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Psalm 119: 1-8 (Aleph)

22 Jul

Aleph

1 Joyful are people of integrity,
    who follow the instructions of the Lord.
2 Joyful are those who obey his laws
    and search for him with all their hearts.
3 They do not compromise with evil,
    and they walk only in his paths.
4 You have charged us
    to keep your commandments carefully.
5 Oh, that my actions would consistently
    reflect your decrees!
6 Then I will not be ashamed
    when I compare my life with your commands.
7 As I learn your righteous regulations,
    I will thank you by living as I should!
8 I will obey your decrees.
    Please don’t give up on me!

Psalm 119:1-8

Dear God, I want to continue this journey through Psalm 119 by doubling back and starting at the beginning. As a reminder to myself, I went back and read the description of this psalm: This psalm is a Hebrew acrostic poem; there are twenty-two stanzas, one for each successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the eight verses within each stanza begins with the Hebrew letter named in its heading. So I’m at the beginning. It’s going to take me three weeks to get through these if I do one section a day. That’s good. I need to somehow sit with this piece of art in bite-sized chunks so I can see what you might have for me through it. So were we go, verse by verse:

  • 1 Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. – My first thought when I read this first verse was that this would be a psalm of “orientation” (as opposed to “disorientation” and “reorientation”). Life is good. Logically, this should make sense. It doesn’t always work this way. Sometimes I can have integrity and follow your instructions and still experience sorrow. But for the most part, this is true. If I don’t follow your instructions and have integrity, My life will, at a minimum, ring hollow, and, at a maximum, lead to my empty destruction.
  • 2 Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. – Searching for you with all of my heart is an interesting concept. Do I search for you? Is that what I’m doing even now as I type this prayer to you? Am I searching for you? Is that what I did yesterday when I listened to the instruction by N.T. Wright or listened to Christian music? What does it look like to search for you? That’s a good question.
  • 3 They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths. – Oh, my! What does it mean to compromise with evil? I am sure I compromise with evil every day. I wonder what the real difference is between compromising with evil and living in the world but not of it. There are things about this world I enjoy. To quote Rich Mullins in his song “Land of my Sojourn:” Nobody tells you when you get born here how much you’ll come to love it and how you’ll never belong here, so I’ll call you my country, but I’ll be lonely for my home. There are some things the world offers that I love. Mainly in the area of music and movies/television. Do I cross a line of compromising with evil when I indulge in some of it? I suppose it depends on what the evil looks like and what compromising looks like. There is a lot of secular stuff that is not evil. Help me to know how to walk only in your path.
  • 4 You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully. – This is interesting because all of us pick and choose which commandments to follow and which ones to ignore. When I read The Year of Living Biblically last year, it was a good reminder of just how selective I am with your commands. And I don’t think that’s necessarily wrong because Jesus introduced a freedom from following some of the laws. But what I really want to do is look at the Sermon on the Mount and consider Jesus’s admonition to obey the law to its fullest spirit and not just its most minimal letter: “You have heard it said…, but I say…”
  • 5 Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees! – One of my biggest desires is that my actions would reflect who I am in you. That I would be the same person in the depths of my heart that I show people publicly. I know I wrote about this a few weeks ago, but what pleased me most about the DISC personality analysis I did a few weeks ago was the consistency between who others say I am vs. how I see myself vs. who I am in a crisis. The only real difference was that, in a crisis, I leaned even harder into who I am. The big question is, do people see me reflecting your decrees and who you are through who I am? Oh, how I hope so.
  • 6 Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands. – There is something to be said for a clear conscience. I don’t like it when I feel guilt for something. Or I have a secret of which I’m ashamed. I’m convinced that secrets of which we are ashamed is the crux of how Satan controls us. Help me to live with a clear conscience. Honestly, I think living with a clear conscience is the best way to be consistent between my public persona and who I am in my most private moments.
  • 7 As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should! – How can I ever thank you enough? How can I ever tell you I love you enough? How can I ever repay you for everything you’ve done for me? The answer to all three of those questions is that I can’t. But one thing I can do is do my best to reflect you to the world and not bring shame on you. Oh, please help me to do this.
  • 8 I will obey your decrees. Please don’t give up on me! – I just love these last words: “Please don’t give up on me!” Yes, Father, I will fail you. I will anger you. I will disappoint you. I will hurt you and others. But please keep with me. Please don’t give up on me. Help me to continue, even in this day, to obey your decrees, love you with all I have, love everyone you put in my path, and represent you well to a world that needs you. Please, don’t give up on me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 22, 2025 in Psalm 119, Psalms

 

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Psalm 119:25-32 (Daleth)

21 Jul

Daleth

25 I lie in the dust;
    revive me by your word.
26 I told you my plans, and you answered.
    Now teach me your decrees.
27 Help me understand the meaning of your commandments,
    and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds.
28 I weep with sorrow;
    encourage me by your word.
29 Keep me from lying to myself;
    give me the privilege of knowing your instructions.
30 I have chosen to be faithful;
    I have determined to live by your regulations.
31 I cling to your laws.
    Lord, don’t let me be put to shame!
32 I will pursue your commands,
    for you expand my understanding.

Psalm 119:25-32

Dear God, there is so much depth in this section of Psalm 119, I think what I want to do is break it up verse by verse and sit with each one.

  • 25 I lie in the dust; revive me by your word. – Whenever I try to do it myself I end up back at myself which leads to death. Just returning me to dust. Only your presence and relationship with you can lift me beyond my fallen humanity and into what you originally created me to be in Genesis 1. Fill me with your word. Your presence. Your Holy Spirit.
  • 26 I told you my plans, and you answered. Now teach me your decrees. – My plans must seem so silly to you. Even now, I have things I want to do and accomplish professionally as well as privately. I want to be part of the alumni group for Christian Men’s Life Skills. I want to grow the facility we are in and work to touch the depths of people’s lives and not just the surface. I could go on and on. I have these plans. But the truth is, I am so fragile and ignorant. I don’t know what the next moment holds, much less the next day, week, month, year, or decade. Help me to take my eyes off of my plans and help me to simply learn more of you and your decrees in this moment.
  • 27 Help me understand the meaning of your commandments, and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds. – I wonder what the psalmist meant by understanding the meaning of your commandments. I know where my head went. My head went to not just spouting off your laws and commandments at people and chastising them for not obeying you, but loving them through the meaning of your commandments. Don’t just say, “Don’t lie!” but instead talk to them about how the truth is good for them and lies harm them and others. The why. Don’t just say, “Take a Sabbath day!” but help them to understand the need for rest that you have baked into each of us. This goes into every issue the church faces today, including the LGBTQ issue. I’m frustrated with the American church in that it spouts off on the command and doesn’t seem to understand its why. When they do that, it just comes across as mean and judgmental. Help me to understand the meaning of your commandments.
  • 28 I weep with sorrow; encourage me by your word. – How did the psalmist understand the meaning of your word? For me, I am interpreting it as not only scripture, but the still small voice you use to speak to me within my soul as I spend time with you. It is the words of Christians who speak to me. It is what I read or listen to, both secular and spiritual. It is the discernment the Holy Spirit gives me as I take in the world around me. And there are times I weep with sorrow. Just two weeks ago, I was talking to my wife about a shared pain we both have, and I just started crying on her. Sorrow is in me. Help me to be comforted and encouraged by your word.
  • 29 Keep me from lying to myself; give me the privilege of knowing your instructions. – This is so good! Keep me from lying to myself. Powerful! Yes, I lie to myself. Sometimes, I take my own thoughts and agenda and ascribe your word to them and justify them as your will for me. Sometimes, I get defensive and self-righteous and tell myself that I’ve been wronged and I have rights that must seek justice. But in those moments I’m lying to myself. Teach me and help me to know your instructions.
  • 30 I have chosen to be faithful; I have determined to live by your regulations. – It almost seems like this verse should have come before the last one. I do choose faithfulness, but please help me to keep from lying to myself. And teach me to be disciplined to follow you.
  • 31 I cling to your laws. Lord, don’t let me be put to shame! – Lord, if I am to be put to shame, let it be for clinging to your laws. If that is the shame I experience then I will gladly accept it. But help me to not let go of your laws and find shame down the path of my own sin. That’s what I desperately don’t want, but I don’t want it for your sake. I don’t want to bring shame upon you. While I’m thinking about it, give me mercy for those who do claim you but follow their own path into sin. Help me to know how to help them and love them back into you.
  • 32 I will pursue your commands, for you expand my understanding. – I need you. The only way I can make my small, small, small life count for the few year I have on this earth is to lean into you, get to know you and become like you as much as I can, and then let you use me how you will. But to do that, I need to not only pursue your commands, but I need to do it with the spirit of expanding my understanding of you and then letting that flow into the world around me.

Father, I got a lot out of that this morning. Thank you for this one section of this psalm. I might just go back and do the same thing, section by section, for this whole psalm on this vacation I’m currently on. Walk with me today. Walk with my wife and our friends today. Watch over and heal those I love. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 21, 2025 in Psalm 119, Psalms

 

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Psalm 119:1-8

18 Jul

Psalm 119[a]

Aleph

1 Joyful are people of integrity,
    who follow the instructions of the Lord.
2 Joyful are those who obey his laws
    and search for him with all their hearts.
3 They do not compromise with evil,
    and they walk only in his paths.
4 You have charged us
    to keep your commandments carefully.
5 Oh, that my actions would consistently
    reflect your decrees!
6 Then I will not be ashamed
    when I compare my life with your commands.
7 As I learn your righteous regulations,
    I will thank you by living as I should!
8 I will obey your decrees.
    Please don’t give up on me!

Dear God, verse 7 was the verse of the day on Bible Gateway, but it actually really works for this psalm to be a scripture I look at for today because I am going to the Poetry Society of Texas Annual Summer Conference tonight in Denton with my wife and this psalm has a special poetic dimension to it. The note that goes with the [a] next to the psalm title says, “This psalm is a Hebrew acrostic poem; there are twenty-two stanzas, one for each successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the eight verses within each stanza begins with the Hebrew letter named in its heading.” I’m not going to do all 22 stanzas this morning, but I thought I would at least look at the stanza that includes verse 7.

Now, back to this passage. I participated in the graduation for the Christian Men’s Life Skills class last night, and it was remarkable. What has blown me away is the relationships between the men and how much some of them are clinging to this and to you right now. They are hungry and they need fed. The seeds planted are looking for good soil in which to take root. These verses reflect the state of many of their hearts right now. Of course the rains will fall. The wind will blow. When they come, will they come against lives that are established with deep roots? I pray for their roots right now. I pray for their soil. I pray that you will also help me to weed my own soil. Help your seeds to find good soil in me and develop deep roots.

Father, I have the words to “I Need Thee Every Hour” and its chorus going through my head: “I need thee, oh I need thee. Every hour I need thee. O bless me now, my Savior. I come to thee.” Bless me, my savior. Bless these men. Bless their families. We need thee every hour.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 18, 2025 in Psalms

 

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Psalm 119:1-8

15 Mar

Psalm 119

The Glories of God’s Law

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

Dear God, verse 2 is the focus for Sister Miriam this morning from Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation.

2 Happy are those who keep his decrees,
    who seek him with their whole heart

When I read all of these verses together, it brought to mind a video I saw this week. A coworker’s one-year-old granddaughter was caught on video by her mother playing with a roll of toilet paper. Sitting on the floor next to the spindle on the wall and unrolling it. Playing with it. When the mom is heard on the video coming around the corner and saying, “Well, hello there,” the toddler baby turns and instantly starts crying–wailing really. It was so funny to watch this child either 1. experience instant guilt which means there was a knowledge of their bad behavior all along or 2. throw out the wailing and tears instantly in an effort to manipulate and mitigate her mother’s anger.

Whatever the reason for this child’s wailing, every person who watched that video could instantly relate to what was going on. We’ve all been there, going all the way back to Adam and Eve. Ohhh, that apple looks so good (whatever the “apple” might represent for me). And I’ve had those times when I’ve walked around with the guilt of known sin. I’ve hoped I can hide it and no one will discover it. I’ve even foolishly tried to hide it from you by not acknowledging it and pretending like it didn’t happen. Or by telling myself that it’s not a big deal and you don’t care. Or by telling myself I’m in for a penny so I might as well be in for a pound.

As we know, all of that puts a barrier up between us and everything around us. It puts up a barrier between me and you as well as me and others around me. There’s a part of me I cannot let them know. And if they know it and feel betrayed in any way, it puts something between us in that way too. It takes away transparency.

Quoting Sister Miriam for today: “A house may look lovely on the exterior, but if the foundation is flawed, the house will develop acute problems. We see this in our own lives: The Lord spends much time healing and restoring the roots of our lives. This happens little by little over time. Yes, we experience deep shifts and major breakthroughs within that are seismic and felt and lasting. And we also have tiny reverberations of the tender work of the Artist who knows exactly what he is creating.”

Father, of course, the easiest and best thing to do is to keep your testimony and seek you with my whole heart. It is to be blameless, do no wrong, and walk in your way. Oh that my ways will be steadfast in keeping your laws. But I know I have failed you. I know I will fail you. I am sorry. I bring the sin I’m aware of to you in this moment. I am sorry, Father. I am sorry, Jesus. I am sorry, Holy Spirit. Thank you for everything you have done, are doing, and will do for me as my Triune God. I know your ways are best for me. They lead me to life. Thank you for not utterly forsaking me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 15, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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