Ever since I began writing this blog on March 16, I have dealt with an entire psalm each day to correspond to the day of the year. (I began this personally as part of my daily meditation on the first day of the year with Psalm 1.) Now that I’ve come to Psalm 119 on the 119th day of 2020, I just cannot force myself to try to climb the “Mt. Everest of the Psalter” in one day. There’s a lot of territory to cover as we climb higher and higher to the top where we can view the vast verbal vista God has put on display for us. Therefore, I’m going to deal with each of the 22 sections of this psalm in 22 days, corresponding to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. You see, this psalm is an acrostic psalm composed of 22 sections with each section containing 8 lines. All 8 lines will begin with the same successive Hebrew letter. IOW, today’s 8 verses begin with “Aleph,” the first letter of their alphabet. Tomorrow’s section will begin with their letter “Beth” and so forth.
Psalm 119 as a whole inspires me to love God’s word in ALL its many facets more and more. In the first 8 verses we are introduced to the various words used to depict God’s word in the English Standard Version translation, such as: law (1), testimonies (2), precepts (4), statutes (5 & 8), commandments (6), & righteous rules (7). In fact, in almost every verse in Psalm 119, the word of God is mentioned with one term or another. But I’m keenly interested in how God’s word affects how I live. Walking in or living my life by God’s word will make me a person of integrity and will give me an enviable or admirable testimony to others. That’s what the word “blessed” mean. It’s more than just being happy. It’s used of bystanders looking on in envy or admiration of someone. This was the case with the Queen of Sheba who commented on the “blessed” condition of King Solomon’s servants who stood continually before Solomon hearing his wisdom. She wished she could be in that position and envied them for it. So it is with “those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of Yahweh.” This is the same commendation given in Psalm 1:1 to the man who “walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers,” but whose “delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”
If I want to keep God’s word, I will need to seek him with my whole heart (2). I may try to please God by always doing “no wrong,” but I’m afraid I will fall short of that attempt. But at least that’s the direction of my life. I thank God that Jesus Christ did for me what I could never accomplish myself. He was the only person who truly did nothing wrong. He kept God’s commands and precepts diligently (5-6). Because of Christ, God’s word about him fuels my praise (7) and inspires me to learn and obey what God has revealed (8). Because Jesus kept God’s word perfectly, and I am in Jesus, God will never forsake me. That really is something this world can admire and have for themselves if they will but believe what God has revealed in his Word.
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