Psalm 119

The Intimate connection between God’s children & His word

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Intimate
Personal
Relationally motivated
Lovingly Devoted

These words all represent the heart of this amazing psalmist.

The desire for godliness is genuine. The pursuit is non-trivial. The cry for God’s aid is urgent and sincere.

It would be very hard indeed for any real child of God to fail to see themselves in these verses. Great too are the personal lessons to be gleaned from this open heart that freely expresses his longing to become like God. This coupled together with the unfettered requirement of his heart that God HIMSELF be his aid and instructor.

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Nearsighted forgetful

Don’t be a Nearsighted & Forgetful Christian

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As we turned our attention away from scriptures which press the need to bear fruit and the persecution it will elicit from the world, we started examining 2 Peter 1. In this chapter we are told that fruit production is the result of collaboration between us and the Spirit of God. That fruit does not just happen. It requires genuine effort and sustaining power. Each progression in the process outlined by Peter reveals that each is dependent upon the other and that if we have all of these things AND we are increasing in them – we will NOT be fruitless!

However, if we are fruitless it is because we do NOT have these things which proves that we are nearsighted and have forgotten that we have been forgiven our sins.

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Psalm 119

Cracking open the Methodical & Inspired Psalm 119

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Thru the Bible: Psalms Book V – Chapters 117-119a

Psalm119 is very structured Psalm that is organized as an alphabetic acrostic, containing 22 sections or divisions (each associated with one of the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet) making a total of 176 verses.

Like so many languages of antiquity, the Hebrew alphabet was originally pictographic and these pictographs themselves carried meanings which when arranged into words could deepen the meaning of the text. The meaning associated with these pictographs have been preserved through generations and sometimes include both a literal and a spiritual meaning.

As we work our way through Psalm 119 we will attempt to see if or in what ways these pictographs which head each section bear upon the intended point and focus of the passage.

Tonight we only introduced Psalm 119 and covered its first division which is ‘aleph’ – the Hebrew letter roughly corresponding to the letter ‘A’ in English.

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I was in serious trouble and He delivered me

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Like many of the Psalms in Book V, these address the need to praise the Lord! They sing about God’s faithfulness to His word and covenant. How mindful He is of the poor and the barren – they are NOT invisible to Him, and He acts on their behalf. He is”merciful, fair and compassionate’.

God is unlike any other “god” in that the thoughts, concepts and even physicalk materials they are made of came from Him. He is THE Creator and Owner of this world. He is the manager of Heaven, but He has place the stewardship of the earth under mankind.

In the end the appropriate response to all of this is priase… public praise and celebration over the deliverance He gives.

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