Psalm 19: Perfect

I’m not sure there is a more misunderstood word than “perfect”. We fear it, fight it, hide from it, in some circles we even condemn it. “Nobody’s perfect” has become a mantra, perfectionism has become a disease that needs to be cured, we have become skeptical of the idea that anything is or could ever be perfect. Could it be that our problem is not that perfection is impossible, but rather our definition of perfection is flawed? In Mark 5:48, Jesus commands us “be perfect . . . as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Would Jesus command us to become something that is impossible? Would He set a bar for us that we cannot achieve? Would He call us to a journey that cannot reach its destination? My answer to all those questions is no, but I do believe Jesus is constantly working to change our thinking, to disappoint our expectations, to offend our senses all so that He can change our perspective. In calling us to be perfect, Jesus is working to change our understanding of perfection.

Most of us define “perfect” from the negative. We think of something or someone that is perfect as being without spot or blemish, doing nothing wrong or having no flaws. But what if “perfect” is more about what is present than what is absent? In Psalm 19:7, David wrote, “The law of the LORD is perfect . . .” Was David saying that all of God’s rules are right? That there are no flaws in God’s design? Or was there something more?

The Hebrew word that we translate as “perfect” is “tamiym”. It means “complete, whole, entire, sound”. This word doesn’t mean the absence of the negative but an overwhelming presence of the positive. When David wrote that the Law of the LORD is perfect, he was telling us that the Law possesses everything needed, that it is missing nothing, that it is full, robust, satisfying and entire. But I don’t believe that it simply means that the Law addresses every issue of our lives nearly as much as it means that the Law reveals the fullness of who God is. Michael Wilcock wrote, in his commentary on the Psalms, “in the Old Testament ‘law’ is a wonderfully comprehensive word, meaning all that God wants us to know about Himself.” Taking this definition, David was writing that the Law of the LORD tells us the fullness of His glory, majesty, beauty and love.

I believe whole-heartedly that the Scriptures are not God’s direction to us, they are His revelation of Himself. We read the Bible to discover God’s character, not to learn how we are supposed to live. They are for us, but they are not about us. The Scriptures are written by God, written about God and written to mankind so that we could know God. David was writing that there is no aspect about God’s character that is not revealed in the Scriptures, they are complete, whole, entire, sound—perfect.

Let’s stay with the word perfect for a moment and apply it to God and not just God’s law. God is not perfect because He lacks sin, He is perfect because He is filled with righteousness. His perfection is not based on never making an error, but rather in never changing course. The truly majestic thing about God is not that He never fails, but that He always endures, He does all things well because He does all things with His whole heart, for His eternal purpose, until they are complete. The perfection of God is far more about His patience than His power, He is perfect because He won’t give up until His plans are complete.

This leads us back to Psalm 19:7, David didn’t just say that the Law of the LORD was perfect, He told us what that perfection accomplishes, “reviving the soul”. It’s the perfection of the law that leads to revival. I’m not talking about revival in the way we use the term: services, signs, wonders, but revival in the way that matters to God. Again, looking at the Hebrew, the word we translate as “reviving” or “converting” in the KJV, is “shuwb”. It means among other things “to turn, turn back; to restore, refresh, repair, to reverse, revoke”. It’s a word that describes reconciliation and restoration, it’s not a new thing, it’s a return to the old thing, David is not writing about a brand-new soul, but rather a soul that is returned to its created, intended place and position.

David is writing that the law of the LORD brings us back to what and who we were created to be. The law of the LORD reveals our broken places, breaks down our hardened places and heals our wounded places. The law of the LORD shows us who God is because His kindness leads us to repentance. The law of the LORD leads us to Jesus because Jesus is the only way to the Father. The law of the LORD only exposes us because it is able to heal us, it only challenges us because it is able to change us, it only encourages us because it is able to complete us. The Law of the LORD is perfect, it alone can restore us to our place as God’s children, reconcile us to each other as brothers and sisters and make us complete, whole, lacking nothing in our hearts.

The call to perfection is not about fixing our flaws, it’s about being filled with God’s righteousness, that happens by His Spirit through His Word. Don’t fight perfection, rest in the promise of it. Don’t settle for less than what Jesus called us to be because it’s more than you think you can be. Endure with Him the way He has endured for you and believe Peter’s promise that Jesus’ “divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness . . .”. “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” is not a command to remove our flaws, it’s a call to embrace His grace, to trust His love, to put on His righteousness and to let the potter work our lives like clay until He has made us everything we were created to be: holy, righteous and, yes, even perfect.