Your Law Is My Delight Series

All of Psalm 119 is read before me (22 readers reading eight verses each).

Today we conclude our series, Life By the Book. The psalmist takes 176 verses to motivate us to get into the Bible and get the Bible into us. If you’ll continue to keep Psalm 119 open with me (page 611 in your Black pew Bibles in front). I want you to elevate your attitude toward the Bible to a higher level. I want you to coordinate your prayers and your Bible study to transform your life to conform to the image of Jesus Christ.

My Greatest Habit

My greatest single habit is to read the Bible each and every day. I’m not perfect, and I miss a day every so often. But again, my greatest single habit is to read the Bible each and every day. My reading of God’s Word has saved me from more heartache…

… given me more wisdom…

… protected me from more mistakes…

...given me more comfort…

… and provided me with more encouragement than anything else I’ve done in life.

No wonder the psalmist says, “I long for your salvation, O Lord,

and your law is my delight.

175 Let my soul live and praise you,

and let your rules help me.” (Psalm 119:174-175).

Psalm 119 is the most sustained act of praise and commitment to the Word of God in all of the Bible. The psalmist takes 176 verses to motivate us to get into the Bible and get the Bible into us.

Today’s Reading

“Let my cry come before you, O Lord;

give me understanding according to your word!

170 Let my plea come before you;

deliver me according to your word.

171 My lips will pour forth praise,

for you teach me your statutes.

172 My tongue will sing of your word,

for all your commandments are right.

173 Let your hand be ready to help me,

for I have chosen your precepts.

174 I long for your salvation, O Lord,

and your law is my delight.

175 Let my soul live and praise you,

and let your rules help me.

176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,

for I do not forget your commandments” (Psalm 119:169-176).

It’s one thing to read the Bible. It’s another thing altogether to live by the Bible.

I want you to elevate your attitude toward the Bible to a higher level. I want you to coordinate your prayers and your Bible study to transform your life to conform to the image of Jesus Christ.

An Overview - Two Halves

These last eight verses of Psalm 119 have two sections or two halves. First, verses 169-172 are a cry for the Lord to hear. That’s the first half. The second half starts at verse 173 and the focus is for the Lord to act. The first half is a plea for the Lord to hear and the second half is for the Lord to act. Notice that the psalmist concludes both halves with the word “commandments” which gives symmetry to this portion of Scripture. The stanza’s headlines might read “Lord, hear my prayer,” “Lord, hear my praise,” “Lord, act to help me,” and “Lord, act to restore me.”

1. Guide Me, Lord

“Let my cry come before you, O Lord;

give me understanding according to your word!

170 Let my plea come before you;

deliver me according to your word” (Psalm 119:169-170).

These last eight verses of Psalm 119 are petitions or prayers. Notice how Hebrew parallels one another as the thought in verse 169 is complemented in verse 170. This is a standard feature in Hebrew poetry as the two lines complement one another.

1.1 Lips and Tongue

The Psalmist makes it all about lips, tongue, and mouth. The Psalmist says, “Let my cry come before you, O Lord … 170 Let my plea come before you … 171 My lips will pour forth praise … 172 My tongue will sing of your word.” Here’s his prayer: “give me understanding according to your word … deliver me according to your word … teach me your statutes.”

I need my mind filled with your wisdom, Lord. Teach me what’s really best and what really matters. I need your thoughts to overtake my thinking. In a similar way, the prophet Isaiah quotes God, the Father as saying: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

1.2 Praying and Reading the Bible

Reading the Bible is not enough. He’s not just reading the Bible as you would a phone book. He’s not just clicking off “done” like you’d read your homework from school. He’s praying and reading. He’s earnestly praying and reading. He’s intensely praying and reading. He’s meditating on Scripture and feasting on Scripture. My friend, you need to pray for the Spirit of God to bake those words deep in your soul, psyche, and mind.