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 have 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 write 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
No comments:
Post a Comment