His Encouragement — Psalm 119 Series

Welcome to His Encouragement Thursday!

This week I am going to continue my 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!

---

Psalm 119: 89-96

Lamed (the letter L; sounds like La – med)

Lord, Your Word is forever; it is firmly fixed in heaven.

Your faithfulness is for all generations; You established the earth, and it stands firm.

Your judgments stand firm today, for all things are Your servants.

If Your instruction had not been my delight, I would have died in my affliction.

I will never forget Your precepts, for You have given me life through them.

I am Yours; save me, for I have studied Your precepts.

The wicked hope to destroy me, but I contemplate Your decrees.

I have seen a limit to all perfection, but Your command is without limit.

---

Psalm 119 is all about hearing and doing the Scriptures.

My mantra is God is the Boss. I say it hundreds of times in any given day. Lately, I’ve been saying it almost every day all day long.

I LOVE this stanza because it feels like the psalmist is supporting my God is the Boss mantra.

Here is a list of all the ways God is the Boss as illustrated in this stanza:

• God’s Word is FOREVER — no one or thing can take it away (people try really hard though).
• God established the earth and it stands firm (i.e., it follows His commands — see Matthew 8:23-27).
• God’s judgments stand firm. The same goes for all of His promises!
• ALL things serve God (whether they think so or not — see Jeremiah 27:6).
• God gives us life and through His Word we are continually being given LIFE.
• God’s command is without limit.

Now a little bit about the word lamed.

Lamed is the tallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet and, therefore, symbolically represents royalty. Specifically, the lamed represents the King of kings! When Moses wrote the letter lamed in the Torah he would draw a picture of a shepherd’s staff. So, in essence, the lamed represents our Heavenly King who stands in command shepherding His sheep.

And, if that isn’t cool enough, lamed represents the heart because it is the center letter of the alphabet. That makes this stanza the heart of Psalm 119. It’s comforting to me, especially in this day and age, that the heart of the matter in Psalm 119 is that God is the Boss. That He is prepared for EVERYTHING. Nothing surprises Him and nothing shocks Him, and ALL THINGS follow His command. I don’t know about you, but this brings me a lot of peace today!

---

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