How To Be Amazed By Psalm 119

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Wayne Davies

Psalm 119 is a fascinating portion of Scripture for at least two reasons. First and most obviously, it is fascinating simply because it is in the Bible and so comes from the very mind and mouth of God. That is reason enough.

It is also fascinating from a literary standpoint. It is the longest chapter in the Bible (176 verses) and is divided into 22 stanzas, each 8 verses long. And every verse of each stanza begins with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Most modern translations reflect this structure of 22 verses of 8 verses. You’ll note the names of the 22 Hebrew letters immediately before verses 1, 9, 17, and so on.

So when we come to stanza 17, which begins with verse 129, it amazes me that even though we don’t see this in English, all 8 verses (129 – 136) begin with the 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, “pe”.

Could you write 8 sentences about the Bible that all begin with the 17th letter of the English alphabet? In case you’re wondering, that would be the letter “Q”. I’m having trouble just coming up with 8 words that begin with “Q”, let alone 8 sentences.

I started reading verses 129 – 136, wondering how I could take these verses and rewrite them in my own words, but starting each sentence with a word that begins with “Q”.  Take a look at these – the first sentence is from the real Bible (NIV); the second sentence (in italics) is my “Q” sentence. Sometimes I was able to create a paraphrase of the actual Bible verse; other times, I went in a different direction.

Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them.  (v. 129)
Quite amazing is your word, O Lord; you give us so many good reasons to follow you.

The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. (v.130)
Quality teaching comes from your mouth; may your Spirit enlighten me whenever I read your law.

Redeem me from human oppression, that I may obey your precepts. (v. 134)
Quicken my heart as I meditate on your truth; please empower me to obey your commands.

Make your face shine on your servant and teach me your decrees. (v. 135)
Quiet my mind as I ponder your laws; remove all distractions so I can sit at your feet and learn your ways.

I came up with four “Q” words that seemed to fit four of the verses in Psalm 119:129-136. And then I started realizing how difficult this is – coming up with 8 words for each letter of the alphabet, and then writing a sentence about the Bible that began with that word – this is no easy task!

Why not do this yourself? Go ahead and give it a try! And you are welcome to send me an email with your writings.

One final suggestion – perhaps it would be easier if your sentences begin with a letter other than “Q”, so feel free to tackle this exercise with one of the other stanzas in Psalm 119.

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Is There A Place For Hatred In The Christian Life? (Psalm 119:28)

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Wayne Davies

In Psalm 119:127-28 we learn much about the man who wrote the longest chapter in the Bible. He was a man of great passion – he loved the good and hated what is evil. “Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.”

He loved God’s Word more than all the money in the world. The psalmist likes to make a comparison between his attitude toward the Word and his attitude toward wealth. “The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold” (Psalm 119:72).

In verses 127 and 128, his love for God’s Word and God’s righteousness are the basis for his hatred of sin.

Love for the right will inevitably produce hatred for the wrong. They are two sides of the same coin. The New Testament teaches this concept clearly in Romans 12:9, where Paul writes, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good”.

Perhaps you’ve not thought of the Christian life in these terms before, but we are instructed to both love and hate.  We are instructed to love God and people, as Jesus indicated when asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” (Mark 12:28-31). His answer, in a word, was “love” – love for God and love for our neighbor.

And we are also instructed to hate – not people, of course, but sin. And first and foremost, we should be cultivating a hatred of our own sin. Isn’t this why Paul said in Romans 8:13, “if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live”?

How do we hate our sin? By putting it to death! So, we could say that the Christian life is characterized by such an intense hatred of one’s own sin that we will be engaged in a war against our sin (the misdeeds of the body), and this is a battle to the death. We take no prisoners. Our sin is the enemy, and we kill the enemy.

Yes, Christianity is one violent religion. We are commanded to hate and to kill – not people, but our own sin. This has been the passion of believers for centuries. It was the passion of the man who wrote Psalm 119. It was the passion of the apostle Paul. And it was something that even Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut if off and throw it away” (Matthew 5:30).

My Christian friend, what sin are you amputating today? By the Spirit and for the glory of King Jesus, may God empower us to demonstrate our love for Him by hating and killing our own sin.

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Is Fear of God Still Necessary? (Psalm 119:120)

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Wayne Davies

Psalm 119:120 says, “My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws.”

We don’t know who wrote Psalm 119. I sure wish we did. Certainly David is a likely candidate, for the writer of this psalm faced much unjust persecution, and other than Jesus, there is no other person in the Bible who faced as much unfair treatment as David, and that is precisely the way the author of this psalm was treated.

We also know much about the writer’s attitude toward God and His Word. He loved God and the Word of God with great passion and devotion. Furthermore, as we read in Psalm 119:120, he had much fear of both God and the Word of God.

Unfortunately, we don’t hear much about the fear of God these days. When was the last time you heard someone say “My flesh trembles in fear of God” or “I stand in awe of the Bible”?

Yet the Bible has much to say about the fear of God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). I take these verses to mean that if we don’t fear God, we are just plain stupid, spiritually speaking. Without the fear of God, we are metaphysically challenged, spiritual illiterates.

So this begs the question, “What does it mean to fear God?” One good definition of “fear” is reverence, respect, and awe.  The idea of awe is certainly a good place to start when defining fear. As indicated in Psalm 119:120, “in fear” and “in awe” are parallel expressions (in the New International Version).

But there’s more to fear than reverence, respect and awe. Please note that the psalmist says that he trembles in fear of God. We must be careful not to exclude from fear the idea of being afraid, for this is how the English Standard Version translates the second half of the Psalm 119:20 – “I am afraid of your judgments”.

You may be wondering, “But why should I be afraid of God? He loves me and has forgiven all my sins and has promised to save me from hell and bring me to heaven some day.”

And that is true. God loves us more than we can even imagine. But that doesn’t mean we should not still be afraid of Him. The psalmist was – we cannot dismiss the plain meaning of the text here – he trembled before God.

This isn’t the only way the psalmist related to God. He was quite aware of God’s love, grace, compassion and mercy. He writes about the goodness of God throughout Psalm 119 (see verses 41, 64, 68, 76, 77, 88, 124, 132, 149). But he also trembles.

What I’m saying here is that even for the forgiven Christian, there is a place for fear and trembling. It’s not all there is to the Christian life. There’s more – oh so much more!

But we must not forget that the loving God who saved us from hell is also the One who sits on a throne, ruling over all, sustaining all. We stand in awe of him because he is awesome. To simply ponder his power and majesty and glory should cause some measure of trembling before him.

This is how believers responded when confronted with the presence of God. From Isaiah and Ezekiel in the Old Testament to Peter and John in the New Testament, when God chose to reveal himself, people fell down and trembled.

Yes, this is a paradox. In the presence of God, we respond to Him with a holy combination of fear and joy – “Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11).

It is likely that you know what it means to rejoice. Do you also know what it means to tremble? I pray that you do. If not, could it be that you have an unbalanced view of God and need to focus more on his holiness, righteousness, justice and wrath?

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What Happens To You When You Read The Bible? (Psalm 119:111)

Posted on August 16, 2014 by Wayne Davies

I’d like you to think about what happens to you when you read the Bible. What words would you use to describe this experience, most of the time? Think about it for a few minutes and jot down your thoughts.  I’ll wait right here while you do that 🙂

Did you write down your answer? Great!

Now let’s see how the writer of Psalm 119 describes his time in the Word.

“Your statutes . . . are the joy of my heart” (Psalm 119:111). “I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil” (Psalm 119:162). “I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches” (Psalm 119:14). The psalmist finds much joy in God’s word. He rejoices in the Word, and he rejoices in obeying the Word.

How about you? When you read and obey the Bible, do you experience joy in your heart? Does God give you joy because you spend time with him while meditating on his truth?

Finding joy in God is a prominent theme throughout Scripture, especially the Psalms. Have you ever done a word study on “joy”? After you finish this article, I urge you to get out your concordance or head over to BibleGateway.com and look up all the verses in that Psalms containing the words “joy”, “rejoice”, “rejoices”, and “rejoicing”.  It will be time well spent, I assure you!

In Psalm 119, there is another word the writer uses often to describe his relationship to Scripture, a word that is similar to “joy” and “rejoice”. It is “delight”.

“I delight in your law” (Psalm 119:70) is a statement he makes three times (see v. 16 and v. 47). And “Your law is my delight” (Psalm 119:77) is an expression found six times (see v. 24, 35, 92, 143, and 174). (I also encourage you to do a word study on “delight” and “delights” in the Psalms.)

When was the last time you said, in reference to anything, “That was a delight!” or “That was a joy!”  It might have been a delicious meal or a long walk or a sunny 72-degree day with low humidity. As I think about my life, I realize how often I am blessed with a joyful or delightful experience, yet I rarely use those particular words to tell others about it, including when I give thanks to God for it.

So I’m writing this to encourage us to expand our “praise vocabulary”. When God showers his grace upon us, which he does daily in 1,001 different ways, why not tell him and others, “Thank you, Jesus; that was so delightful and brought much joy to my heart!”

Reality check: when we spend time in the Word, if we rarely come away from the Book with much joy and delight, isn’t something amiss?

When you do that word study about “joy” and “delight” in the Psalms, note the frequency of phrases such as “rejoice in God” and “delight in God” (or phrases similar to that). For the Christian, we should find our ultimate joy and delight in God. Not in his gifts, but in him. The difference between the two is semantically subtle yet experientially huge.

And for the writer of Psalm 119, finding joy and delight in Scripture was synonymous with finding joy and delight in God. Throughout the psalm, he describes the Word with adjectives and phrases that are applicable to God – words like eternal and righteous and true and good.

The psalmist can say that the Word is his source of joy and delight (and life, strength, freedom, wisdom, light, peace, hope, and salvation) because God is the source of all these blessings, and the Word is the means by which God makes known the riches of his grace and the all-satisfying wonder of his presence.

For the Christian who knows the bliss of delighting in God, the relationship between the living Word and the written Word becomes intimately intertwined. And the result is a life of joy that exceeds all expectations and prepares us for eternity.

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How To Meditate On The Bible All Day Long (Psalm 119:97)

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Wayne Davies

In Psalm 119:97 we read a most amazing statement. “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.”

The psalmist has a passion for God’s truth. He is so enthralled by God’s Word that he thinks about it constantly. For this writer, pondering the Word of God has become a habit.

Please consider that the psalmist makes this claim to meditate on Scripture eight times in Psalm 119. He meditates on God’s precepts (v. 15 and 78), decrees (v. 23 and 48), deeds (v. 27), law (v. 97), statutes (v. 99) and promises (v. 148) – each of these nouns is a synonym for God’s Word or “law”, His written instruction which we find today in the holy Bible.

What does it mean to meditate on the law? To meditate means to think about, ponder, reflect on, contemplate. The idea is to focus one’s mind on God’s truth and to remain fixated on it for a period of time. It is an active, purposeful, intentional use of the mind, not an emptying of the mind. It is to think about what God is saying to us on the pages of Scripture.

To meditate about anything is a lost art, is it not? We can get so busy with life, can’t we? Whether you are working a full-time job or spending your days raising children, who has time to just sit and think about anything but the task at hand?

So I’m confounded by this writer’s confession that “I meditate on it all day long.” How did he do that? Who has the time to spend all day thinking about the Bible? Did this man withdraw from society and live in a cave or a monastery?

Well, we don’t know who wrote Psalm 119. The author’s name is not provided in the heading, as is the case for many of the psalms. But we do know that whoever wrote this psalm was suffering much (v. 107) at the hands of his enemies (v. 157), who also happened to be those in authority over him (v. 23, 161). He was being persecuted unjustly (v. 86) by arrogant, wicked men (v. 61, 69, 110) and so repeatedly pleads with God to deliver him from imminent death and preserve his life (v. 153, 154).

That doesn’t sound like a guy who had nothing else to do but read his Bible all day, does it?

Here’s a verse that might unlock the key to this man’s obsession with Scripture. “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11). The English Standard Version translates this as, “I have stored up your word in my heart;” and The Message also captures the meaning quite well, “I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart.”

This man spent much time literally running for his life. Yet he was able to meditate on God’s Word in the most stressful situations because he had memorized it. He could think about it all day long because it was buried deep in his heart and always just a thought away.

When was the last time you memorized Scripture? It doesn’t take much time to memorize a verse or two, or a treasured passage. And then, once you’ve done that, it is right there whenever you want to think about it.

I like to use old business cards or index cards and write a verse on it. Then I stick that little piece of paper in my pocket and carry it with me. I’ll pull it out while I’m waiting in line at the store or stuck in traffic or walking from the car to the office, or whenever I have a few moments of idle time.  And within a day or two, that verse becomes part of me.  And through that simple exercise of meditating on a verse throughout the day by memorizing it, I have allowed the Creator of the universe to speak to me and fill my mind with His truth – all day long!

What do you say? Will you give this a try? I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed, for God loves to bless His people when they spend quality time with Him in His Word.

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How to Find Hope In Any Situation (Psalm 119:89)

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Wayne Davies

I’d like to give you a simple Bible quiz. I’m going to give you a list of adjectives (descriptive words), and you tell me who I’m describing, OK?

Here’s the list: righteous, wonderful, true, good, trustworthy, precious, eternal, enduring, boundless, omnipresent, and sweet.

Who am I describing? If you said, “God”, or more specifically, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, then you and I are on the same page.

But here’s something amazing. I’ve been reading Psalm 119 lately. It’s the longest chapter in the Bible (176 verses), and most of the verses are about the Bible. And in Psalm 119, every one of the adjectives listed above is used to describe the Word of God.

Go ahead and take out your Bible and see for yourself. Here’s the list again, along with the verses in which you’ll find these adjectives used in reference to God’s Word: righteous (7), wonderful (18), true (30), good (39), trustworthy (42), precious (72), eternal (89), enduring (91), boundless (96), omnipresent (98), and sweet (103). (I’m using the New International Version.)

Now, here’s another simple Bible quiz. Who is the source of the following things: life, strength, grace, freedom, delight, wisdom, insight, understanding, light, joy, hope and peace?

Again, Jesus Christ is the answer to that question. But again, in Psalm 119, the Word of God is described as the source of life (25), strength (28), grace (29), freedom (45), delight (92), wisdom (98), insight (99), understanding (100), light (105), joy (111), hope (147) and peace (165).

I find this relationship between God and His Word quite eye opening. God and His Word are so closely related, they are described with identical terminology.

Consider this example. Moses wrote, “from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:2). God is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. He has always existed and always will exist. He is eternally self-existent. That is a truth guaranteed to blow your mind and fill your heart with praise, worship and adoration of the One who told Moses at the burning bush, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14).

So the eternality of God is one of the foundational teachings of Scripture. And so is the eternality of the Word of God, as the writer of Psalm 119 states: “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89).

This inseparable relationship between God and His Word is not just an exercise in semantics. This is reason to be greatly encouraged, for when faced with the struggles and challenges of life, it is easy to become discouraged and distraught, and to wonder whether God is still in control and will, in the end, work all things “for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28).

When you are faced with the loss of a job or a loved one, or when an terrible accident or a terminal illness strikes your family, what do you do to remind yourself that God remains the Rock and Refuge of your life? We open His Word and let Him speak words of comfort and hope, words of strength and even joy in the midst of our sorrow.

From Genesis to Revelation, our God provides hope through “the encouragement of the Scriptures” (Romans 15:4). May this be how each of us responds to the trials of life — by going to Jesus, the living Word, and to the Bible, the written Word, to find grace in our time of need.

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How to Remain Faithful to God in the Midst of Persecution (Psalm 119:81-88)

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Wayne Davies

Most psalms include the author’s name. So I find it intriguing that no mention is made of the author of Psalm 119, even though this is the longest psalm and the longest chapter in the Bible.

So we can only speculate about the author of this psalm and David’s name is usually at the top of the list. The internal evidence for his authorship reaches a climax in Psalm 119:81-88, for in this stanza the writer shares much about his own circumstances at the time.

Whoever wrote this psalm was experiencing great difficulty at the hands of evil men. He was persecuted unjustly and came close to being killed for no good reason. He was hunted like a criminal yet had done nothing to deserve such treatment. The stress of these turbulent times had worn him out and he was in a state of physical and mental exhaustion – “I am like a wineskin in the smoke” (v. 83).

Through it all, however, he never lost his faith in God or his hope in the Word of God. He clung to his God with an unshakeable perseverance. He cried out for help and longed for God to save him and punish his enemies. “When will you punish my persecutors?” (v. 84) “They have almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts” (v. 87)

Certainly David experienced times like these, especially early in his life when he was the innocent victim of King Saul’s erratic outbursts of violent jealousy.

Regardless of who wrote this psalm, verses 81-88 are unique in that all eight verses of this stanza contain a unique combination of the author’s frustration and faith in the midst of a crisis over which he had no control.

And so we are given a stellar example of grace under fire. We have much to learn from this man’s example of faithfulness, for all believers have been promised a life of persecution. Paul wrote, “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus told the disciples, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18).

Certainly the nature and degree of anti-Christian hostility varies greatly around the world. Christians in western nations face much less persecution than Christians in Asia and the Middle East, for example.

But opposition will be there, and we can count on it. We would do well to trust in the unfailing love of God in the midst of tribulation, continuing to “put my hope in your word” (v. 81) regardless of our circumstances. This is easier said than done, and I admit that as a U.S. Christian I have little experience with the type of persecution that our brothers and sisters are going through on the other side of the world.

So we pray for the persecuted church, thanking God for organizations like Voice of the Martyrs, who keep us informed and provide opportunities for us to support those in need.

We are compelled to ask the question, “How do they remain faithful?” How do persecuted believers stay the course when the temptation to jump ship grows stronger every day? How did the author of Psalm 119 continue to trust God no matter what?

I think these eight verses hold the key. Note how the psalmist is locked in on the character of God and the Word of God. Every verse in this stanza mentions something about God and/or his truth. While running for his life, he is keenly aware of who God is. He spends much time meditating on the attributes of God and the fact that his God is the source of salvation, hope, comfort and justice because God is trustworthy, helpful, life giving and loving.

This passage teaches us that strong faith is the result of a mind saturated with the Word. “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). There is a cause and effect relationship between spending time in the Word and strengthening our faith. This is how any believer in any age can persevere in the midst of any crisis.

For more information about the persecuted church, visit www.persecution.com

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How Do You Describe God? (The Attributes of God in Psalm 119:73-80)

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Wayne Davies

I’ve always wanted to go to the mall and take a one-question survey. Here’s the question I would ask: Describe God.

What kinds of answers would you get at your local mall? What about you? How do you answer that question?

Our answers to this simple question are all over the map, are they not? That is why it is oh so critical that we spend much quality time reading, studying and meditating on the Bible. This is where we find the only authoritative answer to the question, “Who is God and what is He like?”

And this is why a great question to ask when reading any portion of Scripture is this: What does this passage teach me about God (God the Father, God the Son, and/or God the Spirit).

Obviously, some portions of the Bible provide more in-depth answers to this question than others, but this is a question you should be asking every time you read the Bible.

I regularly read through the book of Psalms, usually reading a chapter (one psalm) in the morning to start my day. There are 150 psalms, so it takes me about 5 or 6 months to read them all. And then I start over and do it again. I’ve been doing this for the past 5 years, and if you’ve got a couple hours, I’d be glad to tell you how the cultivation of this habit has changed my life and taught me a boatload of truth about the God of the Bible.

But there is one psalm that I never read in one sitting. That would be Psalm 119. It is the longest chapter in the Bible (176 verses), divided into 22 eight-verse stanzas. There’s just way too much truth here to digest in one session.

So I usually take 22 days to read through Psalm 119. Such a huge feast should be eaten in smaller bites! I read one eight-verse stanza each day for 22 days, and I like to keep a journal to record my thoughts. Nothing fancy here – just a spiral notebook with my chicken scratch all over it. I’ll write down the date and Scripture reference at the top of the page, and then I’ll look for one particular verse that “jumps off” the page and into my heart. I record why I like that verse and what I think that verse means, or what I need to do to live out that verse in my life. And then I’ll write out a prayer based on the verse, pouring out my heart as I ask God to change me to be more like Jesus by doing, thinking, saying or becoming what I just read about.

It’s a journal. It’s whatever happens to come into my pea-sized brain when reading the Bible that day.

When reading the psalms, I tend to focus on the verses that talk about God – his character and attributes, his actions and purposes, his kingdom and reign. And there are many of them!

For example, on June 18, 2013 I read Psalm 119:73-80. Here’s an excerpt from my journal. It’s an answer to the question, “What does this passage teach me about God?”

He is my Creator (v. 73a)
He is righteous because his laws are righteous (v. 75a)
He is faithful even when he afflicts me (v. 75b)
His love never fails (v. 76a)
He is the source of comfort (v. 76a)
He is the God of promises (v. 76b)
He is compassionate (v. 77a)
He is the source of delight because his law is my delight (v. 77b)

I probably spent about 15 or 20 minutes reading these 8 verses and writing down these statements about the character of God. And I loved every second of it!

We serve a great God. And this God has revealed himself in Scripture with great clarity. This creative, righteous, faithful, loving, comfort-giving, promise-keeping, compassionate, delightful God is the only true God. He made us for himself. And he sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to earth 2000 years ago to demonstrate his breath-taking character in all its glory.

He has done all that for us, even though we have often rejected him and turned our backs on him.

In light of that, isn’t it a privilege to make the prayers of this stanza our own? “Give me understanding to learn your commands . . . May I wholeheartedly follow your decrees” (Psalm 119:73b and 80a). After meditating on the awesome attributes of our God, we can’t help but express our desire to sit at his feet and experience the pure joy of his instruction and presence, and then to stand and willingly, lovingly obey him all the days of our life.

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Have Bible Will Travel – How to Focus On God When You’re On The Road (Psalm 119:54)

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Wayne Davies

In Psalm 119:54 the psalmist declares to God that “Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge”. The purpose of this article is to explore the meaning of this verse and to challenge ourselves with the question “Is this something I can say about my life?”

To help us determine the meaning of this verse, it is good to compare various Bible versions. The above paragraph comes from the New International Version (NIV), which happens to be one of my favorites.

There are several other excellent translations. Here are the ones I like to use, specifically for the purpose of determining the meaning of particular words and/or phrases in a passage.

Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.
English Standard Version (ESV)

Your statutes are my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Your statutes have been my songs wherever I make my home.
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Your statutes have been my songs, in the house where I live.
World English Bible (WEB)

By comparing these five versions, the main point of the verses becomes quite clear: wherever I go, God’s Word is on my mind. Even when traveling, I always have a song in my heart, and the songs I sing contain the Word of God.

Is this not a wonderful way to live? This man has a love for God and His Word that we would do well to emulate. No matter where he laid his head at night, he was able to commune with his Maker by singing songs to and about God.

When we travel, it can be difficult if not impossible to maintain our daily routine. Perhaps you have a specific time devoted to prayer and Bible reading. For many, this “Quiet Time” is first thing in the morning. For others, it is immediately before going to sleep at night. And many Christians treasure this time, and rightly so.

Then we take a business trip or go on vacation and our normal schedule is turned upside down. How can we spend time with our Lord in such circumstances?

Psalm 119:54 offers a wonderful solution – we sing songs about God! There are so many great hymns, and Bible-based hymns are a wonderful way to fill our minds with the Word when we cannot take out our Bibles and read.

The other great thing about singing is that is also a form of prayer. Worship songs are directed to the One who is the object of our praise. We can give thanks for his many blessings and rejoice in all he has done for us through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Does this verse describe you? If so, you have learned one way to live out Psalm 1:2 – “his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night”.

One final note – you need not physically own a stack of Bible translations in order to perform the Bible version comparison described above. Just go to www.BibleGateway.com and you can look up any Bible verse in a plethora of translations. Give it a try today!

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Got Joy? How Obeying the Bible Is Like Winning the Lottery (Psalm 119:14)

Posted on July 13, 2014 by Wayne Davies

The psalmist makes an amazing statement in Psalm 119:14 –
“I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches”.

He is talking about the joy of obeying the will of God as revealed in the Word of God. One of the many benefits of Christian living is joy. Obeying God should result in a life of joy.

There is a cause and effect relationship between obedience and joy. Jesus talked about this in John 15:10-11.  “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

God wants us to experience great joy in this life – the joy of Jesus himself! Note that Jesus told the disciples that keeping his commands would result in the abiding presence of God’s love, “so that my joy may be in you”.

Do you think Jesus is a joyful person? Consider this – what kind of joy does Jesus have? Perfect joy! Incredible, powerful, indestructible, divine joy.

And he wants us to have that same joy.  What a promise!

The psalmist describes the joy of following God’s Word in the second half of Psalm 119:14. This joy is compared to the joy of “great riches”.

Perhaps you have experienced the joy of great riches. You may not consider yourself to be “rich”. But perhaps you got a promotion at work and a nice pay increase along with it. Or your company had a good year and you received a nice year-end bonus.

Do you remember the feelings you had? You were excited and joyful, right?

In the U.S., do we not see the joy of great riches when someone wins the lottery and is presented with a check for some obscene amount of money? There’s lots of hoopla and a press conference and everyone wants to know, “What will you do with all that money?”

How do you think you would feel if you won 100 million dollars? Do you think you’d have some joy?

And so the psalmist is saying that this is what the Christian life can be like. We can experience great joy by simply obeying the Word of God.

He’s making a comparison here. So it’s good to note that the joy of obedience is similar to the joy of great riches. And it is also different. Consider this:

The joy of obedience is infinitely better than the joy of great riches. The joy of money is temporary. The joy of money is easily lost. I can take all my money, invest it in the stock market, and see its value decline by 10% or 25% or 50% literally overnight. Or I can invest in some foolish ponzi scheme and loose it all.

In contrast, the joy of Jesus is permanent. It lasts forever. It is eternal joy! And it is not dependent on circumstances. Rather, it is based on the never-changing, always trustworthy character of God. Nothing can take this joy away from us because this joy is a gift from the hand of God. And so those who know the joy of knowing and obeying King Jesus can say, “The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold” (Psalm 119:72).

The joy of Jesus is based on the promise of God. But like many promises in Scripture, this is a conditional promise. We will only experience the joy of Jesus when we are living a life of obedience to his Word.

Do you know this joy? If so, I urge you to spend time today saying “Thank You” to Almighty God for his merciful outpouring of this joy on undeserving sinners like you and me. And you’ll have even more joy – the joy of praise and thanksgiving.

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