PSALM 119:17-24 CORAL COUNSEL

CORAL COUNSEL

(RED CORAL)

PSALM 119:17-24

ג (Gimel)

Psalm 119:17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.

Susan: The psalmist entreated the Lord to deal graciously with him so that he would be able to exemplify God’s abundant presence in his life.

Susie: God’s work in his life, the power of the Lord in him would enable him to adhere to God’s instructions. God deals bountifully with believers and infuses those who trust in Jesus with the ability to serve Him faithfully.

Ephesians 3:20-21 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Psalm 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Susie: The psalmist needed the Lord to give him full understanding of what he was studying in the law, the word of God. Even the apostles needed to have their eyes opened, although at times the Lord purposely hid the full extent of what He was saying from them. As we studied recently in Luke, Jesus eventually “opened their eyes.”

Luke 9:44-45 Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.

Luke 24:44-45 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.

Susan: We need to rely on the Holy Spirit to unearth the treasures hidden in God’s word. Because the Holy Spirit hold the key to the map.

Psalm 119:19 I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.

Susan: We are travelers just passing through earth and are not home yet.

Susie: Reminds me of the old gospel song, “This World is Not My Home.” https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hsimp=yhs-att_001&hspart=att&p=This+World+is+not+my+Home#id=3&vid=17af07b2bc8bfc27a9e4c750406117d2&action=click

Susan: It reminds me of Chris Tomlin’s “Home.”  https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hsimp=yhs-att_001&hspart=att&p=Chris+Tomlin+%22Home%22#id=3&vid=0046fc14156cf6343de3b390537e1e98&action=click

Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Susan: The psalmist needs to keep the commandments ever close to him because they are a compass to lead him home.

Susie: As we saw in the earlier verse, God can open or close the eyes of understanding. The psalmist asks the Lord to keep his eyes wide open to comprehend the fullness of God’s word.

Psalm 119:20 My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.

Susie: The psalmist craves the word of God as if starving.

Susan: The psalmist is like a pregnant woman intensely craving ice cream or chocolate. All he can think about is God’s word.

Susie: Obedience to the word of God leads to righteousness. Jesus covers us with His righteousness because we trusted in Him because of His word. We are blessed when we crave God’s word and righteousness.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Psalm 119:21 Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.

Susie: Pride, the lack of humility, is often associated with those who do not trust in God. To approach the Lord, one must humbly admit sinfulness and the need of salvation. The proud try to reach God by their own means rather than submitting to His plan.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Psalm 119:22 Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.

Susan: The psalmist was suffering ridicule due to his faithfulness in living God’s word before others. They are convicted; but instead of repenting, they taunt and insult the man of God.

Susie: He prayed asking God to deliver him from their insults. God is able to deliver us, but He sometimes gives us the grace to remain strong within the situation. Either way, Jesus enables us to overcome the world.

Susan: Sometimes God delivers us out of a situation; and other times, He delivers us through it.

John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

1 John 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Psalm 119:23 Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.

Susie: Some commentators suggest that this verse shows the psalmist to have royal status while others believe that the nation of Israel is the “me” in this verse. Either way, powerful people were slandering him/them.

Susan: The psalmist used God’s word as his armor to shield him from insult and false accusations hurled at him by his enemies.

Susie: Instead of letting them get to him, he immerses himself in the word of God, soaking it in and basking in it.

Psalm 119:24 Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.

Susan: God’s word is my joy and advises me of the way in which to live successfully in God’s kingdom.

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible as quoted at www.Biblehub.com

The whole of Scripture is so to a good man; he delights in the law of God, after the inward man; the Gospel is a joyful sound to him; the doctrines of peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation by Christ, are very pleasant; the promises of it give more joy than the finding of a great spoil; and the precepts and ordinances of it are not grievous, but ways of pleasantness and peace;

MacArthur Study Bible note:

119:24 my counselors. The chief means of biblical counseling is the application of God’s Word by God’s Spirit to the heart of a believer.

Points to Ponder:

·     Ask the Lord to open your eyes to understand His word

·     Crave the word of God

·     Persecution accompanies obedience to the Lord

·     God’s grace enables us to stand strong

·     Delight in the word

·     Seek God’s counsel in the Bible

Reflection Question: When in need of counseling, where do you turn first—a trusted friend, your spouse, your pastor? The Holy Spirit is called the Counselor, and He uses God’s word to instruct us. We need the people in our lives, but the best counsel we can receive comes directly from the Bible. 

PSALM 119:9-16 BIXBITE BITES OF BLESSING

BIXBITE BITES OF BLESSING

PSALM 119:9-16

ב (Bet)

Psalm 119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

Psalm 119:9 (VOICE) How can a young person remain pure?    Only by living according to Your word.

Susie: The psalmist addresses how a person can remain pure in his or her youth, in the time of raging hormones and tantalizing temptations. When my “adopted” children were teenagers, they both made the “True Love Waits” commitment to practice abstinence until marriage. Therefore, I purchased a “True Love Waits Bible” for each of them.

Susan: Purity is only accomplished by making the teaching of the Lord your treasured lifestyle. Reading, abiding in, and obeying God’s word is the only way to remain physically, spiritually, and mentally pure.

Susie: This applies to those of us who are no longer young as well. The key to righteous living, is to listen to the Holy Spirit who speaks to us through the word of God. God’s word is instruction for living a life pleasing to Him.

Psalm 119:10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

Susan: The psalmist pursued God with every fiber of his being. . .

Susie: . . .as should we.

Susan: The psalmist is asking God to guard him and keep him in His ways. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who guards His sheep, protecting them from evil.

Susie: We are incapable of keeping God’s commands without His Holy Spirit within us. We were all hopelessly dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1) which is why Jesus, the Lamb of God, came to atone for, be the sacrifice to pay for our sin (Ephesians 2:5).

Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Psalm 119:11 (NASB) Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

Susan: To hide the word in my heart has the connotation of treasuring, holding onto, valuing, and locking away God’s word deep within me.

Susie: I have always taken this to mean that I should memorize scripture. As a child, we had a weekly memory verse and received a small prize for being able to recite it correctly the next week in Sunday School. When I taught in a Christian school, the children memorized entire passages, the length of which were age appropriate. However, as adults, we tend to let that good habit fade away.

Susan: When I have internalized God’s words and made it a part of who I am, my actions are more likely to line up with those words.

Psalm 119:12 Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes.

Susie: Another recurrent theme in Psalm 119 is the psalmist imploring the Lord to teach him. Therefore, the words “teach me” will be in blue ink throughout the study. Another of my favorite Psalms asks the Lord for instruction:

Psalm 25:4-5 Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Susan: One of the hats worn by the Holy Spirit is that of teacher. He helps us to comprehend, remember, and apply God’s word.

John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Psalm 119:13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.

Susan: The scripture is a tool God has placed in our minds—for teaching and preaching, as our sword in spiritual warfare, for admonishing others as well as ourselves to live rightly.

Hebrews 4:12 (NASB) For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NASB) All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Susie: Jesus employed the word of God to resist temptation when confronted by Satan himself in the wilderness:

Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Psalm 119:14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.

Psalm 119:14 (VOICE) I have celebrated Your testimonies as though rejoicing over an immeasurable fortune.

Susan: The Psalmist felt that reading God’s words was liking sitting down to a banquet table and being served a smorgasbord of culinary delights. God’s word is better than a bull stock market because His word never crashes. He repeats this idea later in this same Psalm:

Psalm 119:72 The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.

Psalm 119:127 Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.

Susie: Not only is the Bible a banquet. Job said it was more important to him than the food he needed to stay alive!

Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Psalm 119:15 I will meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways.

Susan: To meditate on God’s word is to let it soak in, to bask in it, and absorb it into your being. It is to ponder and reflect on what it means in all its nuances.

Susie: When we take the time to understand God’s word with the aid of the Holy Spirit, we will find ourselves respecting and obeying it more readily.

Psalm 119:16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

Susie: How often do we truly get excited about something we have read in the Bible? The Psalmist used the word “delight.” He took joy in reading and knowing the word of God.

Susan: Most of us do not forget our three, square meals a day for nutritional purposes, but how many of us look at God’s word the same way, or even in a greater way as our nourishment. This verse, to me, that the Psalmist looked at his time in the word as critical to his well-being.

Points to Ponder:

·     Purity, righteousness is found in living according to God’s word

·     Pursue God wholeheartedly

·     Memorize scripture

·     Declare the word

·     Celebrate and value the word

·     Focus on and internalize scripture

·     Let God’s word be a source of joy

Reflection Question: When was the last time that reading a passage of scripture caused you to break out into your “happy dance?” Has it been too long?

PSALM 119:1-8 AMETHYST APPLICATION

AMETHYST APPLICATION

PSALM 119:1-8

א (Alef)

119:1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

Susan: Many translators substitute the word “happy” for blessed, but it is more than that. There is a connotation of wholeness and being in God’s favor.

Susie: Undefiled is translated as “blameless,” “pure,” “perfect,” and having “integrity.” The idea is someone who is, to the best of his or her ability, living in obedience to the word of God.

Susan: “The law” in this Psalm is not limited to the Ten Commandments, the Levitical teachings, or even the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible). The Psalmist is referring to the broader meaning of the Hebrew word “Torah” which is every word of God. For those of us living on this side of the cross, I believe this would include the teachings of the New Testament as well.

Susie: Note the similarities between the first few verses of Psalm 119 and the passage below from Psalm 1:

Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Psalm 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

Susie: The concept of wholehearted commitment or devotion appears six times in Psalm 119, (vv. 2, 10, 34, 58, 69, 145). We will highlight the words in red each time.

Susan: The “testimonies” would encompass the entire word of God that testifies to His righteousness, love, and grace.

Susie: Half-hearted obedience is not acceptable to a holy, righteous God. Our music teacher at the Christian school where I taught told the children (and had them repeat it), “True obedience is immediate, complete, and without complaining.” We must follow Him from the heart, not just as an intellectual assent. We need to put our hearts into the study of the Scripture rather than just a cursory skimming of a chapter a day.

Jeremiah 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Philippians 2:14-16a (NIV) Do everything without grumbling or arguing,  so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.

Psalm 119:3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.

Susan: Iniquity is premeditated sin, methodically planned out or plotted. This is not an “uh-oh, I messed up” sin but an intentional breaking of God’s rules.

Susie: Rather than see how much he can get away with, the person who would be blessed seeks to walk in the direction and manner that God highlights in His word. In recent years, the WWJD (What would Jesus Do?) bracelets were popular reminders of this truth, although it is not so much what He would do as what He would have us to do. However, we are to follow His example:

1 Peter 2:21 (NIV) To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

Psalm 119:4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.

The American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828

DILIGENTLY, adverb With steady application and care; with industry or assiduity; not carelessly; not negligently.

Deuteronomy 6:7 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God.

Susan: We should keep God’s commandments consistently with impassioned zeal.

Susie: Again, this is the concept of completely rather than half-way. The Psalmist drives this idea home in several different verses.

Psalm 119:5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!

Susie: Often in this Psalm, the writer switches from statement of truth to humble prayer. May our prayer be that the Holy Spirit will direct us in the paths of obedience and adherence to the whole counsel of God.

Susan: May our desire be to understand and exemplify Jesus’s pattern for living.

Psalm 119:6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.

Psalm 119:6 (MSG) Then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel.

Psalm 119:6 (VOICE) Then I would feel no shame when I fix my eyes upon Your commands.

Susie: When I live according to God’s word and diligently obey what the Lord teaches, I will have no cause for embarrassment or shame when I compare my life to what His word says.

Psalm 119:7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.

Susan: When I ponder and absorb the word of God, it evokes the joyful fruit of worhsip from my lips.

Susie: Studying the word of God brings one to the conclusion that He is just and merciful and, therefore, worthy of our praise.

Psalm 119:8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.

Susan: It is the Psalmist’s intention to obey God’s word; but without the Lord, he does not have the capacity to do that which he desires.

Susie: And we are no different than the Psalmist. We must make a determination of our will to live according to God’s word, but apart from God’s grace in giving us the Holy Spirit, we are incapable of obedience and service.

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Points to Ponder:

·     Obedience to God’s law results in blessing

·     Obedience must be wholehearted

·     We must live according to God’s ways

·     When we follow God’s word, there is no shame

·     Learning God’s word causes us to praise Him

·     We can only obey God by the power of His Holy Spirit within us

Reflection Question: How diligently am I studying God’s word and applying it daily?

PSALM 119 GLORIOUS GEMS OF GOD’S WORD ON GOD’S WORD

For the next 23 weeks, beginning today, we will be studying Psalm 119 verse by verse on this blog. The first post is an introduction to this longest chapter of the Bible. We pray you will join us each Friday ad we explore Psalm 119 in depth!

PSALM 119

GLORIOUS GEMS OF

GOD’S WORD ON GOD’S WORD

INTRODUCTION

The writer of Psalm 119 is not named in the scripture. Scholars have proposed David, Daniel, or Ezra. Whoever wrote it was experiencing a time of extreme duress. He mentions wicked men pursuing him and a time of great affliction. He speaks of obeying and upholding God’s law but admits his shortcomings as well. The writer does all this in a poem which is the longest chapter in the Bible. The literary form used is acrostic. Each of the twenty-two stanzas employs a letter of the Hebrew alphabet as the first letter of each of the eight lines. The twenty-two stanzas of the poem employ each of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order. The first eight verses of the Psalm begin with the Hebrew letter Aleph or Alef (א) which is clearly seen when you look at the Hebrew translation below. Keep in mind that Hebrew is read from right to left:

Reformation Study Bible notes:

The number eight may be connected with eight Hebrew words that appear throughout the psalm concerning its main theme. The words are translated variously as “law,” “testimonies,” “precepts,” “statutes,” “commandments,” “rules,” and “word.” In five stanzas all eight Hebrew words occur, and every stanza has at least six of the eight.

The psalmist uses the poem to extol the glories of the Torah, the word of God. He stresses the importance of believing the word, obeying the word, and living a life of integrity that reflects understanding and obedience to God’s word.

Since the Psalmist used the Hebrew alphabet to identify each stanza, we are labeling each stanza with the name of a gemstone starting with the letters of the English alphabet because each section of this poem is truly a gem to be treasured!