only our obedience to
God’s commands
allows the Spirit freedom to
work within us.
Because we are still infected with sin, it is impossible to be filled with the Spirit all of the time. When we sin, we should immediately confess it to God and renew our commitment to being Spirit-filled and Spirit-led.
Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Psalm 22:16-19, "Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing."
Psalm 23:1, "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want."
Psalm 29:1-2, "Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness."
Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."
Psalm 119:1-2, "Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart."