Psalm 119, Part Huit

v. 108 – “Accept the freewill offerings of my mouth…” You delight in the voluntary and often spontaneous bouquets of our small but earnest and sincere praise from a heart poised toward You in filial affection, which is true worship.

110 – Make me that steadfast, Lord. Help me to not stray, body, mind or soul.

111 – I want Your testimonies to be “the rejoicing of my heart.” I see a party goin’ on in my insides, a spontaneous combustion of joy and praise because You have spoken Love over me!

112 – I want a heart inclined toward You. I want to press into You and meld our spirits, to be so attuned to Your nature and wisdom that I live with absolutely no fear, but instead with the confidence and trust of a heart fully sold out and passionate for Your presence “even to the end.”

113 – “I hate the thoughts of double-minded people,” especially when I am those people! Make me a straight thinker, Lord, laser intent on who You are, and let me take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ because I love You.

114 – “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.” Your word provides all the the refuge, sanctuary, and deliverance I need. Let me run to You instantly and consistently.

116 – “…let me not be put to shame in my hope.” You are my hope, and Your word is truth. As we stand on Your word and submit it as the ultimate authority, let those who oppose it and try to nullify it fail miserably in shaming or belittling us.

117 – Let me have regard—esteem, respect, even affection—for Your statutes continually. You hold me up, and all is right with the world.

Psalm 119, Part Sept

v. 104 – Because Your precepts give him understanding, he hates every false way. They teach us True and False, and True is the beloved way. This is a new and interesting line of thought.

105 – Oft-quoted verse. Your word = Light.

106 – To swear an oath—this is cross-referenced with Nehemiah 10:29, “enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law.” This means you’ll bring judgment down on yourself if you break your vow! I’ll just let my yes be yes.

Shadowfeet, by Brooke Fraser

my favorite song this week…

Lyrics:

Walking, stumbling on these shadowfeet
toward home, a land that I’ve never seen
I am changing, less and less asleep
made of different stuff than when i began
and I have sensed it all along
fast approaching is the day

[CHORUS]
when the world has fallen out from under me
I’ll be found in you, still standing
when the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees
when time and space are through
I’ll be found in you

There’s distraction buzzing in my head
saying in the shadows it’s easier to stay
but I’ve heard rumours of true reality
whispers of a well-lit way

[CHORUS]
You make all things new
You make all things new
You make all things new
You make all things
You make all things

[CHORUS 2]
When the world has fallen out from under me
I’ll be found in you, still standing
Every fear and accusation under my feet
when time and space are through
I’ll be found in you
when time and space are through
I’ll be found in you
when time and space are through
I’ll be found in you

Psalm 119, Part Six

v. 92 – To hold Your law as my delight saves my life in the midst of affliction.

93 – There is such an intimate acquaintance here with Your precepts akin to a mother being absolutely incapable of forgetting her children. Or here’s another: We were best friends, we fought and partied together, you were my children’s’ godfather, and then you threw yourself on a grenade to save our lives. “I will never forget Your precepts (how can I?)…”

94 – Lord, save me because I am Yours. Save me. I want to seek, inquire of and require Your precepts as my urgent need. U-R-G-E-N-T NEED.

97 – To meditate on Your law all day! And because I love You so much!

102 – You, Lord, are the Teacher. You know how I learn, what triggers the light bulb and engraves that lesson in my brain so it can be retrieved. When You Yourself teach me, it is intimate and multi-dimensional and precious. Please, Daddy, teach me again, anew. XO

103 – Sweeter than honey! Sometimes honey is so sweet that it feels like it’s burning my mouth. More so even Your words!

Psalm 119, Part Cinq

v. 76 – I pray this for Steven Curtis Chapman and his broken-hearted family.

78 – You will deal with the proud–that is Yours to do. I will not look on in enjoyment, but instead I will meditate on Your precepts. I will keep my heart attitude toward You.

80 – Tremendous prayer, greatly to be desired, that my heart be sound—sincere, whole toward You and blameless, and then I will not be put to shame.

81 – I do sometimes grow faint and languish in waiting for deliverance, but 1) it’s usually a predicament of my own stupid design, and 2) my hope is in Your word. You are ever-faithful.

88 – Pour Your life into me, Lord, according to Your steadfast Love. That Love will enable me to keep the testimony of Your mouth, to keep hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it.

89 – “Your word is settled in heaven (stands firm as the heavens).” Nothing on earth can change what You declare. Help me to see how impacting this truth is on my life and choices!

91 Hannah Whitall Smith verse! All things are Your servants.

Psalm 119, Part Quatre

v. 67 – I want to keep Your word, hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it.

68 – “You are good and kind and do good.” Teach me, grow me up to be like You. Grant me a whole heart toward You. When the world rises up against me, I will not be half-hearted.

71 – Affliction’s purpose is to learn You. How dark can be the rain, but how deep-spring-green can be the intimate knowledge of You.

72 – One word from Your mouth is more precious than thousands of gold and silver pieces. ONE WORD.

73 – You made me. You know how I can best come to more understanding of You, to learn You.

Psalm 119, Part Trois

v. 46 – “I will speak of Your testimonies before kings and will not be put to shame.” In Babylon Rising, LaHaye did a great job of capturing this verse in the scene where Nebuchadnezzar meets Daniel for the first time. Daniel meets his eyes and does not look away. His confidence was rock solid in the King-not-of-this-world! And indeed, he was not put to shame, but received & gave You great honor and glory.

47 – I want to delight in Your commandments, and I want to love them.

50 – If I have self-imposed affliction, do I have any business asking for Your comfort and consolation in it? Please, Lord, let Your word revive me, and give me life!

55 – In the night is when I most earnestly need to remember Your name. To call on Your name in that moment of need is my salvation.

56 – To keep, hear, receive, love, and obey Your precepts is a gift of Your grace and a reward!

59 – I turned my feet to obey You. I turned.

60 – Obey immediately—with no delay whatsoever. There in lies deliverance!

62 – “At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You.” Wouldn’t it be a cool thing for a youth group to get together for fun and food and then at midnight, gather as one to pray and shower thanks on You?! I’ve always heard the adage, “Nothing good happens after midnight.” This could be a force for Good in the darkness of the night—actually and symbolically!

Psalm 119 Part Deux

v. 36 – IF my heart is inclined toward You, then toward You will I more and more naturally lean and run to, and not my own devices.

37 – I want to see vanity for the dust that it is and to be restored to vigorous life and health in Your ways.

38 – I want to be Your servant who reverently fears You and devotedly worships You.

39 – There is a natural order in place in which there are consequences or logical results from certain actions, attitudes, or behaviors. “Turn away my reproach which I fear and dread.”

40 – I want ot long for You; “in Your righteousness, give me renewed life.”

41 – I want Your salvation according to Your promise.

42 – I want to lean on, rely on, and trust in Your word, which ultimately is You.

43 – Let truth not utterly be taken out of my mouth, for I do have hope in Your ordinances, that I can again be Your devoted disciple.

44 – I want to LOVE Your law. It represents Your character and nature and is a template of Your love for and protection over us. It is what Jesus came not to abolish, but to fulfill. Your word will last forever, and it is Goodness. I want to desire it (You) like my dearest friend and to reverence it the way Jesus did.

45 – I want to seek, pursue, go after, acquire, and desperately require Your precepts (You). Being in that disposition, no matter what happens, what trials and troubles might come, I can walk at liberty & at ease! You and Your word will be my solid foundation—no shifting, no uncertainty of who You are and what that means for me. I can be as a rock for You!

on Psalm 119

I decided to study Psalm 119 while Brett’s in China. There’s no correlation, just something I decided to do on the day he left, and of course, it’s such a long chapter that there’s plenty of material to marinate in for six weeks. I want to be able to find this in the future, so I’ll keep it here as a way to archive it.

v. 2 – O, Lord, I want to crave You with my whole heart!

3 – I want to never wander willfully!

4 – I want my life to be marked by diligence!

6 – O, that I might not be ashamed, and that I would respect all Your commandments!

7 – This is a timely verse!

10 – This is my heart prayer, Lord. †

11 – Lay up Your words in my heart!

15 – I want the mental discipline of meditating on Your precepts.

16 – “I will not forget Your word.” REMEMBER.

18 – Open my eyes, Daddy.

20 – I want this longing.

24 – Your statutes/testimonies are my delight—what a strong word. They are my counselors-—they give advice, direction, and vision.

25 – This describes my life! Stimulate me, Lord!

26 – I have declared my ways—my errant, selfish, shameful ways to You, Lord. Teach me.

27 – Meditate on and talk of His wondrous works!

28 – Time beats away, and the gift of this life dissolves from misuse or neglect. Strengthen me.

29 – O, Daddy, DO remove falseness and unfaithfulness to You from me, and graciously impart Your law to me.

30 – Let me choose the way of truth always, and let it stand always before me.

32 – Give me a heart that is willing, Lord!

33 – Grant me that kind of determination!

35 – I want to delight in Your commandments.

Vss from Mae: A Study With Cheryl

Ps 25:14 The secret of the sweet, satisfying companionship of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its deep, inner meaning.

I LOVE this verse.

2 Cor 2:15 we are the sweet fragrance of Christ which exhales unto God, discernible alike among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

I think her Moffatt says something like “which breathes out God.” Striking in its imagery.

1 Kings 3:13-14 I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings equal to you all your days. And if you will go My way, keep My statutes and My commandments as your father David did, then I will lengthen your days.

“If you will live My life…” She explained it like this. Here’s Jesus talking: Here’s what I’m going to do. You deserve to die. I’ll come and die for you, which removes me from this earth, so you go and out of gratitude and in honor of Me, you live My life. Take My identity and live My life for me.”

Simple. Brilliant. Only the rarest of souls take Him up on it.

Deut 30:11-16 For this commandment which I command you this day is not too difficult for you, nor is it far off. It is not a secret laid up in heaven, that you should say, Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it to us, that we may hear and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who shall go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear and do it? But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your mind and in your heart, so that you can do it. See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today, to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land into which you go to possess.

What He proposes, to live His life for Him, is not impossible, not too difficult nor far off for you to do. It is right here.

John 6:28-29 They then said, What are we to do, that we may habitually be working the works of God? What are we to do to carry out what God requires? Jesus replied, This is the work (service) that God asks of you: that you believe in the One Whom He has sent that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger.

What is our part to do? Believe….. Believe, then Believer, believe!

Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the Law, the limit at which it ceases to be, for the Law leads up to Him Who is the fulfillment of its types, and in Him the purpose which it was designed to accomplish is fulfilled. That is, the purpose of the Law is fulfilled in Him as the means of righteousness (right relationship to God) for everyone who trusts in and adheres to and relies on Him.

Christ is the end of the struggle for rightness with God for the one who believes.

Why? Because of Philippians 2:13 Not in your own strength for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you, energizing and creating in you the power and desire, both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

Luke 22:43 And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him in spirit.

You can have this, too.

Rom 10:6-10 But the righteousness based on faith imputed by God and bringing right relationship with Him says, Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into Heaven? that is, to bring Christ down; or who will descend into the abyss? that is, to bring Christ up from the dead as if we could be saved by our own efforts. But what does it say? The Word (God’s message in Christ) is near you, on your lips and in your heart; that is, the Word (the message, the basis and object) of faith which we preach, because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms his salvation.

Ps 16:8 I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Ps 116:7 Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.