If you follow me on facebook or instagram, you may (or may not) have noticed I’ve been sharing verses from Psalm 119 lately. I started nearly a month ago, just posting one verse, each day I think of it, only missing a couple days. It’s been a small way for me to remember to look at each of these verses in a slow, bite sized way (in addition to my usual daily bible reading).
“my Soul Melteth For Heaviness…”
One of the verses I shared last week was Psalm 119:28, “My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.” I can’t think of a better word picture than this as to how my soul has been feeling in the midst of all the crazy, and all the uncertainty and all ‘heavy’ stuff we’ve all had to deal with on one level or another. My soul has been melting under the weight of it all.
But the second part of that verse shows where the Hope lies; we can find strength in the word!
The Importance of The Word
Davy was not the first to discover this, and many people know this fact, but he was the first one to point it out to me. That Psalm chapter 119, famous for being the longest book of the Bible (with 176 total verses), is actually a novelty for another reason, too. Within this collection of verses, there are only a small handful (I want to say less than 5, but don’t quote me) that DO NOT mention the Word of God in some form.
Meaning, nearly every single verse in this chapter mentions obeying the Word, with synonyms like; ‘law’, ‘precepts’, ‘judgements’, ‘commandments’, ‘statues’, ‘testimonies’, ‘word’. That is approximately 170 verses, one right after the other, describing just how much the author desires to obey God’s words, learn from His precepts, be corrected by His judgements, trust completely in His statues and testimonies, and asks for strength to comply with His law and commandments.
What Do I Value?
Do I have that same intensity of desire to know and value the Words of God? I don’t know that my attention span is long enough to write down 170+ sentences saying the same thing in a slightly different way. I am so easily distracted after one single prayer, or reading one portion of my Bible. I am swayed away by passing fancy and shifting circumstances.
I wonder, why would God put a chapter like that in the bible for us to read? The author is just repeating himself over, and over, and over. He could have just said once and for all, “Help me understand your law, because it’s super, duper, important”. But he didn’t. He offers the repetition that we should also emulate.
As C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity, “We must be continually reminded of what we believe.”
And in a world where there are endless distractions and every second there are notifications and calls and emails and news and Netflix all vying for our attention; it seems all the more important to make sure we have healthy habits that are daily reminding us of what is True.
conclusion
I am preaching to myself right now. These days with all the stress of the politicizing of EVERYTHING… I am struggling to stay afloat in the sea of endless information. What is hype? What is real? What is fact? What is fabricated? What is believable? What is right?
At the end of rope with it all I want to remind myself, and you, just like the author of Psalm 119 reminded himself; God’s word is the only reliable information. It is the only truth. It is the only fact. It is believable and worthy of being shared. In fact, it is the only thing I can share and trust the Source entirely.
So when we are overwhelmed this week, when we want to rant and kick and scream on fb and spout off with opinions from sources no one can agree on… Let’s rant to God, be renewed with a read through His word, and remember that that is the only source for Truth we can completely rely on. Rest in knowing that all we need to know, God has preserved in His word (the Bible) for us. For doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness.
Keep looking up, Christian.
Blessings in Christ – Kerry
