Psalms 119
With 176 verses this is the longest chapter in the Bible, but actually reads very fast. The theme is common for the most part with its opening statement in verse 119:1:
Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD!
In the Christian church we tend to ignore the Law, since the common interpretation of “fulfilling the Law” is ending it altogether. Although every time Jesus spoke directly about the Law he actually “upped the ante.” The “tithe” is everything not just 10% and looking at another woman in lust is adultery are just a few examples of this. Although the Law has many sins outlined and Jesus did end the sacrificial system, most of the Law is there to help us in our daily lives and not to become a legalistic pile of regulations.
As Christians we should understand the legalism of this and not get sucked into it. Take the food laws, we can eat pork without sinning but it’s not the most optimum food for our bodies. We don’t have to tithe and save 10%, but when glitches come in our lives we will not be prepared if we ignore this money management concept. So even not “living under the law” we should still honor it by following the parts that Jesus did not “fulfill” in total. But just remember, as I understand it, most of the Law is designed to give us a better life not burden us with unnecessary regulations.
Verse 119:9 asks a great question and answers it immediately:
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
This is why goals like reading the Bible through is so important since you learn the reasons for much of what happens with Jesus. Having read it cover to cover, random books and a structured study I think the structured studies are the best. Since they tend to keep ties the Old and New Testaments together when things are fresh in your mind. Often a small detail you read in the Torah 6 months prior may be missed in Mathew, where much of the studies seem to tie it together so OT and NT stores tie together.
Verse 119:90 gives us hope with we are in “winter” with God:
Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
We often tend to forget God is always with us during times in our lives. We us terms like “being in the desert” or “being in winter” to describe times when we feel we are separated from God. In reality we are not noticing Him or not digging deep enough to see Him. God is not our genie that we summons whenever we need to be healed or need cash. He is not our celestial ATM ready to bail us out of every mistake we make. No often times God need us to learn something before going forward.
I have been on a 15 year path with trying to understand and live financial management. For the first 10, God seemed to be an ATM where when we were running low or had a big settlement the needed cash just seemed to be there. But that did not change my spending behaviors, and thus peaked in 2008 where we were overloaded with debt and needed a miracle. The “miracle” came in the form of a job at way less than my “income potential” and a Dave Ramsey’s CD set. Dollar by dollar and day by day the debt just kept going down. After 5 years I am still without a significant raise yet the credit card debt is 90% down from the peak of $171k and should be gone by the end of the year. See God appeared to be silent, yet he was waiting for my “getting it” before the “floodgates” open.
Verse 119:105 is one of those verses I just recently heard and cannot figure out where:
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
Was it a billboard, a reading prior or a recent sermon I can’t remember? I just know it was familiar and I see why. This book should be our guide to life and not just a night stand decoration that periodically needs dusting. It ones I notice in my men’s group are not the fresh new Bibles, but the ones with the bindings falling apart and tons of notes in the pages. Those men often are the “Bible App” I wish to be some day. They seem to have a scripture for anything at the tip of their tongue.
What does this say to us? READ YOUR BIBLE!!