Psalm 119 Bible Study

Twitter

2009-07-04T07:11:00.005-04:00

Until I find more to post here

you can keep up with my

PastorBill3rd Twitter page

which is now in the margin

of this blog site.

I mostly Tweet Bible verses and about Christian living.

SOON.... hopefully more posts

2009-03-07T22:45:00.005-05:00

Recently I was able to purchase with a friends help;
a refurbished computer which is like new.
Now that I have a faster computer (old one was slow & locked up a lot) I hope to be posting more.
I hope to be able to post more in this blog, my other blogs and in my Yahoo groups.

Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch Ministries

2008-05-07T15:59:00.002-04:00

Our main website is

Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch Ministries

if you have not visited yet,

please check our website out.

Sincerely in Christ,
internet Pastor Bill

Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch Ministries
www.ezekiel37biblewatch.faithweb.com

Psalm 119 Part 5 Verses 33-40

2007-10-21T05:15:00.000-04:00

Psalm 119 Part 5
Verses 33-40

In the Acrostic this section begins with
HE the fifth letter in the Hebrew alphabet.

33 ¶ Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes;
and I shall keep it unto the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law;
yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
35 ¶ Make me to go in the path of thy commandments;
for therein do I delight.
36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
37 ¶ Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;
and quicken thou me in thy way.
38 ¶ Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
39 ¶ Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
40 ¶ Behold, I have longed after thy precepts:
quicken me in thy righteousness.

I have just noticed that most of these verses has a request and a statement towards God.
Often times in this Psalm that pattern is followed
but this section seems to me to be the first section
that most of the verses has BOTH a request
and a statement within each verse.
It's like the Psalmist knew he could not live for the Lord God,
the way he desired without God's help.
That is true of us today we could not live for God without the Holy Spirit's help.

Let's break the verses down into requests and statements:

Requests:
33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes
34 Give me understanding
35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments
36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;
and quicken thou me in thy way.
38 Stablish thy word unto thy servant
39 Turn away my reproach which I fear
40 ... quicken me in thy righteousness.

Statements the Psalmist made towards God.
33 ...the way thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.
34 ...and I shall keep thy law; yea,
I shall observe it with my whole heart.
35 ...the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.
38 ...thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
39 ...for thy judgments are good.
40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts

The Statements are a combination of facts, he knows about God
and pledges, promises he made with God.
You could even say they were a Heart Covenant with God.
But there were more Requests made to God then Statements
because without the Lord's help, none of us can live Holy for him,
and especially not with our whole heart.

The next 2 paragraphs:
I had previously begun to touch upon in answer to a question.

In the Old Testament they had to obey the 10 Commandments.
In a sense they are external laws from God, of what actions not to do.
But Jesus and the New Testament goes to the root of things, to our heart.
Not only are we not supposed to murder we are also commanded not to hate.
Not only are we not supposed to steal, we are commanded to not even covet.
This one about not coveting is mentioned not only in the New Testament
but is also in the Old Testament.
Not only are we not supposed to commit adultery,
we are also commanded to not even lust.

God knew that humans sin in their heart so even in the Old Testament;
once He spelled out His Laws for His people, He began to instruct about the heart condition
in the Old Testament foreshadowing Jesus' teaching
and the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of us
bringing us the presence of God into our inner most being.

Psalms were written as songs to be sung.
Sometimes they were songs of Praise
and sometimes they were Prayerful songs.
Psalm 119 is mostly an instructional song to learn of God's Word
but this section could literally be prayed.

Watch:

Dear Heavenly Father,
Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes;
and I shall keep it unto the end.
Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law;
yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Make me to go in the path of thy commandments;
for therein do I delight.
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;
and quicken thou me in thy way.
Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
Behold, I have longed after thy precepts:
quicken me in thy righteousness.
We ask this, In the Name of Jesus.
Amen.

Pray the above prayer with sincerity and God WILL answer it.
It is a prayer based on His Word so He will help you live for Him.

May you be blessed as you grow in God's Word!

Psalm 119 Part 4 (Verses 25-32)

2007-09-03T13:00:00.000-04:00

Psalm 119 Part 4 (Verses 25-32)

In the Acrostic this section begins with DALETH the fourth letter in
the Hebrew alphabet.
For more on Acrostics see
"Pre-Introduction" Lessons through "Intro & Lesson 1" ...

25 ¶ DALETH.
My soul cleaveth unto the dust:
quicken thou me according to thy word.
26 ¶ I have declared my ways,
and thou heardest me:
teach me thy statutes.
27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts:
so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
28 ¶ My soul melteth for heaviness:
strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
29 Remove from me the way of lying:
and grant me thy law graciously.
30 ¶ I have chosen the way of truth:
thy judgments have I laid before me.
31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies:
O LORD, put me not to shame.
32 I will run the way of thy commandments,
when thou shalt enlarge my heart.

Psalm 119:25
My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.

Ps 119:28
My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.

I put verse 25 & 28 together because they have similar thoughts.

When our soul is discouraged we need to go to His Word for Strength
and ask God to quicken us by His Holy Spirit.
We need to ask God to comfort us with His Comforter, the Holy Spirit.
Nine times in this Psalm the Psalmist prays for the Lord God to quicken him.
The Psalmist asks to be quickened,
according to God's Word
in the Lord's Way
in God's Righteousness
after God's Lovingkindness
according to God's Judgements.

Psalm 119:26-27
I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.
Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy
wondrous works.

When we declare the Lord's ways whether it is ministering behind the
pulpit the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or sharing the Gospel of Jesus
Christ in our everyday life, or sharing through the internet, God
hears us and teaches us in His statutes, makes us understand His
precepts so we can continue to speak of His wondrous works.
A transformed life through the saving power of Jesus Christ is His
wondrous work.
Most in this group, maybe all have at one time or another experienced
Jesus healing touch which is His wondrous works revealed to us.
God's creation are also His wondrous works.

Psalm 119:29-30
Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.
I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.

When we are honest and choose the Way of Truth God grants His law to
us graciously. We find truth two ways:
1. Through God's Word, the Holy Bible
2. Through Jesus.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

Psalm 119:31-32 I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not
to shame. I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt
enlarge my heart.

When we stick to God's testimonies, His Word and testify of the
goodness He has done for us, he will not allow us to be ashamed.

Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come
upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Also, God has promised us His Holy Spirit to give us power when we
receive the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost will enlarge our hearts to
obey His commandments, not in a legalistic sense, not on hearts of
stone, but on hearts of flesh because His Holy Spirit will have put
God's law in our hearts to obey from our hearts.

This is back to the point of "want-to" and not "have-to".
The Holy Spirit dwelling in us helps us to "want-to" obey God's Word!

May you be blessed as you grow in God's Word!
Have a blessed and wonderful week.

Sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Bill

Psalm 119 Part 3 (Verses17-24)

2007-09-01T18:31:00.000-04:00

Psalm 119 Part 3
( Verses17-24 )

Psalm 119 is an Alphabetical Acrostic in which each section of 8
verses starts with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet and then the next 8
verses start with the next Hebrew letter in that alphabet.

Verses 17-24
begin with GIMEL the third letter in the Hebrew alphabet.
This section of 8 verses is about spiritual enlightenment
of God Himself, the Psalmist's relationship with God,
and God's judgment upon the proud and erring sinners.

17 ¶ Deal bountifully with thy servant,
that I may live, and keep thy word.
18 ¶ Open thou mine eyes,
that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
19 ¶ I am a stranger in the earth:
hide not thy commandments from me.
20 ¶ My soul breaketh for the longing
that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
21 ¶ Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed,
which do err from thy commandments.
22 ¶ Remove from me reproach and contempt;
for I have kept thy testimonies.
23 ¶ Princes also did sit and speak against me:
but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
24 ¶ Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.

Now for the verse by verse expository.
17 ¶ Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.
God does deal with us bountifully, especially since as believers we
are heirs and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

18 ¶ Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
When we repent of our sins and believe in Christ, our spiritual eyes
are opened to the wondrous things of God.

19 ¶ I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.
A cross-reference is Psalm 39:12 and states that we are strangers and sojourners.
Hebrews 11 tells us that those that died in faith were strangers and
pilgrims seeking a better country, a heavenly country.
This should also be true of us, that we are looking forward to our
heavenly home to the point that we are strangers to the world's ways.

20 ¶ My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
Our heart should have such intense desires for the Lord's ways that
our heart breaks for God's ways and judgments.

21 ¶ Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.
22 ¶ Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.
23 ¶ Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.

We see here God's judgment upon the proud and erring sinners, and
that the Psalmist knows God justifies those that serve Him.
Now of course under grace if the proud and erring, believe in Jesus
Christ, humble themselves with repentance, God will reveal His mercy
and grace.

24 ¶ Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.
The testimonies of God, the Word of God, are filled with promises to us believers,
of course God's testimonies are our delight.

Delight thyself also in the LORD;
and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Psalm 37:4

May you delight in the Lord's presence as you worship our
Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ and be blessed in His presence.
Amen!

Though I am not asking questions;
please comment on my lessons or pick what verse
stands out most to you and comment on that verse.

Treasure God's Word

2007-08-06T17:44:00.000-04:00

Psalm 119:11 Lesson 2B

Treasure God's Word

"Thy Word have I hidden in mine heart,
that I might not sin against thee" - Psalm 119:11

I love the Psalms! Amongst the many great Psalms,
I really enjoy Psalm 119.
What a powerful Psalm EXALTING THE WORD OF GOD!

Today, I would like us to briefly look at Psalm 119:11.
Let's break down this wonderful verse.

"THY WORD" - It is God's Word, not man's word, let us remember that.
It is God's word that makes a difference in our lives!

"HAVE I HIDDEN IN MINE HEART" - Hidden also means "lay up"
or "treasured". I must individually hide/lay up/treasure God's Word in
my heart. No one else can hide it/lay up/ treasure it into my heart.
I MUST DO IT!

Do you treasure God's Word?

Do you want to hide it away (treasure it) in the depths of your heart?

The heart is the innermost part of man. Don't hide it in your mind, or
your intellect...hide/treasure it in YOUR HEART!

We should all pray this,
"O, Lord, may Your Word be treasured in my heart!"

Matthew Henry reiterates this thought so wonderfully in the following
quote:
"God's word is a treasure worth laying up, and there is no laying it up safely but in our hearts; if we have it only in our houses and hands, enemies may take it from us; if only in our heads, our memories may fail us: but if our hearts be delivered into the mould of it, and the impressions of it remain on our souls,
it is safe."

"THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST THEE" - Sin also means miss the mark,
to go wrong. When God's word is treasured away in our heart,
it will help us to not sin. Sinning against man (i.e., wife, husband, brother,
sister, church member, etc.) is bad, but you need to see that,
more than all else, SIN is AGAINST GOD!
So one thing that will help you to not SIN against God
is to treasure the Word in your HEART.

Matthew Henry reiterates this thought so wonderfully in the following
quote:
"That I might not sin against thee.
Good men are afraid of sin, and are in care to prevent it; and the
most effectual way to prevent it, is to hide God's word in our hearts,
that we may answer every temptation, as our Master did, with,
It is written....."

Closing Devotional Thought:
"I have NEVER met a Christian who had too much of God's Word
in his HEART, that's IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Get FULL of God's Word, it will make a difference!"

><>'�*~.,.~*�*~.,.~*+<��>+*~.,.~*�*~.,.~*�'<><

To visit BibleFood Devotional (Jim) MAIN SITE go to: www.Biblefood.ORG

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A while back, I received the above devotional
"Treasure God's Word" on Psalm 119:11
in my E-mail from my brother, Pastor Jim Mazzulla.
Since we are doing lessons on Psalm 119,
I decided to include Pastor Jim's devotional
"Treasure God's Word".

Pastor Jim is currently pastoring in Pennsylvania.
Along with his website, Pastor Jim e-mails
Biblefood devotions to subscribers.

Sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Bill

Lesson 2 Psalm 119:9-16

2007-08-06T17:28:00.001-04:00

Psalm 119:9-16
These verses in the Acrostic start with the Hebrew letter BETH.

9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?
taking heed thereto according to thy word.
10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
12 Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
(KJV)

This week in these verses we will look at some of the things that this section tells us God's Word, the Holy Bible does.

The Word Cleanses(9) and helps us to not wander(10) when we learn and obey it.
This ties in with verse 11 where the Psalmist realizes when hiding the Word in his/her heart, that will give the guidance to avoid sinning against God.

Verses 12-16 we see the Psalmist allowing the Lord to teach us and delighting in His statutes(laws), while rejoicing in His testimonies.
The Psalmist declaring God's judgments, respects the Lord's Ways,
meditates in His precepts and will not forget God's Word.

Statutes, judgments, testimonies, "thy ways", precepts, and "thy Word" are all ways of saying God's Holy Word, The Bible and His ways for us.

So to summarize if we even just TRY to practice Psalm 119 verses 9 through 16 then surely we will begin to grow spiritually and become a stronger Christian.
The Holy Spirit honors God's Word so if you are obeying The Word of God, He too will help you grow in these areas.

May you be blessed as you grow in God's Word!

Psalm 119 - Intro & Part 1

2007-07-25T06:04:00.000-04:00

I will share one section at a time of Psalm 119
to emphasize the importance of God's Word until
we go through the whole Psalm.


*******************************************************************



PSALM 119  Introduction

ACROSTIC
A literary device by which sets of letters
(such as the first or last letters of a line)
are taken in order to form a word, phrase,
or a regular sequence of letters of the alphabet.
The ancient Hebrews realized the importance of words
and various literary devices such as puns, allusions,
and acrostics.
The best example of an acrostic in the Bible is 
Psalm 119 and Psalm 34,
both based on the Hebrew alphabet of 22 letters,
from Aleph to Tau ("A" to "Z").
This Psalm has 176 verses--
eight verses for each of the 22 Hebrew letters.

In the original Hebrew
(Psalm 119 verses 1-6) begin with ALEPH;
(verses 9-16) begin with BETH;
(verses17-24) begin with GIMEL; and so forth.
Parts of Psalms,9,10,25,37, 111, 112  and 145
and Lamentations 1-4 are also acrostic --
as are the last 22 verses of the book of Proverbs,
which contain a description of a virtuous wife.

(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
(Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

***********************************************************

Examples of Acrostics are:
1. God's
Riches
At
Christ's
Expense

2. Jesus
Others
Yourself

In #1 the first letter of each word spells out Grace.
In #2 the first letter of each word spells out Joy.

Psalm 119 is an Acrostic using the Hebrew
alphabet as earlier stated on this page.

********************************************************************

Part 1

ALEPH
[AH lef]-- the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet,
used as a heading over Psalm 119:1-8.
In the original Hebrew language,
each line of these eight verses
began with the letter aleph.
Also see ACROSTIC.
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
(Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

************************************************

Psalm 119:1-8
Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they that keep His testimonies,
and that seek him with the whole heart.
They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect
unto all thy commandments.
I will praise thee with uprightness of heart,
when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
(KJV)

*********************************************************

The way, the law of the Lord, His ways, precepts,
statutes, commandments and righteous judgements are
all synonyms for God's Word, and God's Ways of the
Holy Scriptures found in this section of Psalm 119.
With so many synonyms for God's word found in this
Psalm, in my opinion, no other Psalm or
other chapter in the whole Bible emphasizes
God's Word as strongly as Psalm 119.

Added thought:
It has been correctly pointed out that this Psalm
is talking about the Commandments under the law.
Though that is the primasry reason
when we talk about God's Ways,
God's righteousness, God's judgements etc.
can also be applied to God's Word in general
including the teachings of Jesus Christ
and the instructions the Apostles gave us
in the Epistles. So in that way Psalm 119
does have modern day application for us
Christians under the age of grace.



Sincerely in Christ,
internet Pastor Bill

Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch
http://www.Ezekiel37BibleWatch.faithweb.com

Ezekiel's Prayer Warriors
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EzekielsPrayerWarriors

More Pre-introduction (significance of 8)

2007-06-07T20:08:00.000-04:00

There are 8 verses in each section of Psalm 119 and my friend Brother Ray had shared the significance of 8.

Yes, I would have expected you as a Pastor to have more insight into the Preaching part of this Psalm. Very good!! I like that acrostic you made of the word JOY, and then that Simple Sermon of the 1. 2. 3. You brought meaning and purpose to the acrostic! I'm glad LeeAnna enjoyed this as well.

A couple morenotes on this, is the number "8", which is the number of verses included foreach letter. As we all know, 8 in music is an octave. Each note has the exact tone of the previous and post octaves notes, but only at different pitches. (David was known as 'The Sweet Psalmist of Israel'). So, this being a 'Psalm', it is based as you said Bro Bill on music and poetry. But additionally, each number in scripture has some spiritual significance. Eight is the number for Resurrection or New Life. It's a new beginning. In Hebrew and Greek, the ancients used the letters of their alphabet as numbers also. EW Bullinger wrote the book, "Number in Scripture" and talks about the numbers there. One easy example is God making the world in 7 days, and the 8th day was a new beginning, or a new week. Jesus rose from the dead on that day. What was it that God created on the first day of creation? "LIGHT"! Jesus is the Octave of that first Light! Also, in Israel, the day begins with evening and then day, not as we do with midnight and sandwich the day between two nights. At the end of each creation day, it says that there was "Evening and Morning". I think that the reason for this is that the misery and sorrow of the night of this world comes first, and then the morning brings the Joy of Eternal Bliss. We are still in that nighttime of the world, spiritually speaking. If we calculate Jesus name in Greek it works out to the number 888, whereas the antichrist comes to 666, just short of perfection of "7". Thus I believe God used each letter 8 times in this Psalm. In Dispensationalism, we believe that God used the first week of Creation as a type for the history ofmankind, since he spoke through Moses that to God a "Day is as a thousandyears".

So, there will be 7,000 years to human history, but, after that begins the new octave Morning of Eternity. Morning of Eternity, not Day of Eternity. God called the "LIGHT" Day and the Darkness Night, but "There was Evening and there was Morning, Day One". I think the reason for this is that it has no end and will be morning eternally, and will no longer progress to nighttime.
JESUS Himself is The Day!
Oh the unsearchable riches of the wisdom and knowledge of GOD! This God is our God!!! Maranatha!
RayG

Pre-introduction

2007-06-07T19:35:00.000-04:00

In the Teach us Your Word Lord goup I am teaching On Psalm 119 currently.
You may join that group if you would like to participate or just study everybody's comments on the Bible study.

When I announced that I was going to do a study on Psalm 119 comments about the psalm were already being posted.
Here is one of them and then my reply is afterwards.

- In TeachusYourWordLord@yahoogroups.com, Ray Gunn
wrote:

>
> A great Psalm Pastor Bill. In case you didn't know, Psalm 119 is
built on the 22 letters of the alphabet, or aleph-bet to the Hebrews.
In other words, every verse begins with a different letter of the
Hebrew aleph-bet beginning with Aleph the first letter through Tav the
last letter. There are 176 verses in Psalm 119 and every 8 verses
begins with that letter of the aleph-bet. The first 8 verses all begin
with the letter aleph, the next 8 verses 9-16 begin with bet, the next
8 verses begin with gimel etc until the last 8 verses all begin with
tav. This isn't the only book of the Bible that does this either.
Lamentations is built on much the same principle. Other portions of
scripture do this to some extent also. I think God is trying to show
us that The Word is everything to life, and Jesus is The WORD.
Communication in other words, is foundational to existence. What kind
of life would it be if noone could communicate? Women are better at
this than men too, and that is> another subject worth exploring.
Should be a good study!
RayG

My reply:

Yes, I knew that about every 8 letters being another letter of the
Hebrew alphabet starting with aleph.
That will be somewhere in my intorductory lessons.

In fact since Psalms are poetic, they have a form of poetry and
acrostics/acronyms are one form of poetry.
An acronym is where a word also forms another thought like:
Joy =
Jesus
Others
Yourself

That is an acrostic for a simple sermon about
1. putting Jesus first,
2. then serving Others in ministry and
3. finally taking care of Yourself in relationship with Jesus.

So Psalm 119 is like an alphabetic acronym.

But thanks for posting that.
It is an excellent pre-introduction to our series on Psalm 119.

Brother Ray, that was an excellent added thought about communication.
Jesus is the Word as you said.
Communication is key for all societies to develop and succeed
including God's Kingdom.

Anybody else like to comment about God's Word being a blessing to you?

Sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Bill
TeachusYourWordLord