THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: God's Nurture Of The Inner Man In The Life Of Faith

CXIX: Appreciating And Applying Scripture For Every Spiritual Need, Psalm 119

H. Cheth - Acquiring The Motivation To Study Scripture

(Psalm 119:57-64)

I. Introduction

A. Psalm 119 is about the profitable use of God's written Scriptures, with the psalm being formed as an acrostic where each section contains a Hebrew letter that begins each of the eight verses in its respective section.

B. Section "Cheth" in Psalm 119:57-64 explains how one biblically obtains the motivation needed to study Scripture for its edifying truths, and we view this section for our insight and edification (as follows):

II. Acquiring The Motivation To Study Scripture, Psalm 119:57-64.

A. The verse numbering system in the Hebrew text matches that of the English Bible (Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 1082), so we stay with the English Bible's numbering system for this lesson.

B. We thus translate Psalm 119:57-64 (as follows):

1. "You are my inheritance portion, booty, tract of land (heleq, B. D. B., A Heb. and Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 324), O Jahweh; I have said that I will keep Your words," Psalm 119:57.

2. "I have entreated the favor of Your face with my whole heart; be gracious unto me according to Your promise, utterance, word ('imrah, Ibid., p. 57)," Psalm 119:58.

3. "I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to Your statutes," Psalm 119:59.

4. "I will hurry and not delay to obey Your commands," Psalm 119:60.

5. "Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget Your law," Psalm 119:61.

6. "In the middle of the night I rise to give thanks to You for Your righteous verdicts," Psalm 119:62.

7. "I myself (emph. pron.) am a companion to all who revere You and keep Your precepts," Psalm 119:63.

8. "The earth is full of Your loyal love, O Jahweh; teach me Your decrees," Psalm 119:64.

C. We consider significant observations regarding this psalm (as follows):

1. The psalmist noted that God was his inheritance portion, his booty in war or his tract of land (heleq), that is, everything he needed for complete satisfaction in life, Psa. 119:57a; B. K. C., O. T., p. 881, 804.

2. To see the Lord actually meet his every need in life, the psalmist acknowledged that he needed to know and fellowship with the Lord, what was God's experiential reward if he heeded Scripture, Psalm 119:57b.

3. Thus, the psalmist in verses 58-64 described the effects of being aware of these facts (as follows):

a. He wholeheartedly petitions God in prayer for His favor in accord with Scripture's directives, v. 58.

b. He aligns every one of his paths in life with Scripture for God's all-inclusive blessing, Psalm 119:59.

c. He seeks to heed Scripture immediately to enjoy immediate blessings from God, Psalm 119:60.

d. He keeps himself undistracted from Scripture even amid distressing persecution by the wicked, v. 61.

e. He gives constant attention to Scripture, Psalm 119:62.

f. He fellowships with others who revere so as to heed God and His Word, Psalm 119:63.

g. In noting that the earth is full of evidences of God's loyal love, the psalmist is eager to be taught by God from His written Word, the Scriptures, Psalm 119:64.

Lesson: The psalmist realized all he needed for total satisfaction in life came through knowing and fellowshipping with God, and that such knowledge and fellowship was God's experiential reward for heeding Scripture, what left him highly motivated to order his entire way of life to absorb himself with learning and applying written Scripture.

Application: (1) May we realize that complete, true fulfillment in life comes only by knowing and fellowshipping with the Lord, and that such knowledge and fellowship is God's experiential reward for heeding Scripture, that we then be eager to study Scripture and align every path of our lives to studying and applying it. (2) In particular, this alignment will include (a) wholeheartedly petitioning God's favor in prayer in accord with what Scripture teaches us (v. 58), (b) aligning the path of every route we take in our lives with Scripture for blessing (v. 59), (c) heeding Scripture immediately for God's immediate blessing (v. 60), (d) staying focused on Scripture versus letting ourselves get distracted from it by distressing actions by our persecutors (v. 61), (e) giving constant attention to Scripture (v. 62), (f) fellowshipping with those who like us revere God and heed His Word (v. 63) and (g) noting the evidences of God's loyal love thoughout the world as the basis for heeding His Word for blessing that we eagerly keep our minds open to being taught by the Lord from written Scripture (v. 64).