Psalm 119

[Jim Watt]

“*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*Tel: 253-517-9195 - Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org*

April 27, 2011


 *JAN 23 - PSALM 119 - GLORY AND GOD'S WORD*


 *1. 119:14 (1-24) BLESSING AND ENLIGHTENMENT BY THE WORD. “I have rejoiced
in the way of your testimonies, As much as in all riches.” *(14; way =
derek, S#1870, JESUS the way). *Jesus*, You are the way! Father You have
given Christ the Kingdom! *Hallowed be Your Name!*


 *2. 119:29 (25-48) SUSTAINING POWER AND SALVATION BY THE WORD. “Remove from
me the way of falsehood; And grant me your law graciously.” *(29; law =
torah, S#8451, 25x). Father, in Your law is delight. We give ourselves in
obedience of the faith to the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus our
Lord (Romans 8:2). *Your :kingdom come!*


 *3. 119:59 (49-72) COMFORT AND CHASTENING FROM THE WORD. “I thought on my
ways, And turned my feet unto your testimonies.” *(59; testimony = edah,
S#5713 + eduth, 23x). What You have testified concerning this, O Father,
that would we hearken to and walk in! Yes, we would delight in them with our
whole heart. Then we know we will not be confounded. *Your :will be done, As
in heaven, so on earth!*


 *4. 119:78 (73-96) RIGHTEOUSNESS, HOPE AND ETERNITY IN THE WORD. “Let the
proud be put to shame; for they have overthrown me wrongfully: But I will
meditate on your precepts.” *(78; precept = pikkudim, S#6490, 21x). How we
love Your rules of life, Your precepts, Father! How we delight in Proverbs!
For here You teach us how to walk humbly and forgive; how to love our
enemies; how to live the Sermon on the Mount in You; how to be forgiven. *Our
:daily bread give us this day!*


 *5. 119:112 (97-120) WISDOM, JOY AND SECURITY IN THE WORD. “I have inclined
my heart to perform your statutes For ever, even unto the end.” *(112;
statute = chukkim, S#2706, 22x, to decree or ordain). By these You regulate
our way of life. By these You teach us how to live. We find Your statutes in
all books of the Bible. *Jesus* is our Statute! *And forgive us our :debts,
as we also have forgiven our :debtors!*


 *6. 119:143 (121-144) CONFIDENCE, GUIDANCE AND CHARACTER IN THE WORD.
“Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me; Yet your commandments are my
delight.” *(143; commandment = mitsvah, S#4687, 22x). We love Your
commandments above gold, Father. Riches cannot deflect us from the way of
keeping them. We honor those who speak and live according to Your
commandments. *And bring us not into temptation!*


 *7. 119:156 (145-176) STRENGTH AND PEACE FROM THE WORD. “Great are your
tender mercies, O Jehovah: Quicken me according to your ordinances (
judgments).” *(156; judgment = mishpat, S#4941, 18x). Your judgments, O
Father, are Your regulations, Your sentence, Your verdict. We respect and
honor whatever is Your judgment. You have the right to judge - for You are
King and Judge of Your Kingdom! *But deliver us from the evil one!*


 *NOTE**: “Seven times a day do I praise you, Because of your righteous
ordinances” (119:164). *This O Father, is the way we would use Your word to
praise You. 10 terms referring to God's Word are used in all but 3 of the
176 verses in Psalm 119. 7 of these terms appear above; following are the
other three.


 8. *Word* = davar, S#1198, 21x in this Psalm; = imrah, S#565, spoken word,
19x; (equivalent to LOgos and R*E*ma in the NT).


 9. *Truth* = emunah, S#530, 1x; = emeth, S#571, 3x.


 10. *Righteousness* = tsedaqah, S#6664, 6x.


 Psalm 119 is the Psalm of the *Word*! And - Jesus and the Word are *one*!
See John 1:1 again - *“In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with
:God, and the Word was God! *


 It is true that the written word in itself does *not* give life. The old
hymn rightly states it - *“Beyond the Sacred Page, I seek **Thee**, Lord!”*


 But in the beginning was the spoken Word - R*E*ma. Then after a time - it
slipped into the written form, LOgos. But as we *meditate* upon it, even
reverently on our knees speak it back to God - *then* the Holy Spirit lays
hold of it and transforms it back to a R*E*ma - a Living Word! And then
Christ Jesus the Living Word becomes fully formed within us. Then Galatians
2:20 becomes a reality to us as it was to the apostle Paul, and with him we
can say, *“Christ lives **in** me!” *This was also the secret of George
Muller and George Whitefield.


 The Book of Psalms, largely by David, is the hymn book of the Bible. That
is why in our reading guide - “Through the Bible in a Year” - we have taken
Psalms and Proverbs out of context, and give a Psalm a day for the first 5
months of the year with Proverbs for June; and then we repeat them for the
last half of the year. We hope to have this guide on our Website soon, so
that you can read the Bible through in a Year in this interesting format. We
follow J. Vernon McGee's alternation of OT and NT books for added variety
and interest.


 Psalm 119 is not unique in that it uses the Hebrew alphabet as a memory
device. Lamentations and other Psalms likewise use this same device.
However, it is unique in the extent to which it is involved. The Hebrew
alphabet has 22 letter, all consonants. Psalm 119 is composed of 22 sections
of 8 verses each. The eight verses of these 22 sections all start in the
Hebrew with the 22 succeeding letter of the alphabet. Psalm 119:1-8 with its
8 verses, each start with “aleph”, the first letter of the alphabet; and
closes with 119:169-176, each of the 8 verses commencing with “tav”, the 22
nd letter of the alphabet. One of our grandsons with his father quoted over
one half of this Psalm to us on one occasion for our family devotions.
J.A.Watt
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