Take a Beat



Psalm 119:9-16
9How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your Word.
10With my whole heart I seek You; let me not wander from Your commandments!
11I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
12Blessed are You, O Lord; teach me Your statutes!
13With my lips I declare all the rules of Your mouth.
14In the way of Your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
15I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways.
16I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

We have arrived at the end of our study of Genesis and it is time to move on to something else. On Monday we will begin a study of one of the Gospels. Which one we are going to study remains a mystery at this point. I guess God will have to reveal that over the weekend. But since we’ve finished something, I want to take a moment to regroup and review why this blog even exists.

As most of you know it has been 2½ years since this particular venue for a daily look into God’s Word began. It started with a challenge from a friend to actually begin to write like I said I wanted to. That same person also challenged our entire congregation to make a 2 degree change in our spiritual lives and watch the impact that would have over the long haul. I must say, that impact has been remarkable for me personally. No longer do I wish I was more consistent in my daily Bible reading and prayer time. Each morning I awaken with a fresh curiosity for the Word and wonder what God holds in store for me that day. And each day I take joy in writing down the things I learn to share with you. It has been my desire from the start to provide a part of that 2 degree change for my readers as well.

The verses that I have chosen to focus upon for our little break here are from Psalm 119. This Psalm is a truly remarkable work of poetic art and shines a bright light on the blessings of being a student and disciple of God’s Word for 176 verses. It is fitting that the longest chapter in the Bible is an encouragement to keep the reading God’s Word at the center of our lives. The Psalm is broken down into 8 verse stanzas and is a massive alphabetic acrostic. There are 22 stanzas that correspond to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each line in each stanza begins with the letter for that stanza. As I said, poetic genius. Sadly that is all lost in the translation process so our English versions aren't as elegant. Imagine how that would help with the memorization of this Psalm!

The writer of the Psalm was clearly a person who loved the Word of the Lord. If you want a true blessing read the entire Psalm. It inspires a desire to keep your head in the Word on a daily basis which brings us back around to why this blog even exists and why you read it. It is just one small way to keep your eyes on the Lord and what He has to say about your life. My words each day are nothing but if you have done the Bible reading suggested for each day you have successfully read Amos, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, Daniel, Ephesians, James, and Genesis. And I know that you have been blessed because God is faithful to His disciples. May you continue to read His Word every day and live as He directs you through this amazing gift.

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