A Daily Study of Psalm 119 (NKJV)
Meditations and Prayers Relating to the Law of God
“Psalms 119 is an acrostic to end all acrostics! There are twenty-two strophes (paragraphs), corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the strophes has eight lines (verses), and every one of the lines in each strophe begins with the appropriate Hebrew letter marking that stanza.” – Coffman(1)
Every paragraph contains these words pertaining to God’s Laws:
Law of the Lord or Your Word– Body of prophetic, legal and moral directives (Mosaic Law)
Testimonies – Witness (God never asks us to believe anything that He does not give us evidence (testimony) for.)
Precepts – Command or order respecting moral conduct
Statutes – Something prescribed, prescribed task
Commandments – order by authorities
Judgements – Act of deciding a case, ordinance
PSALM 119:113-120 S Samekh (hebrew letter)
“I hate the double-minded, But I love Your law. You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word. Depart from me, you evildoers, For I will keep the commandments of my God! Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope. Hold me up, and I shall be safe, And I shall observe Your statutes continually. You reject all those who stray from Your statutes, For their deceit is falsehood. You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross; Therefore I love Your testimonies. My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments.”
In your own Bible:
Hi-lite the “Law” words from the list above.
Underline the “I” statements – What is the Psalmist doing or going to do?
- :113 “I love Your Law”
- :119 “I love Your testamonies”
- :114 “I hope in Your word”
- :113 “I hate the double-minded”
- :117 “I shall be safe”, “I shall observe Your statutes”
- :120 “I am afraid of Your judgments”
Notice the contrast in verse :113. What does he hate, what does he love? Circle “but”
Why would he hate the double-minded? If our heart is set on God’s word, obeying it and loving it, can we be double-minded?
The word “and” connects two things. Circle the “and” in each verse and notice what is connected.
- :116 “and” (uphold me – do not let me be ashamed)
- :117 “and” (hold me up – I shall be safe, I shall observe statutes)
- :120 “and” (fear of you – afraid of your judgments)
Consider the words “fear” and “afraid”. Why would/should one be “afraid” of God’s judgments? Is fear always a bad thing? (consider Jude 1:23)
He spends time in this paragraph talking about “evil-doers”.
Put brackets around the descriptions of the evil-doers.
- :113 [double-minded]
- :115 [evil-doers}
- :118 [those who stray from Your statutes}
- :119 [all the wicked of the earth]
“Dross” is the refuse from separating the good silver from the impure. Always speaks of impurity, or things and people that are useless.
How does God respond to these evil-doers? Double-underline
- :118 “you reject”
- :119 “You put away”
What does he request of God? Hi-lite
- :116 “Uphold me”
- :117 “Hold me up”
Circle the descriptions of God.
- :114 “hiding place”, “shield”
What a beautiful description of God and His Word – our hiding place. Our society speaks of “safe-spaces”. God is our safe-space, a place of refuge and comfort.