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: 33-40

Hey (Hei; the letter H)

Teach me, Lord, the meaning of Your statutes, and I will always keep them.

Help me understand Your instruction, and I will obey it and follow it with all my heart.

Help me stay on the path of Your commands, for I take pleasure in it.

Turn my heart to Your decrees and not to dishonest profit.

Turn my eyes from looking at what is worthless; give me life in Your ways.

Confirm what You said to Your servant, for it produces reverence for You.

Turn away the disgrace I dread; indeed, Your judgments are good.

How I long for Your precepts! Give me life through Your righteousness.

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Psalm 119 is all about hearing and doing the Scriptures.

In John 14:6, Jesus tells us that HE is the way, the truth, and the life. He continues by explaining that no one can come to the Father except through HIM. Jesus is the key!

In John 1, we are told that Jesus is the Word of God, that Jesus existed from the beginning, and that He, the Word, became flesh and dwelt among us humans.

As I was reading and studying verses 33-40 in Psalm 119 to prep for this post, the phrase give me life kept jumping off the page, and I could not help but think about the truths we learn about Jesus in John’s Gospel.

In verses 33-40, the psalmist begs God for teaching and understanding. He knows that if he truly comprehends God’s Word, if he knows God’s laws, rules, and precepts, then he will ultimately know God and this will give him life. The psalmist is basically saying God’s Word is the truth that will lead him in the way to life.

Boy, was this psalmist ahead of his time! He didn’t know the saving power of the name of Jesus Christ as we do today, but he did know that the truth to life lies within God’s Word. That we can only know God when we know His Word. Amen!

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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