As I looked at my 3 year bible reading calendar to see what today's verses were, I was surprised to read that we will be in Psalm 119 until Sept 5th! We will be in this Psalm for a week. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter of any book in the bible. Psalm 119 is 176 verses long. It is believed that Ezra wrote this psalm, he was a priest.
Since we will be in this Psalm for a week, I thought I'd talk a little about the structure of this Psalm. Psalm 119 an acrostic Psalm which means it is broken into 22 sections, one section for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and each section begins with that particular Hebrew letter. Each section is also 8 verses long. This psalm has a lot of repetition in it. At the time the psalmist wrote this, not many people had access to a written copy of the bible. So this type of Psalm was written in an order for people to help remember with an acrostic psalm. Today, I have 3 bibles in 3 different bible versions, and near my desk is a parallel bible with 4 different versions in it, and a book that explains all about the bible. That's a lot of information at my fingertips! And yet I feel like I know so little about the bible. I have studied some chapters in depth but many I have not.
I found a website that explains the Hebrew Alphabet. Its is www.hebrew4christians.com. If you have the time to read it - it is fascinating!
Aleph
Verses 1-8 First you may notice a symbol to the left of the word Aleph in your bible, and that is the "letter" written in Hebrew.
Verses 1-8 Begins with Blessed are they .... if we walk according to the law of the Lord and seek him with all our heart. They do nothing wrong they walk in his ways The New Living Testament says 'they do not compromise with evil' - I like this wording! We are bombarded with all kinds of messages today, both written and over the airwaves. We need to pick up a bible, listen to Christian music and immerse ourselves in Gods word so that we can focus on God, and walk in his ways for God has given us commandments to keep. Verses 5 -8 summarizes this way - if we steadfastly follow God we will not be put to shame. The psalmist asks that while we obey his decrees, and asks that God will not give up on me.
Beth
Verses 9-16 Verse 9 begins with How can a young man keep his heart pure? Verses 9-16 answers this question. We are all tempted - even more so when we are young. It is so important to give our children and grandchildren our Christian heritage. I confess that I struggle sharing my faith with my grown children, its so much easier to share my faith with my friends than my own family. I hope and pray I am being a godly example to my family as I endure trials and temptations. I have verse 11 circled in my bible "I have hidden your word in my heart". This reminds me that I need to memorize Gods word so God's word WILL remain hidden in my heart. When I am tempted I will have the words to remind me to stay true to Gods commands, and there will be times when we can share God's word with others.
Gimmel
Verse 17-24 "Do good to your servant .... I ask that you open my eyes so I can see the goodness of your law." Verse 19, we are a stranger or a foreigner in the land, and we depend on God to provide us with the road map of life. My soul is consumed with knowing more about you God. God rebukes those who turn from him, and the psalmist asks that he will be removed from those who scorn him. The psalmist seeks the counsel of God and focuses on the statutes, or laws of God. Having laws is freeing - the ground rules are set and we know what is expected of us. We do like order and God provides us with order.
Father God, I pray that I will love you and want to follow you more every day. This psalm encourages me to continue following you, it reminds me the blessings that will come to us if we follow you and your commands. I am struggling with the right words to write here, you know what is in my heart Lord. I do not wish to take away from the awesome words you have penned for us to read so many years later. I pray that these 24 verses speak to us and encourage us that you are the way, the truth and the life. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
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