Psalm 119:1-8
ALEPH
1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
We will be covering this Psalm over the next few weeks so I wanted to share a little introduction. Not only is this Psalm the longest of all the Psalms but it is the longest chapter of the Bible. Psalm 119 is called an alphabetic acrostic. In Hebrew, the first eight lines of the psalm all begin with the letter aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The next eight lines begin with beth, the second letter, etc. The whole Psalm magnifies the word of God repeatedly by using different words: (1) law (2) testimony, (3) judgments, (4) statutes, (5) words, (6) precepts, (7) commandments, (8) promises, and (9) way. I have these underlined in my Bible.
God's word is not only our bread - our life - but our very foundation! How appropriate that the longest chapter in the Bible would revolve around His word! I found notes by a preacher about this particular Psalm. He suggested that as we read through each of the alphabet sections, we should ask ourselves the following (I will repeat this "assignment" with the next 22 devotionals). Write in your Bibles or in a journal as you meditate over these verses:
1. Find all the things the Bible will do for you
2. Find the things you are suppose to do with your Bible
3. Find the things the Bible is likened to
God's words are a very light in the Christian's life. They illuminate our hearts and show us His will for us - they brighten our hearts in our darkest hour - they shine on our sin exposing it so we can confess and forsake it - they enlighten us and teach us! God's word lives and never grows old! It breaths afresh upon us every day!
As I read the first eight verses, immediately I'm led to search for salvation. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Are there any who are undefiled? Even the "religious" are defiled. Our own righteousness is as a filthy rag! The best "religious" day we could possibly have is filthy in God's eyes. All are defiled.
~Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
~Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Psalm 119:2 shows the way! The one who seeks the Lord with his whole heart will be blessed!
~John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The Word (John 1:1) leads us to everlasting life because of what He did on the cross for us! When we seek Him diligently and with our whole heart, He is faithful to forgive us and to cleans us from all our unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). We have Christ's righteousness when we get saved, not our own. (Romans 4:22-24) Praise the Lord that the Father sees His Son and not our own righteousness when he gazes upon us! Thank You Lord Jesus for taking my place on the cross!
God's word is so important in our lives. The Psalmist surely recognized this! What a blessing this entire Psalm is! I hope you will glean from it as I am!
No comments:
Post a Comment