One of the things that lifts off the page for me today is Psalm 119:137. The Lord is righteousness. He always does what is right.
Someone asked me the other day about all those people who have never heard of the name of Jesus? What will happen to them? My response was the Bible is plain. They need Jesus (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). But also Romans 2 enters into the equation. God can do whatever God wants to do. He is righteous. He won’t do anything contrary to His holy character. It’s who He is. He always does the right thing because that is His nature. I will trust Him for rescue and salvation and tell everyone who will listen.
I meditated on Psalm 119:89-93 today. If “heavens” (Ps 119:89) are the unseen world of God’s presence and from where He rules, and if “heavens” are wrapped around and inter-meshed with the seen world, then God’s authoritative rule is firmly positioned in the universe.
Notice the similar words – firmly fixed, established, stands fast, stand. (Ps 119:89-91) God’s rules the world and the universe knows it. The wicked are still around. They seek to destroy God’s faithful. But in the end, it’s God and God’s Word that still is firmly positioned as the final authority (Psalm 119:95-96).
My take away is how important God’s Word is to us, His written and spoken Word. That Word is personified in Jesus, His Son (John 1:1-5). Lord Jesus, help me to stand on your Word. “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105
Again I am reminded in Psalm 119:41-88 of the prominence of God’s Word and inter-connectivity of the Living Word and Written Word.
It was evident to me here that God’s Word is like the sun. All of life revolves around it. It , and the One who spoke it, are central to our lives.
In Psalm 119:46–48 (ESV), I notice the reason I am to speak of what God says. Because I delight and love God and His Word.
46I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame,
47for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.
48I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
What a wonderful prayer request is given in verse 37 of Psalm 119, “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in Your ways.” How much time we spend in our lives on things that are temporal and worthless in the eyes of eternity. If only we could direct that time and attention to the things of the Lord, what life we would find in His ways! Both Daleth and He read to me as a prayer to God that He would “give me life,” “make me understand,” “teach me,” “lead me,” and “incline my heart.” Oh, that all His people would engage in His Word with the same fervor they do their football or hobbies. There is true life in His ways, but we must be diligent to pursue it.
Lord, please fan the flame you set in my heart when Your Holy Spirit came into my life over 42 years ago that I might seek Your face and desire Your Word above all else. “Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.” (v. 33)
In Psalm 119:25-40 I see the repeated use of similar words describing God’s teachings, words like “word,” “statutes,” “precepts,” “law,” “testimonies,” “commandments.” I also notice the repeated use of “way,”
I notice the interconnection between God’s Word and the Living Word. This interconnection is all through this section. For instance, Ps 119:25, the writer is appealing to the Living Lord when he asks to “give me life.” But that appeal is based on God’s written Word. The living Lord answered his prayer (Ps 119:26) and then he asks the Lord to teach me your statutes.
Again, in Ps 119:33, “Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes.” There is a reliance upon the Living Lord of the Spoken Word that is interconnected with the Lord’s written statutes. Notice the end goal is not the written word. The end goal is the Living Word that the written word points to. The written Word points us to the Living Word. We pray to the Living Word, the Living Lord. “Statutes” have to do with the boundaries God declares to keep us within His design for living.
I notice the dire condition of “my soul” (Ps 119:25,28) and how each time the psalmist turns to the Lord for help and rescue. I desperately need the Living Word and the written Word He uses to enable me to realign my life to His will.
Psalm 119 is an amazing piece of literature. Not only is it the longest of the Psalms, but it is an acrostic, using the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and 8 lines of text for each letter. These first 24 verses thus represent the first three letters: Aleph, Beth and Gimel. The overarching theme of this section is God’s Word—the writer is extolling the virtues of studying and living under God’s Law, and perhaps the one verse of this first section that expresses this best is verse 18, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Law.” Would that this would be the prayer of all His saints; that He would open our eyes and hearts to receive all that His Word can give. If we meditate daily in His Word, we would find that “Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.” (v.24) Not only would we learn how to live life to the fullest, but we would delight in it! And the Word has miraculous powers to counsel us, as well.
I recently undertook the project of replacing the batteries in Trish and my cell phones. Since these phones are constructed to not easily allow this, the only way I was able to do it was to watch several YouTube videos and learn from someone who had gone before me doing the same thing. Otherwise, I probably would have just destroyed the phones while trying to fix them. When we attempt to go through life without instruction, we will find we often hurt others because of our lack of knowledge. God’s Word (or Law) provides the knowledge we lack. But if we do not avail ourselves of it by reading and meditating on it daily, it is knowledge lost that will never benefits us.
O Lord, may Your testimonies be my delight and my counselors at all times!
In Psalm 119:1-24, I paused and dug down into Psalm 119:8 (ESV)
“ I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!”
“Keep” has to do with paying close attention to something. It means to watch and guard. There’s a similar meaning in NT Greek. For instance in John 14:15 (ESV) – “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Pay close attention to, keep watch over and guard Jesus’ commandments.
“Statutes” carries several shades of meaning. It can refer to an appropriate portion, prescribing the terms of a deal, or to establishing boundaries and limits. To illustrate the translation “statute,” the Hebrew word appears in Genesis 47:23–26, where Joseph made a deal during Egypt’s severe famine: he provided the people with seed in exchange for Pharaoh purchasing them as slaves as well as their land. They were to return one-fifth of the harvest to Pharaoh. This agreement became a “statute” established by Joseph (Genesis 47:26).
Christopher Ash in his commentary on Psalms says the word “perhaps emphasizes the binding force of what God has said.”
For the last portion of Psalm 118:8, Christopher Ash says, “Wanting God not to forsake him utterly cannot mean that he would be happy for God to forsake him moderately, for that would be absurd. Setting the ends of 119:4 and 8 side by side suggests a meaning like this: “You have commanded your precepts to be kept deeply (119:4), for only a deep and full keeping can constitute covenantal faithfulness. And therefore, I pray that I will not be unfaithful, that I will demonstrate this deep keeping, for otherwise, you must forsake me deeply (119:8), and I tremble at that thought.” It is moving to consider Jesus, in his life of prayer on earth, praying with such passion that he would be the truly blessed man, and we rightly shrink in horror at the very idea that he might have failed.” Ash, C. (2024). Psalms 101–150 (Vol. 4, p. 282). Crossway.
So, Jesus, help me to take your instructions (law Ps 119:1) to heart and pay close attention to them today. Amen
One of the things that lifts off the page for me today is Psalm 119:137. The Lord is righteousness. He always does what is right.
Someone asked me the other day about all those people who have never heard of the name of Jesus? What will happen to them? My response was the Bible is plain. They need Jesus (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). But also Romans 2 enters into the equation. God can do whatever God wants to do. He is righteous. He won’t do anything contrary to His holy character. It’s who He is. He always does the right thing because that is His nature. I will trust Him for rescue and salvation and tell everyone who will listen.
Help us Jesus.
I meditated on Psalm 119:89-93 today. If “heavens” (Ps 119:89) are the unseen world of God’s presence and from where He rules, and if “heavens” are wrapped around and inter-meshed with the seen world, then God’s authoritative rule is firmly positioned in the universe.
Notice the similar words – firmly fixed, established, stands fast, stand. (Ps 119:89-91) God’s rules the world and the universe knows it. The wicked are still around. They seek to destroy God’s faithful. But in the end, it’s God and God’s Word that still is firmly positioned as the final authority (Psalm 119:95-96).
My take away is how important God’s Word is to us, His written and spoken Word. That Word is personified in Jesus, His Son (John 1:1-5). Lord Jesus, help me to stand on your Word. “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105
Again I am reminded in Psalm 119:41-88 of the prominence of God’s Word and inter-connectivity of the Living Word and Written Word.
It was evident to me here that God’s Word is like the sun. All of life revolves around it. It , and the One who spoke it, are central to our lives.
In Psalm 119:46–48 (ESV), I notice the reason I am to speak of what God says. Because I delight and love God and His Word.
46I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame,
47for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.
48I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
What a wonderful prayer request is given in verse 37 of Psalm 119, “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in Your ways.” How much time we spend in our lives on things that are temporal and worthless in the eyes of eternity. If only we could direct that time and attention to the things of the Lord, what life we would find in His ways! Both Daleth and He read to me as a prayer to God that He would “give me life,” “make me understand,” “teach me,” “lead me,” and “incline my heart.” Oh, that all His people would engage in His Word with the same fervor they do their football or hobbies. There is true life in His ways, but we must be diligent to pursue it.
Lord, please fan the flame you set in my heart when Your Holy Spirit came into my life over 42 years ago that I might seek Your face and desire Your Word above all else. “Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.” (v. 33)
In Psalm 119:25-40 I see the repeated use of similar words describing God’s teachings, words like “word,” “statutes,” “precepts,” “law,” “testimonies,” “commandments.” I also notice the repeated use of “way,”
I notice the interconnection between God’s Word and the Living Word. This interconnection is all through this section. For instance, Ps 119:25, the writer is appealing to the Living Lord when he asks to “give me life.” But that appeal is based on God’s written Word. The living Lord answered his prayer (Ps 119:26) and then he asks the Lord to teach me your statutes.
Again, in Ps 119:33, “Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes.” There is a reliance upon the Living Lord of the Spoken Word that is interconnected with the Lord’s written statutes. Notice the end goal is not the written word. The end goal is the Living Word that the written word points to. The written Word points us to the Living Word. We pray to the Living Word, the Living Lord. “Statutes” have to do with the boundaries God declares to keep us within His design for living.
I notice the dire condition of “my soul” (Ps 119:25,28) and how each time the psalmist turns to the Lord for help and rescue. I desperately need the Living Word and the written Word He uses to enable me to realign my life to His will.
Psalm 119 is an amazing piece of literature. Not only is it the longest of the Psalms, but it is an acrostic, using the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and 8 lines of text for each letter. These first 24 verses thus represent the first three letters: Aleph, Beth and Gimel. The overarching theme of this section is God’s Word—the writer is extolling the virtues of studying and living under God’s Law, and perhaps the one verse of this first section that expresses this best is verse 18, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Law.” Would that this would be the prayer of all His saints; that He would open our eyes and hearts to receive all that His Word can give. If we meditate daily in His Word, we would find that “Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.” (v.24) Not only would we learn how to live life to the fullest, but we would delight in it! And the Word has miraculous powers to counsel us, as well.
I recently undertook the project of replacing the batteries in Trish and my cell phones. Since these phones are constructed to not easily allow this, the only way I was able to do it was to watch several YouTube videos and learn from someone who had gone before me doing the same thing. Otherwise, I probably would have just destroyed the phones while trying to fix them. When we attempt to go through life without instruction, we will find we often hurt others because of our lack of knowledge. God’s Word (or Law) provides the knowledge we lack. But if we do not avail ourselves of it by reading and meditating on it daily, it is knowledge lost that will never benefits us.
O Lord, may Your testimonies be my delight and my counselors at all times!
In Psalm 119:1-24, I paused and dug down into Psalm 119:8 (ESV)
“ I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!”
“Keep” has to do with paying close attention to something. It means to watch and guard. There’s a similar meaning in NT Greek. For instance in John 14:15 (ESV) – “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Pay close attention to, keep watch over and guard Jesus’ commandments.
“Statutes” carries several shades of meaning. It can refer to an appropriate portion, prescribing the terms of a deal, or to establishing boundaries and limits. To illustrate the translation “statute,” the Hebrew word appears in Genesis 47:23–26, where Joseph made a deal during Egypt’s severe famine: he provided the people with seed in exchange for Pharaoh purchasing them as slaves as well as their land. They were to return one-fifth of the harvest to Pharaoh. This agreement became a “statute” established by Joseph (Genesis 47:26).
Christopher Ash in his commentary on Psalms says the word “perhaps emphasizes the binding force of what God has said.”
For the last portion of Psalm 118:8, Christopher Ash says, “Wanting God not to forsake him utterly cannot mean that he would be happy for God to forsake him moderately, for that would be absurd. Setting the ends of 119:4 and 8 side by side suggests a meaning like this: “You have commanded your precepts to be kept deeply (119:4), for only a deep and full keeping can constitute covenantal faithfulness. And therefore, I pray that I will not be unfaithful, that I will demonstrate this deep keeping, for otherwise, you must forsake me deeply (119:8), and I tremble at that thought.” It is moving to consider Jesus, in his life of prayer on earth, praying with such passion that he would be the truly blessed man, and we rightly shrink in horror at the very idea that he might have failed.” Ash, C. (2024). Psalms 101–150 (Vol. 4, p. 282). Crossway.
So, Jesus, help me to take your instructions (law Ps 119:1) to heart and pay close attention to them today. Amen