Every time I read Psalm 119, I am astounded at its depth. It is impossible to read this psalm once over and glean all that it has to offer. It’s one of the reasons I decided to put it on the reading plan every week. Since it is the Lord’s Day when we are preparing our hearts for corporate worship and to hear the Word preached and taught – what better way to assist in that preparation?
Law, testimonies, precepts, statues, commandments, rules and word. All of these words are used throughout this psalm. Respectively, the Hebrew translations (according to the ESV Study notes) are: instruction; what God solemnly testifies to be his will; what God has appointed to be done; what the divine Lawgiver has laid down; what God has commanded; what the divine Judge has ruled to be right; and what God has spoken. So, as we read through this psalm, we see that almost every verse contains one of these words.
In the opening verses of Psalm 119, we see that those who walk in the law of the LORD (verse 1), keep his testimonies and seek him with their whole heart (verse 2) – are blessed (verse 1). Blessed means to be truly happy – and the one who is truly happy is happy because God has showered him with his favor. We also this in Psalm 1:1-2 when the psalmist describes the blessed man whose delight is in the law of the LORD and on his law he meditates day and night.
Throughout this chapter we see the psalmist declare his delight (verses 14,16,24,35,47,70,77,92,143,174), his longing (verses 20,40,81,82,123,131,174), his meditation (verses 15,23,48,78,97,99,148) his trust (verse 42) in God’s word.
My prayer is that when we take our Sundays to walk through this Psalm, we would be refreshed as we are reminded of the power of God’s word in the life of a believer. His word has power, and he gave it to us that we would be able to read the words on the pages and see a glimpse of his glory, his holiness, his faithfulness and power – among many other things.
As we read this psalm weekly, and our other readings during the week, may our prayer always be, just as the psalmist prayed in 119:18:
Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.
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