SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 8/30/2012 7:36:45 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm
119 PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm
119
Message
of the verses: Today’s SD will be a
bit different than the other SD’s that I have done in that we will begin to
look at the longest Psalm, which is also the longest chapter in the
Scriptures. Psalm 117 is the shortest
and it took us three days to get through the two verses that are in it, but
Psalm 119 has 176 verses so it will take a much longer time in looking at all
of those verses. How long? I am not sure of the answer to that question,
but we will try and take one section a day and look at it. The psalm is broken up into 22 different
sections of eight verses in each section each section uses a Hebrew letter in
all of the verses to talk about the Word of God, which is the theme of this
psalm. In Today’s SD we will begin to
look at the introduction to this wonderful portion of God’s Word.
“This longest of the psalms and
chapters in the Bible stands as the ‘Mt. Everest’ of the Psalter. It joins Pss. 1 and 19 in exalting God’s
Word. The author is unknown for certain,
although David, Daniel, or Ezra has reasonably been suggested. The psalmist apparently wrote while under
some sort of serious duress. This is an
acrostic psalm (cf. Pss. 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 145) composed of 22 sections,
each containing 8 lines. All 8 lines of
the first section start with the first letter of the Heb. Alphabet; thus the
psalm continues until all letters have been used in order. The 8 different terms referring to Scripture
occurring throughout the psalm are: 1) law, 2) testimonies, 3) precepts, 4)
statutes, 5) commandments, 6) judgments, 7) word, and 8) ordinances. From before sunrise to beyond sunset, the
Word of God dominated the psalmist’s life e. g., 1) before dawn (v 147), 2)
daily (v 97), 3) 7 times daily (v 164), 4) nightly (vv. 55, 148), and 5) at
midnight (v 162). Other than the
acrostic form, Ps 119 does not have an outline.
Rather, there are many frequently recurring themes which will be
delineated in the notes.” (The John
MacArthur Study Bible)
It has been my practice to quote
from three different sources at the beginning of each psalm that we have been
studying. As you may imagine the introduction
from Charles H. Spurgeon is very lengthy and Dr. Wiersbe’s introduction is also
very lengthy so I have decided not to use Spurgeon’s and to only use portions
from Dr. Wiersbe’s introduction. His
commentary on the entire psalm is 26 pages long.
In Dr. Wiersbe’s introduction to
Psalm 119 he states that it is possible that the prophet Jeremiah wrote this
psalm. “Whether right or wrong, I have
often thought that the prophet Jeremiah might have been the author of Psalm 119
and that he wrote it to teach and encourage his young disciples (v. 9) after
the destruction of the temple. Many of
the statements in the psalm could be applied to Jeremiah. He spoke with kings, five of them in fact
(Jer. 1:2), and bore reproach because he faithfully served the Lord (Jer.
15:15; 20:8). He was surrounded by
critics and enemies who did not seek God’s law (Jer. 11:19), but wanted to get
rid of the prophet (Jer. 18:23).
Jeremiah was definitely the prophet of ‘God’s Word in the heart’ (Jer.
31:31-34), and this is an emphasis in 119 (vv. 11, 32, 39, 80, 111). The writer wept over the plight of his people
(vv. 28, NASB, 136; Jer. 9:1, 18; 13:17; 14:17; Lam. 1:16; 2:18: 3:48). However, in the midst of catastrophe and
danger, Jeremiah rejoiced in God’s Word and nourished himself in it (v.111;
Jer. 15:16). In both vocabulary and
message, this psalm is rooted in the book of Deuteronomy (‘second law’), which
is Moses’ second declaration of the Law.
However, unlike Exodus, Deuteronomy emphasizes love and obedience from
the heart, not just a ‘ritual following of God’s rules. Jeremiah was a priest as well as a prophet
and had a working knowledge of Deuteronomy.”
I suppose that in the life of all
believers there has been a conflict between Law and grace at one time or
another. There are verses in the Bible
that seem to teach that these two are in conflict, and yet it is hard to
understand. We are told that we are not
under Law but under grace and perhaps this is one of the reasons believers do
not take the time to study the Old Testament as much as they should or need
to. We have to remember that it was not
until late in the first century that we had the entire Bible written so after
Jesus ascended into heaven and the apostles began to teach they only had the
Old Testament to teach from. We see that
when under the leadership of Peter that an apostle was chosen to take Judas’
place, and in his first sermon Peter quoted OT prophets showing that he knew
the OT. There are many more of these
examples in the NT.
More from Dr. Wiersbe: “Many believers today stand guilty of
ignoring the Old Testament, except for reading ‘favorite psalms,’ and therefore
many are ignorant of what God’s law teaches.
‘The law is a yoke,’ they exclaim, and point to Acts 15:10 and Galatians
5:1, but the psalmist found freedom through the law (vv. 45, 133). ‘To pay attention to the law is to move into
the shadows!’ they argue, referring to Colossians 2:16-17 and Hebrews 10:1, but
the writer of Psalm 119 found the law to be his light (vv. 105, 130). ‘By the law is the knowledge of sin’ (Rom.
3:20), but the psalmist used the law to get victory over sin (vv. 9-11). ‘The
law kills!’ (Romans 79-11), but the law brought the psalmist new life when he
was down in the dust (see NASB vv. 25, 40, 88, 107, 149 etc). ‘Law and grace are in opposition!’ many
declare, but the psalmist testified that law and grace worked together in his
life (vv. 29 and 58). God used Moses to
liberate the people from Egypt, but then God gave Moses the law to give to
Israel at Sinai. The German philosopher
Goethe wrote, ‘Whatever liberates our spirit without giving us self-control is
disastrous.’ Law and grace are not
enemies, for law sets the standard and grace enables us to meet it (Rom.
8:1-3).”
A couple of more quotes from Dr.
Wiersbe: “The way we treat the Word of
God is the way we treat the God of the Word.”
“As you read and study Psalm 119,
you will see the writer in a variety of experiences, but His devotion to the
Lord and His Word will not change.
Circumstance may change, but God and His Word remain the same.”
In Tomorrow’s SD we will begin to
look at Psalm 119, starting with verse one and will look at the first eight
verses of the psalm. In Charles H.
Spurgeon’s introduction he had the first eight verses that began with the
letter “A,” to show how the psalmist wrote these first eight verses.
“A
blessing is on them that are undefiled in the way
and
walk in the law of Jehovah;
A
blessing is on them that keep his testimonies,
and
seek him with their whole heart;
Also
on them that do no wickedness,
but
walk in his ways.
A
law hast thou given unto us,
that
we should diligently keep thy commandments.
Ah!
Lord, that my ways were made so direct
that
I might keep thy statutes!
And
then shall I not be confounded.
While
I have respect unto all thy commandments.
As
for me, I will thank thee with an unfeigned heart,
when
I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
An
eye will I have unto thy ceremonies,
O
forsake me not utterly.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I am
happy for the writings of Dr. Warren Wiersbe, and am especially for the
information that he wrote about law and grace and how they work together. Jesus fulfilled the entire law so that I
don’t have to, but because of His grace that was given to me, and because of
the Word of God and the Spirit who lives within me I now have a desire to live
my life by the Word of God.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Trust the Lord to give wisdom to my family concerning a decision we have
to make in the near future.
8/30/2012
9:33:35 AM
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