Today’s Readings Galatians 5:1-6. Psalm 119:41-48. Luke 7:11-17.
“This amazing section of Psalm 119 would prove revolutionary if only we would listen to it” (Dr Alec Motyer). So please read these 8 verses before we dive in.
If you are like me you will be relieved that we only have 8 verses out of this Psalm’s 176 verses to look at today! As an acrostic (alphabet ) Psalm, each section starts consecutively with a letter from the Hebrew alphabet. Today’s letter is ‘waw’, pronounced as ‘vau’. So Psalm 119 is chunked up, but its length can be off-putting. Unlike most Psalms, which focus on God’s mighty acts, this one focuses on a single theme – the glory of God’s word, the Scriptures.
Matthew Henry, who wrote his great commentary of the bible in the 18th century, was introduced to Psalm 119 by his father, Philip. He told Matthew and his siblings to meditate on one verse of the Psalm each morning. In this way, they were enabled to read the entire Psalm twice each year! Philip explained to his children that this “will bring you to be in love with all the rest of the Scriptures.” His wise advice clearly worked for Matthew! It might for us too…..
It is tempting to change the title from ‘waw’ to ‘wow’ for today’s passage! Each verse reminds us of wonderful truths that all fit together. The Psalmist is speaking directly to God in prayer about His love and salvation, His glorious word in Scripture and his own devotion and commitment. It challenges us about our love for God and His word. The Psalmist is deriving huge practical strength and freedom from his love of God’s word. So can we as we learn to:
* trust in God’s unfailing love for our salvation, as promised in the Bible (v41).
* answer those who scoff at our faith as we trust in God’s word (v42).
* rely at all times upon our heavenly Father’s “word of truth” (v43).
* obey God’s revealed expectations of his people throughout our lives (v44).
* “walk about in freedom” as we enjoy being at peace with God (v45).
* speak out boldly for Jesus and bring the truth of the gospel to others (v46).
* enjoy a new excitement and “delight” each time we open our Bibles (v47).
* praise God for His holy requirements as we base our lives on His word (v48).
These verses in Hebrew all begin with “And”. This indicates that each truth is joined to further insights about God and His word. They all belong together. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to enable us to join up in our lives each of the truths shared with us by the Psalmist here.