Intro to Psalm 119 | The Greatness and Glory of God's Word

Overview

The Glory of Scripture | A Longing for the Word and The God of the Word  in Psalms 119 / Introduction
 

The hundred and nineteenth chapter of the Psalms is familiar to many of us. Undoubtedly the longest chapter of verses in the entire Bible, one hundred and seventy-six verses, 22 sections; we all may have a few verses memorized and others that we’ve scanned over the years. Or perhaps not! No matter how much exposure you’ve with the text, this Chapter is comprehensive and spans a range to prayerful observations self-realization in light of the weightiness of God and his WORD.

This Psalm is dedicated to Glorifying God and his Word, therefore it refers to Scripture repeatedly. The written revelation of God speaking __ his Word is at the heart of this message. In almost every verse the “word” is the object of the author’s affections and desire.  As a matter of fact, we see time and time again that for the Christian life the “Word”, is essential to walking upright and blameless before God.

This lengthy Psalm over the course of its 22 sections gives us the privilege opportunity to explore and ponder the greatness and power of Scripture. One one hand it keeps us engages in a unified stream of thought that all is unified; while on the other hand, it takes us on a journey to see the range/variety of scripture; still unified but varied.   

We all need to grow in being Women of the Word, how else will be rightly handle God’s truth, navigating all its benefits for everyday living. There was a point in life when just knowing a few verses __ “verse of the day”, was sufficient to for the Christian journey, and for a while that did the trick to fool my own mind that I had all I needed to fight the good fight of faith, withstand temptation and encourage my fellow sisters in Christ on our mutual pilgrimage. But, as I grew in faith, age (over the years) and experienced the many seasons of life, I realized quickly that a verse a day will not keep the “dangers” away. As a matter of fact that in itself could and was a danger in itself, when verses were being handled, that is, interpreted outside of the full council and context of Chapters and the Books of the Bible. A swift and intentional rehabbing our my bible study disciplines had to be initiated, and not to the knowledge of more scripture, but to know more of the God who spoke scripture. Since scripture confirms scripture, and God is speaking his Big Story across the Books of the Bible, I needed to put these threads of verses in context, and see how the entire story developed over time. Beyond that, in my line upon line, percept upon precept approach I had the rich opportunity of now fully understanding how verses made sense within their chapters and book context. Still, there was more to be had, I got to fall in appreciation for the speaker of those beautiful, timely promises of redemption and restoration. But, we can’t fall in love with what we don’t know or treasure. 

I have to say, treasuring God’s Word and glorying it for all its significance and power is not as easy as it sounds. It takes practice and devotion. It takes pursuing! It takes diligence to seek out the author, who is speaking! It’s diligently pursuing the Word and the Author of the Word. It’s wrestling with all of its- inspiration, teaching, rebuke, correction, and training… for the goal of being completely equipped for every good work.  I believe this Psalm can help us in that pursuit. Not only does it thematically bring to bear the need to glorify God’s word but it shows us that our soul prospers when it delights in God’s Word.

The first week will be spent doing a book overview study so that we do the hard work of proper exegesis before we dive into the content and application. Everything you need for the study –Book/Chapter overview worksheet, Double Spaced text, online help and questions for reflection – will be available in the study.

I am thrilled to have you join us for this study. For all of my sister sojourners on the path of living in grace and truth, I’m praying that the Lord would meet you in your time of study and meditation, that His Spirit would illuminate line upon line, precept upon precept, to you, and that you would embrace the sweetness of his Word, which draws into worshipful praise and affections for the author of the Word.

Yours in the Word.