Your statutes are wonderful;
therefore I obey them.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple.
I open my mouth and pant,
longing for your commands.

Psalm 119:129-131

Where does the Word of God fit into your life? Does it take an active role in your daily walk with Jesus? Or does it take a backseat and only get a glance when it suits you?

For God’s people in the Old Testament the Word of God was everything. It was the way they lived their lives. It was their law. The whole community was literally centred around the law. Often when we think of God’s law we think of Moses and the Ten Commandments, but interestingly when Jesus taught about the law, He also quoted from the Psalms as well. . For God’s people in the Old Testament, for Jesus, and for us, God’s law became synonymous to God’s Word and is supposed to be at the centre of our lives. The scriptures, the Bible, according to Jesus, should be at the very centre of our lives.

The people of God in the Old Testament loved the law so much that they invested copious amounts of time and energy to memorizing it so that the law might be written on their hearts. Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem, each paragraph starts with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It has been suggested that Psalm 119 is a one that King David wrote to teach his son Solomon the alphabet. But not only the literary alphabet, but the alphabet of life.

In nearly all of the 176 verses there is either a direct or indirect reference to the Word of God. For King David the Word of God was supposed to be the centre of everything we do.

Now if you’re anything like me, you might have opened your bible to do today’s Grow Daily and almost choked when you saw 176 verses set aside for what is usually a 5 or 10 minute devotion exercise. If you’re anything like me, you probably thought ‘I can get away without reading this Psalm’.

Where does the Word of God fit into your life? Does it take an active role in your daily walk with Jesus? Or does it take a backseat and only get a glace when it suits you? This Psalm encourages us to walk with God each and every day. This Psalm encourages God’s people to trust in Him.

Grow Deeper

Read Psalm 119:145-176

What does God’s word do?

How do we see the psalmist crave God’s word?

How does God’s word bring about growth?

What challenges your view of God and his word from this section of Psalm 119?

Which sections of this psalm stand out to you? Why not mark them as passages to come back to, to remind you of God and his word to us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

While you are a great and powerful God, you have made yourself known to us. Though you are great and majestic, you have revealed your love and care for us throughout history. You have shown this through Jesus, your Son, the Word. You have revealed yourself to us through your written word, preserved for us in the Bible.

Gracious God, I am sorry that I do not crave your word enough. This message that brings me salvation I easily forget. There are times when I do not long for your word, and yet it is those times when I so desperately need it.

I pray that I would never tire of the message of the gospel. I pray that I would never find it old or stale. I pray that I would always be astounded by your grace and forgiveness. I pray that I would long and pant to hear what you have said to me, and eagerly obey.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.