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1:00

Welcome to the Bible Study Podcast. I'm your

1:02

host, Chris Christensen. Psalm 119 is the longest

1:05

chapter in the Bible, and it has taken

1:07

a while to get through it. I think

1:09

we're going to finish it today, but we

1:11

shall see. There are

1:13

four sections left, four letters of the

1:15

Greek alphabet. Remember, this is an acrostic,

1:17

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3:00

I call with all my heart. Answer

3:02

me Lord and I will obey your

3:04

decrees. I call out to you. Save

3:07

me and I will keep your statues.

3:09

I rise before dawn and cry for

3:11

help. I have put my hope in

3:13

your word. My eyes stay open to

3:15

the waters of the night that I

3:17

may meditate on your promises. Hear my

3:19

voice in accordance with your love. Preserve

3:21

my life Lord According to your laws,

3:24

those who devised wicked schemes are near,

3:26

but they are far from your law.

3:28

Yet you are near. Board and all

3:30

your commands are true. Long ago

3:32

I learned from your statutes that

3:35

you established them to last forever.

3:38

Again, like every other part of

3:40

this chapter of we're focusing in

3:42

on the Law of the Lord

3:44

and this particular section. Here we

3:46

get the sama saying man calling

3:49

out to God. Looking

3:51

for answers? Looking for gotta answer?

3:53

And so that means this almost

3:55

has probably unanswered prayers Things said

3:58

Sus Honest is wanting. The and

4:00

has not gone and the soloist is saying i

4:02

I call out he with all my heart I

4:04

will obey your decrees again. Touch him at the

4:07

law. I. Call out

4:09

he sees me and I will keep

4:11

your statues and was interesting. We

4:13

do. This is almost more bargaining here in

4:16

their fourth for us here. If you save

4:18

me I will keep her statutes versus a

4:20

lot of times we get I do call

4:22

out you. I do obey your decrees and

4:24

sometimes sometimes we have to admit we bargained

4:27

with God. If you do this will I

4:29

do this And I don't think that's the

4:31

way or her relationship with one another is

4:33

supposed to work. and I think that's a

4:35

relationship with God is supposed to work. You

4:38

can imagine that If I said that to

4:40

my wife that. If. You.

4:44

If. You do this, then I'll do something

4:46

to please you that may or may not

4:48

go over very well. I

4:50

rise before dawn and cry for help.

4:52

I have my hope in your word.

4:55

So dishonest is getting up early and

4:57

calling out to God because there's something

4:59

urgent going on. Is something that some

5:01

as really needs and you probably had

5:03

another to. But I have been in

5:06

those situations where you feel like there

5:08

isn't an urgent need. For.

5:10

Help from God. Withered. Be

5:12

healing or and new job because

5:15

you're out of work or fixing

5:17

a relationship that you have or

5:19

whatever it may be. This is

5:21

what's going on. The samosas rising

5:23

before dawn and crying for help.

5:25

Their first thoughts. It sounds like

5:27

almost every day are crying for

5:29

help from God My I stay

5:31

open to the watches of the

5:34

night that I may meditate on

5:36

your promises. Rising

5:38

early, staying up late, thinking about

5:40

the promises of God the whole

5:43

time and calling and God to

5:45

keep his promises. Hear my voice

5:47

in accordance with your and love

5:49

Preserve my life lord according to

5:51

your of laws that a better

5:53

request here so you love me

5:56

Lord. So. Listen to me.

5:58

please, you preserve. Life according

6:00

to your loss because I'm consistent with

6:02

your loss, because I'm trying to be

6:04

faithful to realize Those you devise wicked

6:06

schemes are near, but they are far

6:09

from your law. The person who is

6:11

writing this lives in a place that

6:13

he is complicated, lives in a place

6:15

where there are those who are falling

6:17

with a law and those who don't

6:19

and they're living in in amongst one

6:21

another just as it is today. Those

6:24

who device we can schemes are

6:26

those Yet you are dear Lord and

6:29

all your commands are true. Long ago

6:31

I learned from your statutes the to

6:33

establish them to last forever. So remembering

6:36

here in the last part of this

6:38

that God is also near and the

6:40

gods statutes and commands are true,

6:42

that the law is true, that the

6:45

word of God is true and is

6:47

made to last. Continuing.

6:50

On the next letter is a rash

6:52

are he sh, look on my suffering

6:54

and deliver me for I have not

6:56

forgotten your law. Defend of my cause

6:59

and redeem me. Preserve my life according

7:01

to your promise. Salvation is far from

7:03

the wicked for they do not seek

7:05

out your decrease your compassion Lord is

7:08

great. preserve my life according to your

7:10

laws. Many are the folks who persecute

7:12

me but I have not turned from

7:14

your statutes. I look on the faceless

7:16

with loathing for they do not obey

7:19

your word. See how I love

7:21

your precepts. Preserve. My

7:23

life flirted according with your love.

7:25

all your words are true or

7:27

your righteous laws are eternal. Obviously

7:29

there's some overlap between all of

7:31

these. There's one theme in this

7:33

whole chapter here. as long as

7:35

it may be. So again, the

7:37

saw must is suffering and asking

7:39

for deliverance. Look on my suffering

7:41

and deliver me for I have

7:43

not forgotten your law to send

7:45

my cause and redeem the preserve

7:47

my life according to your promise.

7:49

Again, that that hint of desperation

7:51

here. Salvation. Is

7:53

far from the wicked for they do not

7:55

seek out your decrees. Now

7:58

one of things here. assess when we talk. Salvation

8:00

In a New Testament concept as

8:02

we talked about before we think

8:04

of Christ and across and that

8:06

he died to save us again

8:09

in a spiritual sense. And yet

8:11

the summers when he's using the

8:13

word salvation here is probably talk

8:15

about being saved from whatever is

8:18

causing all this suffering that he

8:20

has and the third wicked and.

8:22

Selfishness. Far from them because

8:24

they don't seek out your decrease,

8:27

because they're not faithful to God,

8:29

they can't expect that kind of

8:31

help. Your compassion Lord is great.

8:33

Preserve my life according to your

8:35

laws. Similar to that last section

8:37

there because of which are laws

8:39

says lord do this and because

8:41

you love me Lord Please listen.

8:43

Many are the folks who persecute

8:46

me but I have not turned

8:48

from your A Statutes that again.

8:50

This. Common theme here. I am persecuted,

8:52

but I'm faithful. I look on the

8:54

faceless with loathing for they do not

8:57

obey your word. I'm not sure that

8:59

we in a New Testament concept are

9:01

called to look on anyone with a

9:03

low. Then I think of the Vs

9:05

again in the New Testament to talk

9:07

about a few say you love God

9:09

but you hate your brother and you're

9:11

a liar because how can you love

9:13

God who you have not seen if

9:15

you hate your brother, who you have

9:17

seen. But I understand here. this I

9:19

I cannot understand. The. Z

9:22

the life of that someone is choosing

9:24

who is choosing to live apart from

9:26

god. I look on the faceless with

9:28

loading for they do not a beer

9:30

word See I love your precepts. Preserve

9:32

my life lord in accordance with your

9:34

love. Again according

9:36

to how you love me and

9:38

lord please listen to me. All

9:41

your words are true. All your

9:43

righteous laws are eternal again that

9:45

seem that came up last time

9:47

again. Sin Sin and Sin or

9:50

the next letters or this is

9:52

the next section. as

9:54

i n and s h i n

9:57

rulers persecute me without cause by my

9:59

heart trim at your word.

10:01

I rejoice in your promise like one

10:03

who finds great spoil. I

10:05

hate and detest falsehood but I love your

10:08

law. Seven times a day I

10:10

praise you for your righteous laws. Great

10:12

peace have those who love your

10:14

law and nothing can make them

10:16

stumble. I wait for your salvation

10:19

Lord and I follow your commands. I obey

10:21

your statutes for I love them greatly.

10:23

I obey your precepts and your

10:25

statutes for all my ways are known to

10:27

you. So rulers persecute

10:30

me. So now we've got some problems

10:32

with the government and with those who

10:34

have power that I do not have

10:36

and so I'm calling on the one

10:38

who has more power than the rulers.

10:41

Rulers persecute me without cause but my

10:43

heart trembles at your word. Is

10:46

that trembling in fear

10:48

and reverence for God versus

10:52

not being afraid of the rulers? Not sure. I

10:55

rejoice in your promise like the one who finds

10:57

great spoil. And when we say spoil here we're

10:59

talking about spoils of

11:01

war, that kind of spoil not things

11:04

in the fridge that have spoiled. I

11:06

rejoice in your promise like one who

11:08

finds great treasure, like one who finds

11:11

something

11:13

unexpected. I hate

11:15

and detest falsehood but I love your law. And

11:18

we are called to hate and detest

11:21

falsehood with remember all of

11:23

those verses in the prophets that talk

11:25

about truth and do you have a

11:27

weighty, do you have one set of

11:29

scales or two and all of those

11:31

things with are you truthful in your

11:33

dealings? And I think that's supposed

11:35

to be true in business, in life, in

11:38

our relationships, in our taxes, in our social

11:40

media and all of those places. Seven

11:43

times a day I praise you for your righteous

11:45

laws. I sometimes wonder when

11:47

I'm traveling and I think many

11:49

of you know that I do a travel show

11:51

besides the Bible Study Podcast. I do amateur travel

11:53

and spend a lot of time thinking and talking

11:56

about travel as well as the Bible. And

11:58

when I'm in a mood, I'm in a mood. country and

12:00

there's that call for prayer five times a

12:03

day even though I don't think

12:06

that Islam is the way to God

12:09

because Jesus says he's the only

12:11

way I can respect

12:13

the obedience and faithfulness

12:16

of that practice of praying

12:18

five times a day of

12:21

getting up early to pray of praying late in

12:23

the day and the psalmist here is saying I

12:25

pray seven times a day I praise

12:27

you for your righteous laws and I think it is

12:29

a good spiritual practice for

12:31

us not to remember God just

12:34

on Sunday but even

12:36

not just to remember God once a day when we're doing

12:38

our prayers or our devotions or listening

12:40

to or reading the Bible

12:43

or whatever it is that are your

12:45

spiritual practices. Great

12:47

peace have those who love your

12:49

law and nothing can make them stumble and

12:52

part of loving the law the word

12:55

the the Bible is that

12:57

it gives us direction it helps us

12:59

figure out where to put our steps

13:01

so that we don't stumble. I

13:05

wait for your salvation Lord and I follow your

13:07

commands again I need something from

13:09

you Lord I need to be saved and

13:11

I'm being faithful I obey your statutes for

13:14

I love them greatly and I

13:16

like this theme that has come up again and again

13:18

here that I am I am obedient not

13:21

just out of obligation but I'm obedient

13:23

and I love what you ask

13:25

me to do I love what

13:27

you ask me not to do and

13:30

I think one of the reasons we do that is

13:32

I think of

13:35

having been married for 42 years

13:38

that I don't love emptying

13:40

the dishwasher for instance I don't necessarily

13:43

love hanging up clothes after

13:45

they come out of the laundry but those are

13:47

things that I do possibly

13:50

not as often as I should but there are

13:52

things that I do but when I do them

13:55

I'm doing them out of love not for the

13:57

task but for the one who asks

14:00

I think that's part of what we need to think

14:02

of when we think about here. I obey your

14:04

statutes for I love them greatly. I think it's

14:06

another way of saying, I love you greatly. I

14:09

obey your precepts and your statutes for all my

14:11

ways are known to you. And

14:14

then we're going to finish it. We're going to make it through

14:16

the last section here, but this one is going to be a

14:18

longer one. This is TAW. May

14:21

my cry come before you, Lord, give

14:23

me understanding according to your word. May

14:26

my supplication come before you, deliver

14:29

me according to your promise. May

14:31

my lips overflow with praise for you

14:33

teach me your decrees. May

14:35

my tongue sing of your word for

14:37

all your commands are righteous. May

14:40

your hand be ready to help me for

14:42

I have chosen your precepts. I

14:45

long for your salvation, Lord, and

14:47

your law gives me delight. Let me

14:49

live that I may praise you and

14:51

may your laws sustain me. I

14:54

have strayed like a lost sheep.

14:56

Seek your servant for I have

14:58

not forgotten your commands. And

15:01

we start the way that we end

15:03

here with remembering the law of God,

15:06

remembering obedience and seeking help.

15:09

May my cry come before you, Lord, give me

15:11

understanding according to your word. So may

15:13

you listen to what I'm having, what I'm crying

15:16

for, what I'm asking for, because

15:18

I am in need and give me understanding

15:20

according to your word. And that is certainly

15:22

a great prayer to pray for understanding. We

15:25

see how Solomon prayed for wisdom when he

15:27

became king, and it's great for kings to

15:29

have, but it's also great for you and

15:31

I, no matter what our

15:34

vocations are. May my

15:36

supplication come before you, deliver

15:38

me according to your promise. So

15:41

my supplication is apparently asking

15:43

God for deliverance, for some

15:46

situation. May

15:48

my lips overflow with praise for you

15:50

teach me your decrees. The

15:54

idea here is that I get closer and

15:56

closer to God and to the word of

15:58

God, and that naturally from that would. slow

16:00

praise. To see

16:02

the wonder of what God does,

16:04

to see the wonder of who God

16:07

is, can only result in

16:09

praise. May

16:11

my tongue sing of your word, for

16:13

all your commands are righteous. Now

16:17

as someone who grew up in a Lutheran

16:19

tradition where we talk about law and gospel,

16:22

it's easy for me to think about

16:24

decrees and law and these things as

16:26

negative stuff, but of course

16:31

the psalmist, all they have of the word of

16:33

God are those laws, or the

16:35

laws and the prophets. And

16:37

so when they're saying the law is

16:40

beautiful, they're really saying the word of

16:42

God, that what God has taught us

16:44

is beautiful, and it makes me want

16:46

to sing. May

16:49

your hand be ready to help me, for I

16:51

have chosen your precepts. So

16:53

Lord, I pray that you'll listen to me, and

16:56

I'm again choosing to be obedient

16:58

to you. I long for

17:00

your salvation, Lord, and your law gives me

17:02

delight. It's kind of interesting, these pairs of

17:04

things here, because they don't always seem to

17:06

go together. I long for your help, and

17:10

I delight in your law and

17:12

your word. Could

17:14

be unrelated. They could be two separate thoughts,

17:16

but they're certainly not given this way. And

17:18

so many of these have that two part

17:21

thing of, this is what I'm looking for.

17:23

This is how I regard your

17:25

law. This is what I'm looking for. This

17:27

is how I study your law. Let

17:30

me live that I may praise you, and

17:32

may your laws sustain me. And

17:38

we don't know what psalmist is crying

17:40

about, what the psalmist is looking for

17:42

delivery from, but it

17:44

seems to imply here that their

17:46

very life is at risk. May

17:49

I live that I may praise you, and

17:51

may your laws sustain me. May I

17:53

live so that what I

17:55

do, what I say, brings praise

17:58

to God. That's a great

18:01

prayer for you or for I for this

18:03

week. I Have

18:05

strayed like a lost sheep seek your servant

18:07

for I have not forgotten your commands Essentially,

18:10

I've not forgotten your commands, but apparently I

18:12

may not have followed them So

18:15

seek me out Lord Lord. Come find

18:17

me for I have become Lost

18:20

and there are days that we wander off then

18:22

there are days that we are lost and

18:25

we pray that God will come and find

18:27

us and seek us and put

18:29

his words of love

18:31

and of praise on our lips and

18:34

with that we finally end This

18:37

episode of the Bible study podcast but

18:39

also this study of Psalm 119 We're

18:42

gonna continue on with Psalm 120 next week

18:49

If you have any questions send an email to

18:51

host at the Bible study podcast calm or better

18:53

yet Leave a comment on

18:55

this episode at the Bible study podcast

18:57

calm and thanks I

19:10

want to take just a second to thank the

19:12

team at life audio for their partnership with us

19:14

on this podcast If you

19:16

go to life audio calm, you'll find

19:18

dozens of other faith centered podcasts in

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their network They've got shows about

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and more Hello, my

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name is Rachel Carmen and I want to invite

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you to come over and listen to my podcast

19:32

It's called real refreshment for

19:35

years and years as a young mother I

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chased after the wind thinking that the

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world could offer me the refreshment I

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longed for but it was

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only when I discovered it in the

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person of Jesus Christ that I really

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found refreshment Come on over

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