Aleph



Psalm 119:1–8







Aleph

1Blessed are those whose way is blameless,who walk in the law of the Lord!
2Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,who seek him with their whole heart,
3who also do no wrong,but walk in his ways!
4You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.
5Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!
6Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules.
8I will keep your statutes;do not utterly forsake me!

On March 1, we will embark on the annual spiritual journey of Lent. Since it is only just a few days away, and the focus of this blog will then become that preparatory path, it seems like a good idea to focus on Psalm 119. If you are familiar with the Scriptures you probably already know that this is the longest chapter in the whole Bible. The focus of this prayer is the power of the Word of God and in these 176 verses we find a stunningly beautiful poem / prayer  / song that leads one’s heart to be filled with joy over this incredible gift God has given to us. The pattern of Psalm 119 is rather remarkable. It is made up of 22 eight-verse stanzas. The first word of each line of the stanza begins with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet and the letters are, of course, taken in order. Sadly, that pattern cannot be reestablished in English (or probably any other translation) but just knowing that the author has used this alliterative tool makes it rather impressive. One can also assume that this tool helped make the psalm all that much easier to memorize.

These first 8 verses introduce the entire psalm with emphasis on the power of God’s Word (law) to impact our lives. When His law is our focus and that which informs our lives, we stay on His path. We are introduced to the idea that the one who walks in God’s law is found blameless! These words are followed closely by an emphasis on those “who seek him with their whole heart”. This is where the psalm becomes personal. Now the reader is called upon to seek after God. In that seeking there is much joy, for the Lord is always willing to be found because He is the One who initiates the search in the first place. This makes God approachable and as Christians we know that He became completely available to us through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.

We won’t make it all the way through Psalm 119 before March 1. That’s okay. We will be well on our way into the “search” for the face of God through this wonderful song and the blessings will be ours, for that is what we are promised in the very first verse.

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! 2Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart.

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