psalm 119 introduction 29 sep 2014
psalm 119:1-16 chiastic structure 30 sep 2014
psalm 119:17-32 chiastic structure 01 oct 2014
Read Psalm 119 at Bible Gateway.
1a) Psa 119:33a, Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes;
1b) Psa 119:33b-35, I delight in Your commandments;
33b, And I shall keep it to the end;
34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart;
35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it;
1c) Psa 119:36-40, Revive me in Your way/ righteousness, turn away my reproach;
36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies, And not to covetousness;
37 Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way;
38 Establish Your word to Your servant, Who is devoted to fearing You;
39 Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your judgments are good;
40 Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness. {p}
central axis) Psa 119:41, Let Your mercies come also to me, O Lord—Your salvation according to Your word;
2c) Psa 119:42-46, I will answer him who reproaches me / testify also before kings without shame;
42 So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word;
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I have hoped in Your ordinances;
44 So shall I keep Your law continually, Forever and ever;
45 And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts;
46 I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, And will not be ashamed;
2b) Psa 119:47-48a, I delight in Your commandments;
47 And I will delight myself in Your commandments, Which I love;
48a My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, Which I love;
2a) Psa 119:48b, And I will meditate on Your statutes. {p}
I was struck by vs. 45,
And I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts.
Reading Psalms, do you ever get the feeling that someone messed up somewhere? We have been told our whole lives that keeping the Law of God is an awful curse (more on that). Who forgot to give King David the memo that the Torah of the Lord enslaved, and that keeping the Lord’s commandments was a terrible burden from which Jesus came to free us?
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. Jam 1:22-25
What if, in fact, the terrible burden is being driven by passions and being enslaved by sins? What if learning and understanding Torah is in fact, the light and easy yoke Jesus spoke of?
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Mat 11:28-30
Beloved, we have been sold a bill of goods. Because we have been freed from the penalty of death which comes upon law breakers, we can now take up the light and easy yoke of Jesus, and learn at His feet, along with King David, the understanding of His Law, of which He is the living expression, and the delight of His commandments. ♥
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