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 119:33-40 H He (hebrew letter)
“Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, And I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies, And not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in Your way. Establish Your word to Your servant, who is devoted to fearing You. Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your judgments are good. Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness.”
Hi-lite the “Law” words from the list above.
What does the Psalmist ask of God? Underline the phrases:
- :33 “Teach me”
- :34 “Give me understanding”
- :35 “make me walk”
- :36 “Incline my heart”
- :37 “Turn away eyes from looking at worthless things” What happens to our hearts when we do this? We gain contentment when we have our eyes on spiritual things.
- :37 “Revive me” 9 times in this chapter the Psalmist asks God to revive him. Think about what those words mean and how many times we need reviving. Where do you go to “revive yourself”? One of the definitions is “give new strength or energy to” (Online Oxford languages dictionary).
- :38 “Establish your word”
- :39 “Turn away my reproach”-to be reproached means to be taunted or scorned. This world scorns the Christian and judges wrongly, but God’s word brings true judgment for us (“Your judgments are good”).
- :40 “Revive me”
What relationship does the psalmist have with God’s word? Circle these phrases
- :33 “I shall keep it”
- :34 “I shall keep Your law”, “I shall observe it”
- :35 “I delight in it”
- :38 “devoted to fearing You”
- :40 “I long for Your precepts”
Write these phrases with your name in the place of “I” and meditate (think) on each.
Do you delight in the Word of God? Do a study of the word “delight” in scripture. It is interesting to see what God delights in.
Do you long for the precepts of God? Consider Matthew 5:6, having a hunger (longing) for the word will be very satisfying and you will be blessed.