... in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen. Through the prayers of our
holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things,
Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us
from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy
Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).
Blessed [are] the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed [are] those who keep His testimonies, [who] seek Him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity. They walk in His ways. You have commanded [us] to keep Your precepts diligently. Oh that my ways were directed to keep Your
statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed,
when I have respect to all Your commandments.
I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned
Your righteous judgments. I will keep
Your statutes. Forsake me not utterly.
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his
way? By taking heed according to Your
word. With my whole heart, I have sought
You. Let me not wander from Your
commandments. Your word have I hid in my
heart, that I might not sin against You.
Blessed [are] You, Lord. Teach me Your
statutes. With my lips, I have declared
all the judgments of Your mouth. I have
rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as in all riches. I will meditate in Your precepts, and have
respect to Your ways. I will delight
myself in Your statutes. I will not
forget Your word.
Deal bountifully with Your servant, [so that] I may live, and keep Your
word. Open my eyes, so that I may behold
wondrous things from Your law. I [am] a stranger in the earth. Hide not Your commandments from me. My soul breaks for the longing [it has] for Your judgments at all
times. You have rebuked the cursed
proud, who err from Your commandments. Remove
from me reproach and contempt: for I have kept Your testimonies. Princes also sat [and] spoke against me. Your
servant meditated in Your statutes. Your
testimonies also [are] my delight, my
advisors.
My soul clings to the dust. Make me alive according to Your word. I have declared my ways. You heard me.
Teach me Your statutes. Make me
understand the way of Your precepts. I
shall talk of Your wondrous works. My
soul melts for heaviness. Strengthen me
according to Your word. Remove from me
the way of lying. Grant me Your law
graciously. I have chosen the way of
truth. Your judgments have I laid [before me]. I have clung to Your testimonies. Lord, put me not
to shame. I will run the way of Your
commandments, when You shall enlarge my heart.
Teach me, Lord, the way of
Your statutes. I shall keep it [to] the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your
law. Yes, I shall observe it with whole
heart. Make me go in the path of Your
commandments: for in them I delight. Incline
my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity. Make me alive in Your way. Establish Your word to Your servant, who [is devoted] to Your fear. Turn away my reproach, which I fear: for Your
judgments [are] good. Behold, I have longed after Your
precepts. Make me alive in Your righteousness.
________
If you have been
blessed or helped by any of these meditations in Psalms, please repost or share
all of them.
[1] As
is commonly understood, Psalm 119 is an acrostic Psalm written in praise of
God’s Law (Exodus 20). While God’s Law
is not limited to the Decalogue, we suspect that the Ten Commandments are this
Psalm’s focal point. At the very least,
the serious student of this Psalm should give equal attention to the words,
meaning, and life of the Ten Commandments.
Being that this is an acrostic Psalm, each sentence in segment Aleph,
begins with the Hebrew (Chaldean) letter Aleph: so, we have arbitrarily decided
to treat each segment of this Psalm as a separate chorus, a distinct little
Psalm, with the common thread of the Law of God.
Christians, especially, should note, because of the prominence
of this Psalm, that Paul’s words, “under the Law (Romans 6:14; Galatians
5:18),” cannot possibly mean that the Law does not apply to Christians or
Christianity. Neither, can it mean that
Christians are above the Law. We believe
that Paul’s meaning in Christ, is that Christians and Christianity now build on
the foundation of the Law by the gift of the Holy Ghost, through faith. We also believe that this is what the Law
meant to Moses and this Psalmist. The
Law cannot be kept by mere works. The
Law can only be kept by faith, hope, and love; but there is no such thing as
faith without works. Sincere believers
always put their hearts into obeying God’s Law; knowing full well that it is
only God’s grace, when they actually accomplish this; in Christ, knowing
equally that they are not under condemnation for their many failures; knowing
that God accepts their stumbling, timid faith, hope, and love, as though these
were the perfections of Christ Himself.
The idea that there is a free salvation without the Law, without the
strenuous efforts of faith, without works of faith, is not found in the Bible,
it is a demonic and hell destined lie.
[2] Aleph
stresses that following (walking in) the Law is a beatitude, a blessing: and
therefore, a gift. If obedience to the
Law could ever be accomplished by human effort, the psalmist would not cry out
about receiving help: direction, shame, learning, forsakenness. We conclude that there is a synergy involved
in the righteous obedience to the Law.
God works, and the Psalmist works.
Nevertheless, this is not a synergy of equals, working side by side to
accomplish something together, that they could not do alone. This is the synergy created by God, wherein
God dwells in the believer, empowering the believer to do His works. Thus, only in Christ, the believer becomes
godlike, and is lifted up to heaven. If
mere works sufficed, the psalmist need not have wasted his time and breath
praying for what he had already accomplished.
The necessity of prayer proves that mere human works can never be
sufficient. Only works done in, by, and
through Christ can ever suffice.
[3]
Beth examines the start of the process of obedience to the Law by grace and
faith. The believer treasures God’s
Word: he hears, reads, studies, memorizes, and meditates on it day and night
(Psalm 1). Even so, this effort does not
rest on human effort. God teaches;
therefore, the psalmist learns, declares, rejoices, respects, delights,
remembers, and is blessed. The blessing
is not that of ordinary studies in lessons well learned; rather it is in the
growing love relationship that Yahweh is giving the psalmist, as a Father loves
His child.
[4] Gimel
reveals that God’s living relationship with the psalmist through the Law, is
the source of life, vigor, and vitality itself.
This is not the stuff of drudgery; this is the stuff of fun: there is no
higher happiness, no higher joy, than joy and happiness in God. Obedience to the Law expresses the love
between a Father and His children: it is wonderful. It shows that we are citizens of heaven, and
strangers on earth. It is a game of hide
and seek; it fills us with longing. It
deserves and receives scolding for sin.
This invokes a prayer for removal of shame (reproach), with resultant
forgiveness and restoration. The Law
warns and protects from false friends, frenemies that give evil advice. God’s Law is the best advice: never trust
anyone or anything that goes against it.
Following evil advisors is the path of death. God’s Law is the path of life.
[5]
Daleth introduces the problem of mortality.
Having found life in the Law, the psalmist questions the inevitability
of death, he knows that he is a creature, made out of dust; he knows that he is
Adam’s child and bent to sin. Try as
hard as he must, the psalmist’s life is stalked by death, instability (melting
under pressure), weakness, lying, and doubting (small heartedness). The psalmist’s prayer shows that God is the
giver of all good: “make me alive” (resurrect me from the dead), “hear me”,
“teach me”, “make me understand”, “strengthen me”, “remove me”, “grant me”,
“enlarge my heart”. While the psalmist
waits for God’s gracious answer, he holds on for dear life (clings). His soul clings to dust (death), he clings to
the Law. The psalmist already knows that
God’s answer is, Yes! In all appropriate
humility he does not take such marvelous grace for granted.
[6] He
(the Chaldean letter) sees approaching mortality and asks for the Divine inner
strength to finish well (to the end).
The Law, properly understood, is the way to finish well. God will not forsake the relationship because
life grows dim: He teaches, gives understanding, keeps us on path, brings us
delight, destroys covetousness and emptiness, creates life (resurrection,
healing), establishes the Law, removes shame (reproach), gives life in
righteousness (justification, absolution, and inability to sin any more). The psalmist prays for all these things
because he knows that they are sourced in God Himself; he has them only because
of God’s relationship with him: therefore, they cannot fail.
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