BRF - Psalm 119

My first thoughts on this Book were of Praise, Prayer and the importance of the Word of God for my everyday life. Words like "teach me" and "help me to understand" are used repeatedly. I will try to pick out a couple of things that affected me the most in this chapter as one review would not do justice.

So often I forget to rely on my Lord and things don't go very well. Right from the start this Psalm says if I "walk in the law of the Lord","keep His testimonies, and seek Him with my whole heart" I will be blessed. David continually seeks the Lord in times of trouble and praises Him in all his situations. O, that i could say that when I am faced with difficulties or sorrow, my first thought was to flee to the comfort and help of the One who is the great Comforter. I have a long way to go in this area I am afraid. I know in my heart that God makes no mistakes and He knows what is best for me to bring me to a place of trusting Him fully and not my own self, so why is He my last resource?!!!

David talks about hiding God's Word in his heart in verse 11, I am so thankful that when I first became a Christian that my Pastor encouraged a Scripture Memory Program in my church. I can not count the times God has brought to mind a verse of Scripture that I needed for a difficult or sorrowful time in my life. To me memorization and meditating on God's Word are so very important for our lives. In Canada we take God's Word for granted. We can pick up our Bible(S) any time, I think we would be able to understand the importance of "hiding" the Word of God in our hearts if we were to be in a country where the Word of God is not readily available. OK enough of how I feel now back to the review.

Verse 18 David asks God to, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law". This is a prayer that I often pray when I don't understand something I am reading. I want to know and apply God's Word to my life. I know that if David, who was called a man after God's own heart, had to ask God to "....teach me thy statutes.Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works" Verses 26,27, how much more do I need the Lord to teach me. I'm so happy that He doesn't give up on me but as His Word says,"Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" Philippines 1:6..

In verse 67 David says, "Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word". and in verse 71 he says "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes". It amazes me how often I find myself in situations that cause me to be afflicted before the Lord has my attention. I wonder when I will ever learn. The Lord is so merciful and long suffering.

This last verse to comment on and that I would like to be true in my life is verse 165 "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them".

I know that there is much more to learn from this chapter but I will end this review for this time and maybe we will come back to this chapter at a later date. So very much to learn!

Until nest time, keep trusting our Lord! Maybe I will even surprise you all and have my review submitted on time. Thank you Shannon for not giving out a penalty for late submissions:)