Through the Bible Day by Day - Psalms 119:1 - 119:1

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Through the Bible Day by Day - Psalms 119:1 - 119:1


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God’s Word an Inner Power

Psa 119:1-16

This long and noble psalm is devoted to the praise of God’s Word, which is mentioned in every verse but one, Psa 119:122. Probably if we were to substitute Will for Word we should not be far wrong. The earnest desire of the writer was that his will should be brought into blessed and unbroken union with the divine purpose in his life.

In its structure the psalm is an elaborate acrostic. In the original, each verse in a given section begins with the same letter, so that the twenty-two sections present the complete Hebrew alphabet.

It needs to be often used to be understood and valued. Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine, and Luther have left on record high tributes to its worth. There are several key expressions, which recur again and again, such as quicken and teach me thy statutes. It is interesting, also, to construct the psalmist’s biography from his confessions. He had gone astray like a lost sheep, was small and despised, had many adversaries, was like a bottle in the smoke; but he accounted God’s will and service more than food or gold, and his one desire was to be taught to do that will.