Gimel


Psalm 119:17-24
17Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.
18Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.
19I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!
20My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.
21You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments.
22Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies.
23Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.

One of the devotional practices I am currently exercising is that of scribe. Each day I write out the Biblical text that we study by hand. I’ve tried this before but never with this much intentionality. It has become a daily practice and has some surprising benefits. Until now, I can honestly say I’ve never paid this much attention to Psalm 119. Focusing on the words long enough to write them down means I actually look at the text and think about the words. They have greater impact. In doing that today, I was surprised by the verses that grabbed my attention.

These 8 verses seem slightly disjointed for me. The author flips back and forth between attacking those who do not seem to follow God and expressions of delight in the Word. There are 3 verses that caused me to go back and read them again several times.

20My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.
23Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.

24Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.

Would that it was true that my soul was consumed with longing for God’s rules at all time. To say that might be a stretch of the truth for me. But it does seem like a worthy goal. Finally, I am intrigued by the idea that rather than perseverating on what others think or plot against me I would instead spend my mental energies on God’s Word. That puts me in mind of “taking every thought captive and making it obedient unto Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5). If I’m focused on God’s Word, the opinions of others mean nothing, for I am seeking to please only one Master. That is my take home point for the day!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more