Daily Meditations

Psalm 119:11 I have hidden Your word in my heart Well, whole books could be written about these few powerful words. Let’s repeat them, “ I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.”  I first learned this text, in Sunday School, over 60 years ago. Thank goodness I did! How many of us have learned Scriptural truths and hidden them in our hearts and then found, maybe years down the line, that they come popping up at just the right moment? Times of temptation when we are right on the brink of succumbing and then up it comes, the word pings into our minds and we find that we have to back away from the tempter’s snare. Or those dark moments, in the middle on the night maybe, when the whole world seems to be against us, and then a voice speaks, a voice from deep within, the word that we learned without realising we learned it. Suddenly, the scenario changes, we realise that “ Greater is He who is in us than he that is in the world.”  1 John 4:4. The temptati...

Psalm 119:10 I seek You with all my heart ““Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.”  So says Jeremiah 29:12-14a. This “seeking after God” is a feature of the Scriptures and was the life goal of many of the great saints of old. However, these are not words to be spoken glibly, to promise to seek God with all our hearts is a daunting undertaking. Over the years there have been many songs and hymns that have encouraged wholehearted devotion to the quest, but few actually achieve it. Do you remember singing “I surrender all?” Is it possible to surrender all? Is it possible to seek God with all of my heart? The author of this Psalm obviously saw his commitment to the quest as being realised in his commitment to the laws and promises of God. If he could embrace these and obey them then he would embrace and obey the Lord God Himself. God’s law...

Psalm 119:9 Young people and the Word And so we come to the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet -  “Beth ”. This is a verse for those who are younger in age, suggesting that the writer was speaking of himself. In ancient times it was a major responsibility of the older, wiser men in the community to pass on their wisdom to the next generation. It was equally important that the young looked up to their elders and took instruction from them. And, of course, even if you were old, you could only be described as wise if you were prepared to keep learning and add to the wisdom accumulated throughout your life. Yes, the culture in Israel was very much about this exchange of information but it was all grounded in God’s Word, these people were not majoring on scientific exploration, they had a higher goal, they purposed to know and understand the heart and mind of God! It begs the question as to how much time have we spent teaching our own children the truths of God’s Word, and how much th...

Psalm 119:8 I will obey Your decrees And so we come to the end of the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the Aleph section of Psalm 119. The section ends with another good intention although its motivation is not so good! The writer intends to obey God’s decrees, the same word that is used in verse 5. God’s decrees are His rules and commands that are engraved in writing so that all may see them, and they cannot be forgotten or overlooked. His decrees are there for all to see, and the breaking of them leaves the perpetrators without excuse. If something is engraved or written down and a part of your national culture, it’s hard to argue “I didn’t know.”  What follows is a plea from the heart, written by an honest man. He is clearly aware that there will be times when he breaks the decrees of the Lord despite his very best intentions. This is what causes him to cry out,  “do not utterly forsake me .” This is a repeated cry in the Psalms, written by men who obviously considered ...

Psalm 119:7 I will praise You This verse and its successor are a statement of intent!  “I will praise You with an upright heart ….. I will obey Your decrees.”  Intentions are great, in truth we would get nowhere without them, we’ve probably all been having them, good and bad, every day of our lives. However, we are weak and vulnerable human beings, like the proverbial New Year resolutions our good intentions can quickly be broken, and we end up ashamed and feeling very sorry for ourselves! Let’s thank God that He does not give up on us but rather, He bends down, takes our hand and helps us to stand up and press on with the journey. It is right therefore to have good intentions, and on this day,  “I will praise You, Lord, with an upright heart. ” The first part of the verse is an easy one for me, It’s Sunday and 2 hours from now I will be gathering with brothers and sisters to do just that, to praise the Lord! The thing is, the psalmist goes on to suggest one of the reason...

Psalm 119:6 Shameful or shameless The writer of this Psalm clearly describes the dilemma that we all face from time to time. We love to call ourselves believers in the Living God, we align ourselves with His Word and His people. We take some pride in our spiritual walk and the importance of our faith. That is, until we have a moment of honesty, and we truthfully measure ourselves against the standards of the Lord. It is when we look at the true self in the moral mirror that we see the warts and the deformities that have hindered our journey and have made us fall so far short of God’s standards. The moral mirror is, of course, the commands of the Lord, these are, in Hebrew, the “miswot”, the terms and conditions of God’s contract or covenant, and when we honestly appraise ourselves against His standards, we have to be ashamed!  In the verses of the Psalm being “put to shame” suggests public humiliation, there is nothing worse than when others become aware of our sin and our failings...

Psalm 119: Obey His decrees The Hebrew word for “decrees” is  huqqim  and it is often used in tandem with “commands”. In Deuteronomy 30:16 we read of Moses saying to the Israelites,  “For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.”  “Huqqim” literally refers to covenant laws that have been written down; earlier in Deuteronomy 30:9-10 Moses says, “ The Lord will delight in you ….. if you obey the Lord your God and keep His commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul .”  As they were taught the Torah (first 5 books of our Bibles), the Israelites were to take special notice, for these were not just empty words, repeated in conversation, these were sacred commands and decrees that were engrav...

Psalm 119:4 Precepts to be obeyed We hinted, at the beginning, that it will not always be possible to embrace the full meaning of each of the 8-9 words that are used to describe the regulations laid down by the Lord. For instance, it seems that the Hebrew word for precepts ( Piqqudim ) describes covenant rules, but the inference here is that they are rules that come from the One who oversees or governs us. In human terms, an overseer is a person with a supervisory role. In divine language, God watches over our activities, and He gives us guidelines in His Word to help us perform to our best. He is an encourager but also the One who says, “There is a better way. Do it my way and you will succeed. Do it your way and things will go wrong.”  It is abundantly clear that disobeying our supervisor’s instructions can only end in trouble, trouble with Him and trouble for ourselves. For the Israelites, the long list of detailed regulations that governed activity in the Tabernacle / Temple wa...

Psalm 119:3 Following His ways Notice that the opening verses of Psalm 119 are about a journey. Verse 1 talks about those whose  “ways”  are blameless, who  “walk”  according to the law of the Lord. The verse before us now also speaks of those who do no wrong but follow His  “ways. ” In the context of the Psalm and the understanding of the Israelites to whom this was addressed, the ways of God could only be found by studying and understanding the Torah, in particular His laws and rules for mankind. Those who did so would find themselves becoming familiar with the attributes, characteristics, morals, qualities and purposes of the Lord. His ways are not beyond our discovery, they are clearly set out in His Word. Those who seek to know Him intimately will find themselves described as “walking with Him”. What an incredible journey, to seek to know God and to be like Him! No other religion lays down such a challenge or invites its supporters to become like their god,...

Psalm 119:2 Blessed are those who keep His statutes Verse 1 tells us that those  “who walk according to the law of the Lord,”  are blessed. This next verse instructs us that those who  “keep His statutes and seek Him with all their heart,”  are also blessed. The word for “statutes” here is “edot”, and it refers to the stipulations of the covenant that God had made with His ancient people, Israel. The covenant with Moses begins with the Ten Commandments. As we are all aware, the covenant laws and rules were very specific and detailed, the Jews still study them and vary in their opinions as to the meaning of many of these rules. However, the people were commanded to obey the laws and were clearly told that if they did so, they would be blessed, and if they broke them, they would be cursed. Their history proves this. The entire law and all its conditions were read out loud every 7 years, to all the people, including the children, when they assembled during the Feast of ...

Psalm 119:1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless We already have a mind-blowing statement! As we have seen before, to be blessed means so much more than to be happy. The “blessed” are those who do God’s will and who obey His laws. Some folk think that to be blessed means to be healthy and wealthy but it is so much more. You can be blessed and poor, you can be blessed and be sick, the truly blessed are those who live under the protective care of the Lord, who are guarded by Him and have complete trust in His will and His ways. The blessed are able to praise God in all situations because they know that He is in control, and He will care for them.  Is it possible to be completely blameless before this God? No, but we can seek to obey Him and to walk as close to Him as is possible. This verse suggests that it is those who “ walk according to the law of the Lord ” who are the blameless. The Hebrew word for law here is “torah”, in other words, all the covenant instructions and dire...

Psalm 118 Introduction This is the longest of the Psalms, it is also the longest chapter in the Bible, as opposed to Palm 117 which was the shortest Psalm and the shortest chapter! There are 176 verses in this Psalm which means that, if we take it verse by verse, every day, it is going to take nearly half a year to get through it!  So, what is the point of the Psalm? The point is that it is a celebration of the Word of God. The Bible is the only book that humanity owns, that is written by a God, correction, by The God. It is therefore right and proper that we have a sizeable chunk of Scripture that explains that to us, and that correctly values and explains the sacred truth that God has spoken. We do not know the human author’s name, we don’t need to, these words came from the Lord and are given to instruct us in godliness and the right approach to the study of the Word of God. As we meditate on these verses, we will obtain a correct view of God’s discipline as well as His blessing...

Psalm 118:28-29 The Highway of Praise We come back to the king whose observations occupied the first 21 verses of this Psalm. The crowds have finished their celebrations and now their leader ends the Psalm with a few final thoughts of his own.  “You are my God and I will praise You; You are my God, and I will exalt You. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever .”  The Psalm ends as it started, with thanksgiving to the Lord, He is good; His love endures forever.  It would do us well to learn these words and then repeat them over and over. When darkness and depression or sadness overwhelm us. When enemy attacks seem unrelenting and very painful, and we seem to be surrounded by opposing forces and our faith is taking a battering. When relationships come to an end, or those we trusted let us down. When personal illness or sickness in others threatens our stability. When financial or work pressures build. In all these things we need to recognise that o...

Psalm 118:27 He has made His light shine on us Do you remember the Priestly Benediction that was re-enacted on countless occasions over the people who gathered at the Temple?  “May the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”  Numbers 6:25. No doubt these very familiar words were in the people’s minds as they saw a direct fulfilment in their own time and they could say,  “He has made His light shine on us.” Now we have, once again, an insight into the events that unfolded in Jerusalem on the day of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus. The crowds cut down tree branches, including palms, and waved them before the Lord who sat astride that lowly donkey. This is called a “festal procession” suggesting that it was carried out at a time of feasting and national celebration. Interestingly, the waving of branches accompanied the Feast of Tabernacles, in autumn, whereas the branches tha...

Psalm 118:26 Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord These words were what followed the “Hosannas” as the people exalted Jesus on His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The crowds were not making up their songs and shouts of acclamation, they were quoting from this Psalm. Remember, it was very well known, as the concluding part to the “Hallel” it was quoted countless times by the Israelites, in their homes, in their community gatherings and during their visits to the Temple.  As we have seen the writer of the Psalm was surrounded by enemies, but he had managed to cut them down. (V10-12.) He had faced the reality of death, but the Lord had saved him. (v17-18.) His personal experience had been extremely frightening, and at times, he had feared for his life. But the Lord God had brought him through and now the crowds were celebrating his victory and exalting him as the one who had come  “in the name of the Lord!”  They too understood that their recent victories had onl...

Psalm 118:24-25 Lord save us! I think that we can read into these verses that they describe a special celebration day, being held to give thanks to the Lord for the victory of his people over their enemies. Some commentators wonder if the day referred to was Passover or the Feast of Tabernacles? We can’t know for sure when the event took place, but what is certain is that the crowds had gathered at the house of the Lord to sing and give Him praise for their deliverance. And there is no question as to the instigator of their victory, it was the Lord. It is so sad to see the Jews currently facing enemy oppression from every side, to hear about the casualties of war and yet there seems to be no one in the leadership of the country who will acknowledge the Lord God and ask for His help to defend themselves. If they did this, the bloodshed might well be avoided, and victory might well be swift and permanent. “Lord save us” is of course “Hosanna” in Hebrew. It was these words that were shout...

Psalm 118:22-23 He has become the cornerstone The singer of this Psalm comes to an end of his personal tributes to the Lord and gives way here to the wider community, his people joining in with their own exaltations. The first of these is a familiar refrain repeated in Matthew, Mark and Luke when Jesus applied it to Himself. (Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10-11, Luke 20:17.) Peter quoted these words in his defence before the Sanhedrin in Acts 4:11. He must have had a special affinity with Psalm 118:22 because he repeats the words in 1 Peter 2:7-8. Finally, Paul alludes to them in Ephesians 2:19-22 when he talks about the spiritual building that is the church. So, what do they mean? What was the psalmist trying to convey here? In the context of the Psalm, it could be that the beleaguered king, who had just poured out his heartfelt woes and recognised how close he had come to death, was the stone that the other nations rejected. Perhaps he had been rejected by some of his own people too? Equall...

Psalm 118:21 The Lord is my salvation! This Psalm has encouraged us to give thanks for many things. When we enter the gates of the righteous, the gate of the Lord, there should be a number of burning issues in our hearts for which we can give Him thanks.            V1                    He is good. V1                    His love endures forever. V5                    He brought me into a spacious place. V6                    The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid. V7            ...

Psalm 118:19-20 The gates of the righteous Isaiah 26:2-4 says, “ Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.”  We have commented before that Israel was the righteous nation, not by virtue of their good works or their exemplary lives, but because they were chosen above all other nations, they were righteous because the Lord God was with them. It was only the fully paid-up descendants of Abraham who were qualified to enter the Temple Courts and ponder the Holy Place and the significance of the presence of the Lord God at its heart. God was there for them, for Israel, for His holy people, despite their failings, their disobedience and their rebellion. This must have dawned on so many as they approached the Temple Courts, especially on days like the Day of Atonement. I suggest therefore that the “gates of the righteous” refers to the gate through which Israel ...

Psalm 118:18 The chastening of the Lord We’re still on the theme of death! Few people get the chance to reflect on a “near death” experience and to ponder the ramifications of that encounter. In this Psalm there is the suggestion that the writer sank so low he really did not believe that there was a way back. He has not only returned from the pit of death, but his physical and mental abilities have been restored, he is “normal” again. My own experience is not dissimilar, even as I write these words, I have to admit that the cords of death had entangled me, the gates of death loomed large.  The writer here regards the whole experience as a time of severe chastening from the Lord. This is puzzling because the text suggests that he had put his life on the line whilst defending his country against a powerful confederacy of nations. Maybe, some of the decisions made had been incorrect. Maybe, if he had trusted the Lord more it might not have been necessary to take on those enemies at al...

Psalm 118:17 I will not die but live In Psalm 6:5 David rightly asks,  “Among the dead no one proclaims Your name. Who praises you from the grave?”  In Psalm 115:17-18 we read,  “It is not the dead who praise the Lord, those who go down to the place of silence; it is we who extol the Lord, both now and forevermore. ” Here, in Psalm 118, we are reading about the near-death experiences of a valiant King who also faced the probability of leaving this world, but then death’s clutches were withdrawn and he lived to fight another day!  Let’s be clear here and we all know this, we will, one day, physically die. Our bodies will reach the end of their earthly journey, they are not designed to keep going much beyond 70-80 years. Some live a little longer, others die long before this but whichever way you look at it, we are mortal beings. Now if your only purpose is to see out this life then it makes sense to enjoy as much of it as possible and to take as much of it as possible...

Psalm 118:16 The right hand of God Let’s talk a bit more about the significance of the right hand of the Lord shall we? There’s a very human story early in the Bible when Rachel, Jacob’s beloved wife, died in childbirth but produced a son who she called Ben-oni. Ben-oni means “son of my sorrow” or “son of my trouble.” Jacob, his father, gave the boy a new name, it was Benjamin which means “son of my right hand” or “son of my power.” Interestingly, Benjamin turned out to be one of the smallest of the Israelite tribes, but his descendants were elevated by merging with the tribe of Judah and thus becoming the predecessors of the Jews.  A person of high rank who put someone on his right hand gave him equal honour with himself and that person would be recognised as possessing equal dignity and authority. T his is what the Apostle Paul writes of Jesus Christ in Ephesians. " And what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us, the ones believing according to the working of His mi...

Psalm 118:15 The tents of the righteous Before we can get a handle on this verse, we need to establish the true identity of the “righteous.” When the Lord God separated the peoples of the earth, after the shame of Babel, there was only one nation that was chosen to belong to Him. This was astonishing because 70 others are listed as originating at this point in history and the nation that God chose had not yet been born! In Deuteronomy 32:8-9 we are told that  the Lord distributed the earth according to the nations. The 70 were disinherited because He chose Israel,  “For the Lord’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.”  (v9) In other words, God let all the other people’s go their own way BUT, at Babel, He chose to inherit Israel or Jacob as His own. These, the people of Israel, were known as the righteous, not because they were better than the others, anything but, but because God was with them, and they were righteous by faith. It follows that when God p...

Psalm 118:14 The Lord is my strength and my defence This verse is often publicly quoted and quite right too! Isaiah wrote a similar tribute to the Lord,   “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord Himself, is my strength and my defence; He has become my salvation .”   Any battle against opposing forces begins with an analysis of their strength and ability. Then, comparisons have to be made with the size and capability of the home defences. Few commanders lead their troops out against an army that is vastly superior in size and equipment. Calculations are done, odds are weighed up, strategies are discussed and at some point, the “man in charge” has to make a decision. Throughout this entire process, the next steps are based on rational calculations and the “intelligence” gathering of those appointed to lead the homeland forces. Many men and women must have endured sleepless nights throughout this process, many will have tried to establish t...

Psalm 118:12-13 Bees and thorns More of the same here as the psalmist celebrates his victory over his enemies. Firstly, he uses the analogy of a swarm of bees, I have witnessed swarms of bees on a number of occasions and once had to dive in and rescue a young lad from the terrifying attentions of these noisy insects! He was shaking with fear and rooted to the ground as the bees angrily surrounded him in the middle of a field. If the attentions of the psalm-writer’s enemies were anything like this, then we can understand his trepidation at taking them on! It is thought that these verses of the Psalm were written sometime between 800 - 600 years BC, in other words at least 2,500 years ago. However, they could have been penned yesterday by a modern Israeli leader. As we have already commented, the enemies of the Jews surround them like angry insects and even as I write, the morning news is about warnings to foreign nationals to leave Lebanon as fears of an outright war with Hezbollah incr...

Psalm 118:10-11 I cut them down! As we have noted, this Psalm was written by a beleaguered monarch who had endured a time of great testing as his homeland had suffered the threats and military advances of the surrounding nations. Remember, that this was not just about military supremacy, it was about defending borders and preserving the land that the Lord God had allocated to His people. The people of Israel had been given their tribal and family inheritance, the land that they lived on and farmed was theirs from the Lord, they had no choice but to defend this territory.  It seems that the threat of annihilation was very real at this time and yet somehow, once again, they had prevailed.  It is impossible to read this verse without thinking about the current plight of the nation of Israel. Many think that the Palestinians and Jews have equal rights to that land and therefore a two-state solution is the only way forward. According to which side you are on, you either believ...

Psalm 118:8-9 Take refuge in the Lord Psalm 33 taught us that “ No king is saved by the size of his army and no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.”  Psalm 33:16-19. The psalmists, especially men like David, realised that salvation comes from the Lord alone, our salvation is found only in Him. Whatever our enemies may seek to do to us and whatever lies they may tell against us, at the end of the day our hope and our rest comes from God. The expression,  “He is my rock and my fortress”  is often repeated throughout the Psalms because it is so true. When all are against us and life overwhelms us, who else can we turn to? Who else can we take refuge in?  All power and authority belong to the Lord. The greatest of all protec...

Psalm 118:7 Triumphing over our enemies We all have had, or still have, enemies. Some people try to avoid this dilemma, they roll over and give in immediately to anyone who uses them or insults them, they desperately want to be liked or loved, and will pay any price to keep the peace or to appease their oppressors. We are not called to live that way, it is cowardly and pointless, because there are evil people out there who will just keep on hurting us, at some point we have to face our enemies and deal with them.  As Christians we are surrounded by enemies, many of them unseen. It is important that we have a strategy to at least hold them off, and we also need to be aware that simply acknowledging Jesus Christ will cause conflict with some. Firstly, we have to establish that we are innocent, that we are not the cause of the hostility and that we can bring this matter to the Lord with a clear conscience. If this is so, then the enmity comes from the other side, and we need to decide...

Psalm 118:6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid In Psalm 56:4 we read,  “In God, whose word I praise – in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me ?” It’s somehow written into the human psyche that we will trust in ourselves quite happily until something happens that is out of our control, or we are so outnumbered and overwhelmed that we automatically cry out for help. At such times, we recognise our dependency and also that we need the help and protection of One who is far more powerful and able than we are! This is a confession in the face of fear. It is at such times that we remember God’s promises that He will come to our aid when we appeal to Him. It is only then that we remember the words of Isaiah, “ do   not fear, for I am with you ;  do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10. In this context the use of the word “mortals” simply m...

Psalm 118:5 He brought me into a spacious place And so to the real business of this Psalm and what a delightful treat this verse provides. Firstly, it is important to remember that when all the odds are stacked against us, when our enemies are circling and ready to pounce, when our resources have run dry and our support has melted away, then it is time to cry to the Lord. This appeal to the Lord God in times of need is a common occurrence in the Psalms, there are innumerable occasions when those who trust and believe have come to the end of themselves and pleaded with heaven to intervene. Most have witnessed a dramatic change of circumstances, a few have found that the reply from above has been delayed. All bear testimony to the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord.   Whilst it is not clear what experiences caused our writer to feel so “hard pressed” I suspect that we have all experienced times when circumstances and pressures have so sapped our strength and dominated our tho...