Psalm 119:148

Psalm 119:148

The watches of the night

The Israelites had traditionally divided the night into 3 watches, later the Romans divided it into 4. Thus, an Israelite soldier was “on watch” for 4 hours and a Roman soldier got away with 3! This was not just to help with telling the time but to allow the organisation of the guards who were employed to walk the city walls or be the eyes and ears of the military camp and identify any human activity on the outside. Jewish watches were from sunset to 10.00pm, 10.00pm to 2.00am and 2.00am to sunrise. 

Our writer could not sleep, his head may have been on his pillow, but his eyes stayed open as he meditated on the promises of God. We tend to view the Law of God as a negative deterrent, a list of dos and don’ts but when we look more closely there is a lot of positivity in those decrees, commandments, precepts and statutes. Their whole purpose is to establish a righteous relationship between men and God, they set out clearly the benefits and blessings of obedience. God is not a stern headmaster who must be obeyed, He is a loving parent who knows what is best for His children. It follows that obedience and careful attention to His words will bring enormous advantages to those who take Him seriously. 

The Lord is a God of promises, perhaps this would be a good time to sit and meditate upon them. Maybe tonight, if we wake during one of the night watches, we could use it to carefully list and give thanks for all that He has promised us? 

 

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