His Encouragement — Psalm 119 Series

Welcome to His Encouragement Thursday!

This week I am going to begin a series on Psalm 119.

For those who may not know, Psalm 119 is broken down into 22 stanzas and each stanza begins with one letter from the Hebrew Alphabet. Each stanza is broken up into 8 verses for a total of 176 verses. It is the longest Psalm in the Psaltry. And, Psalm 119 is an example of an acrostic, which is a poem where the first letter of each verse spells out a word, message, or follows the alphabet. In this case, Psalm 119 follows the Hebrew Alphabet.

My goal with this series is not lofty. I am not an expert on Psalm 119. I just love its symmetry and message, and I want to share that with you over the next 22 weeks. Perhaps I will be able to share some insight, some interesting tidbits and facts, or just some thoughts on how the verses strike me. My true goal is that this series is an extra encouragement to you, and helps you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you. I hope you enjoy and are blessed!

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Psalm 119: 25-32

Dalet (the letter D)

My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to Your Word!

When I told of my ways, You answered me; teach me Your statutes!

Make me understand the way of Your precepts, and I will meditate on Your wonderous works.

My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to Your Word!

Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me Your Law!

I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set Your rules before me.

I cling to Your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame!

I will run in the way of Your commandments when You enlarge my heart!

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Psalm 119 is all about hearing and doing the Scriptures.

I hate my weaknesses. More than anything I HATE crying in front of people. I see that as one of my ultimate weaknesses. My natural instinct is to hold everything in and dump it later when I am alone. I’m not saying this is the way to go, but I am saying this is how I am wired.

My real issue is that I am too empathetic. I take on everyone’s pain. I feel WAY too much. And, with my OCD, I have a tendency to feel beyond what’s actually necessary. In verse 28 of Psalm 119, the psalmist writes, “My soul melts away for sorrow.” YES! That is me. When I am devastated by someone or something, I could cry uncontrollable buckets. It is like my soul is melting away and it’s embarrassing.

My stepdad was a Bible reader. That man knew God’s Word front, back, and sideways. My stepdad was the man I went to for Bible questions as I saw him as my wise advisor. One day, we were talking about Paul and what he says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. In case you don’t memorize verses (which is ok in my book, I am horrid at memorization), 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 is where Paul discusses how he is happy to be weak because in his weakness he is strong. Our discussion was about 20 years ago, so I don’t remember much, but I do remember being the scoffing teen and my stepdad setting me straight. I said something ignorant like, “Paul is dumb. How can we be strong in weakness?” And my stepdad said (this I remember quite vividly), “Nicole, when we are weak we have to depend on God. We have to trust that He is by our side getting us through our weak moment. If God is by our side, aren’t we next to the strongest being ever? So then when we are weak, aren’t we the strongest we will ever be?” This revelation definitely popped my 14-year old brain. What a fabulous image — at my weakest, I am strongest because I lean on God to get me through. Beautiful!

Lately, God has been allowing a LOT of heartbreak in my life. I’m talking serious heartbreak. The kind where it feels like a bomb has exploded and I’m not sure which end is up and which is down. The kind of sorrow that has without a doubt melted my soul. God has been forcing me to be my weakest — a crying girl who never stops crying. And I think He is doing that, in part, to get me to lean on Him more. He has brought me to a point where I can’t stuff my feelings and purge them later — they literally spill over often now unbidden. I’m slowly learning that it’s ok to show these heavy emotions.

When we are this weak and we want to lean on God, what do we do? It’s a super easy answer — we go to God. We lean on Him for understanding, compassion, comfort, and peace. HOW do we go to God? According to the psalmist here in 119 the answer is to be in God’s Word. By becoming daily Bible readers, we come to know God’s statues, commands, laws, and decrees, and through this knowledge we learn better who God is and then can draw close to Him. The answer will always be being in God’s Word!

Friends, God is there waiting for you to lean on Him. Open your Bibles today and draw close to the Father who wants to make you strong in Him!

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NOW, IT’S YOUR TURN!

WHAT BIBLICAL VERSE IS ENCOURAGING YOU TODAY?

Check out more Thursday Encouragement from my fellow blogger friends:

Trisha @ Joy of Reading

Jacquelyn @ A Heavenly Home

Jessica @ A Baker’s Perspective

Becca @ The Becca Files

Gina @ Stories by Gina

Rebecca @ Rev. Rebecca Writes

Andi @ Radiant Light

Leslie @ Words of Hope

Claudia @ Claudia Moser

Keneesha @ Women Loving God’s Way