June 19 - Psalm 119:1-88
Psalm 119 is a unique psalm for several reasons. It is the longest psalm, and the longest chapter in the Bible. The reason for this is that the Lord inspired the psalmist to write a psalm with one stanza for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in which each stanza has eight verses, and each verse starts with that Hebrew letter. That is pretty unique, isn't it? Another unique feature is that the entire psalm focuses on the Word of God. It is as if God is saying, "Look, the longest chapter in the Bible points to the importance of the Bible, so don't neglect My Word." I am confident as you read this psalm that His message will come through loud and clear.
The psalmist wants us to see at least two things about the Word of God. First of all, we must not only know it, but we must obey it. If we know God's Word, but we don't keep it, it does us no good. In fact, it causes us great guilt, because we know the truth, but we know we are breaking His truth. It is a terrible testimony to the unbelievers for us to disobey God's Word. They see the hypocrisy, and it keeps them from the Lord. Secondly, the psalmist repeatedly tells us that when people attack him, he follows God's Word. This underlying theme is important, because all of us will be tempted to stop obeying God's Word when people come against us, but that is the time to obey it even more. I hope you will have some time today to consider your present level of obedience. If it is low, how can you increase it? If it is good, how can you make it even better?
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalm 119:89-176.
(I intend to read Psalms 120-125 on Tuesday, Psalms 126-130 on Wednesday, and Psalms 131-135 on Thursday. I hope to post my notes each day, but if I have a problem, you can still keep up with the reading.)
The psalmist wants us to see at least two things about the Word of God. First of all, we must not only know it, but we must obey it. If we know God's Word, but we don't keep it, it does us no good. In fact, it causes us great guilt, because we know the truth, but we know we are breaking His truth. It is a terrible testimony to the unbelievers for us to disobey God's Word. They see the hypocrisy, and it keeps them from the Lord. Secondly, the psalmist repeatedly tells us that when people attack him, he follows God's Word. This underlying theme is important, because all of us will be tempted to stop obeying God's Word when people come against us, but that is the time to obey it even more. I hope you will have some time today to consider your present level of obedience. If it is low, how can you increase it? If it is good, how can you make it even better?
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalm 119:89-176.
(I intend to read Psalms 120-125 on Tuesday, Psalms 126-130 on Wednesday, and Psalms 131-135 on Thursday. I hope to post my notes each day, but if I have a problem, you can still keep up with the reading.)