Psalm 119, and repetition of praise

Psalm 119 is fascinating, in part due to its length. (It's the longest chapter in the Bible!)

As one reads through Psalm 119, a striking feature is its repetition. Nearly every verse praises God's commandments --  using synonyms like "statutes," "laws," "testimonies," "judgments," etc. --  and expresses the joy inherent in obeying them.

And that continues for 176 verses! Do we really need the same point made that many times?

Of course we do! Even the Bible's most faithful characters, from David to Peter, suffered embarrassing lapses into doubt and sin. And if those great figures can succumb to earthly behaviors, how much worse must we be! To counter our earthly tendencies, we must engage is repeated and frequent praise.

The beauty of Psalm 119 is that each of its 176 verses is relatively self-contained, meaning you can read just a verse and come away with the main message of the Psalm. But then we tend to forget that message. So return to Psalm 119, find another verse, and refresh that message. And then do that continually, and we're getting close to praying without ceasing!

"Scarcely be saved"

The Bible speaks repeatedly of our need to "fear" God. For example, Psalm 2:11 (KJV) reads,

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

This idea of "fearing" God can feel uncomfortable and disconcerting, but that's exactly how it should make us feel. After all, the Bible also advises against finding ourselves at ease, because that sort of comfort tends to breed spiritual stagnation.

But perhaps more than anything, a proper sense of spiritual fear helps to humble us before God. Consider Peter's comment (1 Peter 4:18, KJV),

And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Focus especially on the part before the comma. The righteous shall "scarcely be saved"??? That should really instill in us a sense of fear, especially because none of us is righteous!

Peter's line highlights why we should fear God's power, which then should lead us toward spiritual humility. Simply put, nothing else matters besides God's salvation, which we don't deserve, and which we only scarcely possess through our shaky faith.

Paperback bible from SermonAudio

I stumbled across an interesting project from SermonAudio.com. The website now has a "paperback bible," where users can download PDF files of the King Jame Bible for free. Of course, the Internet already has many free PDF Bibles, but this "paperback bible" offers a few advantages:

• Users can download individual books.
• The files include wide margins, complete with lines for note taking.
• The format is in "paragraph form," rather than one-verse-per-line form.
• No distracting footnotes or cross references.

What that means is that, whereas many Bible readers hesitate to write notes in their nice leather-bound Bibles, these files are perfect for underlining, highlighting, or otherwise marking up Bible passages. As with any learning experience, such note taking activity can help stay engaged while studying parts of the Bible.

A painful, indicting verse

In Luke 6:46 (KJV), Jesus poses a question that should make us feel shame and guilt. That verse reads,

Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Note that this verse is directed at people who call out to him -- that is, people who pray! This is an uncomfortable verse, and one that calls for much painful reflection. It's a verse that harkens back to the topic of praying without blemish.

Most importantly, this is a verse that should humble us, and make us realize our dependency on God's righteousness, rather than our own perceived righteousness.

Focusing on today

Many self-help type philosophies emphasize focusing on today, rather than worrying about the future. But that concept also has spiritual roots put forth in the Bible. For example, Proverbs 27:1 (KJV) reads,

Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

And James 4:13-17 (KJV) expands upon this idea,

Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow ... For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

This is simple advice, yet difficult to put into practice. Perhaps a good place to start is Psalm 118:24 (KJV),

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

This is a short, easy-to-memorize verse. Let us use that as our anchor as we aim to focus on today.