August 14, 2024 • 17 mins
Feeling disconnected from God or your faith? Struggling to find time for spiritual growth? New to faith or curious about the Bible? This episode on Psalm 119:89-96 offers a refreshing perspective on how to reconnect with God’s eternal Word and find lasting peace.
In today's episode, we dive into Psalm 119, verses 89 to 96 - and learn some Hebrew too! This special section of the longest chapter in the Bible teaches us how to let God's Word dwell richly in us. Together, we'll explore the deep significance of these verses and discover how they can move us to action and closer to God.
Read the Blog post: "The Power of Delight" here.
Also, keep an eye out for our upcoming series, "So Glad You Asked," where we'll tackle your burning questions about the Bible and life. Submit your questions through the link below, and let's dive deeper together. Thanks for being part of this amazing community.
See below...
If you'd like to read the Hebrew/English version...https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26b9.htm
Look for new Episodes Wednesdays and Saturdays. Listen to the Dwelling Richly podcast on YouTube, Apple, Spotify - your favorite app! Sharing, liking, commenting is a free and easy way for you to help me grow this ministry. I don't charge for any content, don't use any ads - so any organic interactions are really helpful. Thank you!
Dwelling in the Word and letting the Word dwell in us richly is different than reading the Bible or reading a devotional with Bible passages. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly and return the favor by dwelling in the Word - not "doing" Bible study, not simply reading - but moving into the Word with heart, soul, mind, and strength. It's being intentional in making a shift from treating the Word of God like a self-help book to letting it dwell in us as the living Word of God that it is.
Growing Deeper...- (1) Read and Reflect: Reread this Psalm and make note of opposites and similarities.
- (2) Pray for Understanding: Ask God for wisdom and understanding as you study His word.
- (3) Memorize Scripture: Commit to memory key verses from Psalm 119 to strengthen your faith.
- (4) Scripture Journal: Start a journal to write down key verses, personal reflections, and prayers related to your Bible reading.
I'm working on a new series! "So Glad You Asked" which will take your questions about the Bible, living the Christian life, dealing with difficult situations/people/life issues, ...really anything on your mind and I'll share my thoughts and responses. I'd love to hear from you. No question is off-limits - Submit questions about this or any topic to DwellingRichly@gmail.com or https://www.jennifergrichmond.com/podcast/#question
Share with others and thanks for saying Hi! Leave a Comment ⤵
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey, welcome back. This is Jennifer, and this is the Drilling Richly podcast.
We are continuing in our summer series of how to study the Bible.
And in today's episode, we're going to be covering Psalm 119, verses 89 to 96.
It's the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet past the middle mark,
but it's considered the middle of the Hebrew alphabet for a variety of reasons,
(00:24):
which we will not go into in today's podcast,
but our focus of this podcast has been how to study the Bible.
And we've gone through several books of the Bible, and now we're in this big,
huge chapter, which feels like a book of the Bible.
And we are allowing this particular chapter to teach us how to better be dwelling
(00:47):
in God's Word, to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly,
and then we return the favor by not just doing Bible study, not just reading the Word,
but to really dwell in the Word as it dwells richly in us.
And so I'm glad you're here with me today. I'm excited to get into this particular one.
It was kind of a hard one for me to get started on only because I was just doing
(01:08):
so many deep dives into this particular passage.
So at a certain point, you just say, you know what, I'm just going to go ahead
and record this podcast and get on with things and just enjoy this time together with you.
Again, thank you for joining in. I've always loved being a part of this with
you. If you're joining for the very first time, hello and hi.
And if you're a regular here listening to this podcast, hello and hi.
(01:30):
I platform this on several different places.
So if you're listening on YouTube or Spotify, maybe you're listening on Audible,
maybe you're in iTunes, maybe you're right here on Podbean, which is where I
record my main platform for this.
Wherever you are, Say hi, drop a comment, and let me know you're here.
I always appreciate the feedback.
In fact, speaking of feedback, I'm working on a new series that will be coming out.
(01:54):
Not sure when, but I'll collect some information and get that out to you soon.
But a new series called So Glad You Asked, and the idea of that one is to answer
questions about the Bible and life and how life connects to the Bible.
And when we come up against challenges, things we don't understand,
oftentimes I'll hear from you, and you'll ask a great question and I'll add that to my list.
(02:16):
If you have a question, if something comes up in conversation.
Something comes up in your own personal Bible study and you're curious about
my thoughts on that or just want to dig in there with me a bit, let me know.
Submit that question. I'll leave you the link in the bottom of this podcast here.
And I have a place on my website where you can go and submit a question.
(02:38):
And then I'll get back to you. And maybe I'll include that in the podcast in
the future episode. So thank you for thinking about doing that as well.
And let's go ahead and get into
God's word. Again, we're in Psalm 119 and we'll be in verses 89 to 96.
I'm going to read today again from the English Standard Version.
And we'll use a couple other versions of the Bible to help give us some clarity
(03:00):
of that. So if you're following along, New International Version is great.
New American Standard Bible is great. Also going to read a little bit or kind
of refer to the Good News Translation.
That's a great kind of a lighter, more of a paraphrase of the Bible, but it's a helpful one.
So let's go ahead and read. I'll read from English Standard Version.
(03:20):
We're going to go straight through. Grab your Bible. Read it with me from whatever
translation you're using.
And then we're going to go back through. I'm going to talk a little bit about
this particular chunk of scripture and how it helps us to better study the Bible.
Psalm 119, 89 to 104.
Forever, O Lord. Oh, not to 104. I'm sorry. I had both sections queued up.
(03:42):
This is 89 to 96. All right, here we go.
Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations. You have established the earth, and it stands fast.
By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants.
(04:03):
If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.
I am yours, save me, for I have sought your precepts.
The wicked lie in wait to destroy me but i consider your testimonies i have
(04:27):
set a limit to all i have seen a limit to all perfection but your commandment is exceedingly broad,
wow do i say wow after every passage i think i do say wow um it's just they're
just so beautiful and so it's such great reminders and maybe you can understand
why it took me a while to organize my thoughts and get this particular episode out.
(04:49):
So let's go ahead, and I want to talk a bit about this particular chunk of Psalm 119.
This section is from the letter Lamed.
It's the 12th, as we count forward in the alphabet.
You know, there's 22 letters organized in the Hebrew alphabet.
(05:09):
This is number 12. And so that puts it to the right, moving forward of the halfway mark.
But in Hebrew, in the Hebrew teaching and Hebrew understanding,
Lamed is actually considered to be.
The middle of the letter, so it's very unique in that the letter Lamed itself is the tallest letter.
(05:35):
If you want to go and look up the way that the letter Lamed is written,
because you can't really see that it's the tallest letter, even when you're
reading, if your Bible notices and writes it out like the NIV will write the letter Lamed.
But it actually goes up above the
the line and what's interesting about
(05:56):
that the understanding the Hebrew of that is
that it's the tallest letter it's the only
letter that goes above that baseline it's the 12th letter like I said but it's
actually considered the middle or the central letter or the heart of the Hebrew
alphabet it's pretty cool how the alphabet is split right there at Lamed and
(06:18):
and that's considered the heart of it.
And because it kind of towers up and above over the other letters,
it really visually, if you write it all out, creates the center position of the alphabet.
And in Hebrew thought, it represents, I'll say it in Hebrew,
then I'll say it in English, it represents the melek ha-melekin, the king of kings.
(06:43):
And the idea of that is supported by the letter right before it.
Is the idea of the throne of glory, and the letter after that stands for the kingdom.
So the people writing, the wise commentators, the older commentators of the
Hebrew letters and the alphabet, talk about how those three letters can bring
(07:08):
out the word melek, of king.
And so here we have the mm sound coming after it.
And the kh sound before, like we talked about last time,
the chaf, and then coming up next is mem and so
that those three letters can
remind us of melek the king isn't that
great super cool so the letter lamed
(07:31):
actually the original meaning was probably something to to stick something to
go to something along to smack it and poke it a bit and it reminds us of a shepherd's
staff if you think about the shape of the letter itself it's a kind of referencing
of that shepherd's staff.
But the idea is to move something into action. The Lamed is to move something into action.
(07:53):
And when you take a look at the whole idea of this particular stanza or this chunk of Psalm 119,
everything about this is to move us into action toward God and his law and his
precepts and his commandments.
So let's take a look at that first verse, 89. And in your Bible,
(08:15):
our English Bible, that first word might be forever.
The New American Standard has it as forever.
In the New International, the first word says, your word, O Lord. Okay.
But the actual first letter, the first word in the Hebrew alphabet there is
(08:37):
the word le'olam, le'olam.
And it's the idea of forever, like it's captured here.
And it connects to this idea of the psalm in general, talking about the forever nature of God's word.
So as we go through this, I want us to be looking for the idea of forever and
(08:59):
God's his word being forever.
And I want us to see how that juxtapose or sets us up toward our not being forever.
We are the opposite of that. And so we look to God and his word as steadfast, standing firm,
being faithful, well-established, his law always there, whereas we are prone to perish.
(09:23):
We are prone to not being forever if it weren't for, and David,
the writer, David or Ezra, whoever, says, that's the beauty of your word.
As opposed to me, I could perish, but your word is forever.
So verse 89, forever, O Lord, Yahweh, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
(09:47):
And then verse 90, your faithfulness endures to all generations.
You have established the earth and
it stands fast so the first first
verse your word is established it's firmly fixed and
the earth is established and then by verse 91
it says by your appointment they stand
(10:07):
or according to your ordinances they what's
the they it's his word and it's the
earth they stand to this day
for all things are your servants everything
the word of God is your servant the earth that God created is your servant and
then this beautiful beautiful verse if your law had not been my delight I would
(10:34):
have perished in my affliction and we've seen that word perished
come up through Psalm 119 multiple times.
In fact, this is the third time it's occurred in five times in all of Psalm 119. It's right there.
I would have perished in my affliction if your law had not been my delight.
(10:54):
And then in verse 93, he says, I will never forget your precepts.
Now in the English Standard Version, it says, I will never.
But that word never actually has the same idea as the word forever in back in verse 89.
And so I will never, it actually says in the Hebrew that I will never,
(11:20):
ever forget your precepts. It's really strong.
I will never, ever forget your precepts.
Why would I forget something that has given me life, right?
Why would I forget something that has been the source of complete salvation for me, right?
If your law hadn't been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
(11:40):
And so he says in verse 93, I will never, ever forget your precepts for by you have given me life.
And then in verse 94, I love this complete surrender of this word,
this opening phrase, I am yours. I am yours.
Save me. And that word save me is the word Hosea, Hosea. It's the word we get Jesus name from Yeshua.
(12:07):
I am yours.
Save me. I have sought your precepts. Isn't that a beautiful reminder and something
that can redirect our thoughts today?
Whose am I? I am yours.
Save me, for I have sought your precepts. 95, the wicked, they just lie in wait to destroy me.
(12:27):
The opposite of who Jesus, who God is, who the Lord is, who Yeshua is, who Yahweh is.
The opposite, the wicked, they just lie in wait to destroy.
Not God. He's there to save. so where
where is the the writer's thoughts
here i consider your testimonies that's where
life is found and then he says that in conclusion in
(12:49):
verse 96 i've seen a limit to all perfection everything
else out there there's a limit to it but your commands are boundless they're
exceedingly broad it says in the esv everything else has limits but not you
not your commands your commandment is It's perfect and it has no limits. My life has limits.
(13:10):
Everything else I can see has limits, but not your commands, not your law. So...
As I was going through this psalm and thinking about our approach to the Bible
and how to better study the Bible, and of course, we've talked about this before.
It's not just studying the Bible. It's loving the word. It's delighting in the word.
(13:30):
It's dwelling in the word. All of that is wrapped up in studying the Bible.
How to better study it is to have this as our focus in verse 92,
to really think of it this way. Anyway, if your law, your word,
your testimony, your commandments had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
As we approach the word, I want us to be thinking about it that way.
(13:52):
No matter where you are, you could be reading Genesis, you could be reading
1 John, you could be in any of the Gospels, any corner of the Bible.
Let's approach the word like this. If it wasn't for your word and me delighting
in your word, having complete joy in your word, misery would swallow me up.
(14:13):
I could perish in my affliction.
And the truth is, the reality is we will perish in our affliction if we don't
have delight in God's law.
You see, it's one thing to know God, to know his word. That's great.
But we are invited to delight in his word, to just have so much joy in being in his word.
(14:38):
You know, as I record this podcast here right now, I'm thinking about,
I just came back from a camping trip with my husband where we kayaked up in
through Stanislaus National Forest on a beautiful lake,
Spicer Meadow Reservoir and beauty all around me and just gasping in delight
at all the beauty around me and the the sunrise and the sunset and the trees
(15:02):
and the light shimmering off of the water and the sound of the wind rustling through the trees.
So much light filled me in God's creation and how restoring that was to my soul,
how renewing it was to me. But you know what?
That can and will fade away. That tree will come and go.
(15:24):
The wind will come and go. The waters will come and go. but God's word is always there.
I could perish because of my affliction and my misery, and I can feel swallowed up by it.
But as I approach my study in God's word, I constantly will go back now to this.
My delight will be the source of my joy, and your word will be the source of
(15:48):
my joy. Knowing God's word.
And not just studying the Bible for a mental exercise or a self-discipline,
but really just being in awe and thankful for it.
As much as I'm in awe of sunrises and sunsets and wind blowing through the trees,
being in awe and being so thankful and having so much joy to be in God's Word.
(16:13):
So that's how we approach God's Word. That's how we study it.
We don't just study it to get it done.
We study to delight in it, to ask God to give us that kind of joy that we have.
And to be in touch with the reality that without the truth of God's word that stands forever,
that everything that God created is fixed firmly, including his word,
and that we can delight in it and know our salvation is from God's word that
(16:36):
he has spoken and given to us so lovingly.
So tomorrow we're going to get into this next section that literally starts
off with the love that we have for the law.
And it's just a perfect segue from this portion of delighting in it to the next
portion coming up in our next episode, Mem, the next letter of this Hebrew alphabet.
(16:56):
And so I hope you'll join me for that. And I hope today you'll reread this passage,
and delight in God's word and be satisfied in the joy that we have because of
what he's given us in his word.
I always appreciate you being here with me and thank you for sharing and loving
this podcast and most of all, loving God's word with me as well.
Know as always that you are loved and prayed for and I look forward to being
(17:18):
back here again with you real soon. Bye-bye for now. Thank you.
Hey, welcome back. This is Jennifer, and this is the Drilling Richly podcast.
We are continuing in our summer series of how to study the Bible.
And in today's episode, we're going to be covering Psalm 119, verses 89 to 96.
It's the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet past the middle mark,
but it's considered the middle of the Hebrew alphabet for a variety of reasons,
(00:24):
which we will not go into in today's podcast,
but our focus of this podcast has been how to study the Bible.
And we've gone through several books of the Bible, and now we're in this big,
huge chapter, which feels like a book of the Bible.
And we are allowing this particular chapter to teach us how to better be dwelling
(00:47):
in God's Word, to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly,
and then we return the favor by not just doing Bible study, not just reading the Word,
but to really dwell in the Word as it dwells richly in us.
And so I'm glad you're here with me today. I'm excited to get into this particular one.
It was kind of a hard one for me to get started on only because I was just doing
(01:08):
so many deep dives into this particular passage.
So at a certain point, you just say, you know what, I'm just going to go ahead
and record this podcast and get on with things and just enjoy this time together with you.
Again, thank you for joining in. I've always loved being a part of this with
you. If you're joining for the very first time, hello and hi.
And if you're a regular here listening to this podcast, hello and hi.
(01:30):
I platform this on several different places.
So if you're listening on YouTube or Spotify, maybe you're listening on Audible,
maybe you're in iTunes, maybe you're right here on Podbean, which is where I
record my main platform for this.
Wherever you are, Say hi, drop a comment, and let me know you're here.
I always appreciate the feedback.
In fact, speaking of feedback, I'm working on a new series that will be coming out.
(01:54):
Not sure when, but I'll collect some information and get that out to you soon.
But a new series called So Glad You Asked, and the idea of that one is to answer
questions about the Bible and life and how life connects to the Bible.
And when we come up against challenges, things we don't understand,
oftentimes I'll hear from you, and you'll ask a great question and I'll add that to my list.
(02:16):
If you have a question, if something comes up in conversation.
Something comes up in your own personal Bible study and you're curious about
my thoughts on that or just want to dig in there with me a bit, let me know.
Submit that question. I'll leave you the link in the bottom of this podcast here.
And I have a place on my website where you can go and submit a question.
(02:38):
And then I'll get back to you. And maybe I'll include that in the podcast in
the future episode. So thank you for thinking about doing that as well.
And let's go ahead and get into
God's word. Again, we're in Psalm 119 and we'll be in verses 89 to 96.
I'm going to read today again from the English Standard Version.
And we'll use a couple other versions of the Bible to help give us some clarity
(03:00):
of that. So if you're following along, New International Version is great.
New American Standard Bible is great. Also going to read a little bit or kind
of refer to the Good News Translation.
That's a great kind of a lighter, more of a paraphrase of the Bible, but it's a helpful one.
So let's go ahead and read. I'll read from English Standard Version.
(03:20):
We're going to go straight through. Grab your Bible. Read it with me from whatever
translation you're using.
And then we're going to go back through. I'm going to talk a little bit about
this particular chunk of scripture and how it helps us to better study the Bible.
Psalm 119, 89 to 104.
Forever, O Lord. Oh, not to 104. I'm sorry. I had both sections queued up.
(03:42):
This is 89 to 96. All right, here we go.
Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations. You have established the earth, and it stands fast.
By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants.
(04:03):
If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.
I am yours, save me, for I have sought your precepts.
The wicked lie in wait to destroy me but i consider your testimonies i have
(04:27):
set a limit to all i have seen a limit to all perfection but your commandment is exceedingly broad,
wow do i say wow after every passage i think i do say wow um it's just they're
just so beautiful and so it's such great reminders and maybe you can understand
why it took me a while to organize my thoughts and get this particular episode out.
(04:49):
So let's go ahead, and I want to talk a bit about this particular chunk of Psalm 119.
This section is from the letter Lamed.
It's the 12th, as we count forward in the alphabet.
You know, there's 22 letters organized in the Hebrew alphabet.
(05:09):
This is number 12. And so that puts it to the right, moving forward of the halfway mark.
But in Hebrew, in the Hebrew teaching and Hebrew understanding,
Lamed is actually considered to be.
The middle of the letter, so it's very unique in that the letter Lamed itself is the tallest letter.
(05:35):
If you want to go and look up the way that the letter Lamed is written,
because you can't really see that it's the tallest letter, even when you're
reading, if your Bible notices and writes it out like the NIV will write the letter Lamed.
But it actually goes up above the
the line and what's interesting about
(05:56):
that the understanding the Hebrew of that is
that it's the tallest letter it's the only
letter that goes above that baseline it's the 12th letter like I said but it's
actually considered the middle or the central letter or the heart of the Hebrew
alphabet it's pretty cool how the alphabet is split right there at Lamed and
(06:18):
and that's considered the heart of it.
And because it kind of towers up and above over the other letters,
it really visually, if you write it all out, creates the center position of the alphabet.
And in Hebrew thought, it represents, I'll say it in Hebrew,
then I'll say it in English, it represents the melek ha-melekin, the king of kings.
(06:43):
And the idea of that is supported by the letter right before it.
Is the idea of the throne of glory, and the letter after that stands for the kingdom.
So the people writing, the wise commentators, the older commentators of the
Hebrew letters and the alphabet, talk about how those three letters can bring
(07:08):
out the word melek, of king.
And so here we have the mm sound coming after it.
And the kh sound before, like we talked about last time,
the chaf, and then coming up next is mem and so
that those three letters can
remind us of melek the king isn't that
great super cool so the letter lamed
(07:31):
actually the original meaning was probably something to to stick something to
go to something along to smack it and poke it a bit and it reminds us of a shepherd's
staff if you think about the shape of the letter itself it's a kind of referencing
of that shepherd's staff.
But the idea is to move something into action. The Lamed is to move something into action.
(07:53):
And when you take a look at the whole idea of this particular stanza or this chunk of Psalm 119,
everything about this is to move us into action toward God and his law and his
precepts and his commandments.
So let's take a look at that first verse, 89. And in your Bible,
(08:15):
our English Bible, that first word might be forever.
The New American Standard has it as forever.
In the New International, the first word says, your word, O Lord. Okay.
But the actual first letter, the first word in the Hebrew alphabet there is
(08:37):
the word le'olam, le'olam.
And it's the idea of forever, like it's captured here.
And it connects to this idea of the psalm in general, talking about the forever nature of God's word.
So as we go through this, I want us to be looking for the idea of forever and
(08:59):
God's his word being forever.
And I want us to see how that juxtapose or sets us up toward our not being forever.
We are the opposite of that. And so we look to God and his word as steadfast, standing firm,
being faithful, well-established, his law always there, whereas we are prone to perish.
(09:23):
We are prone to not being forever if it weren't for, and David,
the writer, David or Ezra, whoever, says, that's the beauty of your word.
As opposed to me, I could perish, but your word is forever.
So verse 89, forever, O Lord, Yahweh, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
(09:47):
And then verse 90, your faithfulness endures to all generations.
You have established the earth and
it stands fast so the first first
verse your word is established it's firmly fixed and
the earth is established and then by verse 91
it says by your appointment they stand
(10:07):
or according to your ordinances they what's
the they it's his word and it's the
earth they stand to this day
for all things are your servants everything
the word of God is your servant the earth that God created is your servant and
then this beautiful beautiful verse if your law had not been my delight I would
(10:34):
have perished in my affliction and we've seen that word perished
come up through Psalm 119 multiple times.
In fact, this is the third time it's occurred in five times in all of Psalm 119. It's right there.
I would have perished in my affliction if your law had not been my delight.
(10:54):
And then in verse 93, he says, I will never forget your precepts.
Now in the English Standard Version, it says, I will never.
But that word never actually has the same idea as the word forever in back in verse 89.
And so I will never, it actually says in the Hebrew that I will never,
(11:20):
ever forget your precepts. It's really strong.
I will never, ever forget your precepts.
Why would I forget something that has given me life, right?
Why would I forget something that has been the source of complete salvation for me, right?
If your law hadn't been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
(11:40):
And so he says in verse 93, I will never, ever forget your precepts for by you have given me life.
And then in verse 94, I love this complete surrender of this word,
this opening phrase, I am yours. I am yours.
Save me. And that word save me is the word Hosea, Hosea. It's the word we get Jesus name from Yeshua.
(12:07):
I am yours.
Save me. I have sought your precepts. Isn't that a beautiful reminder and something
that can redirect our thoughts today?
Whose am I? I am yours.
Save me, for I have sought your precepts. 95, the wicked, they just lie in wait to destroy me.
(12:27):
The opposite of who Jesus, who God is, who the Lord is, who Yeshua is, who Yahweh is.
The opposite, the wicked, they just lie in wait to destroy.
Not God. He's there to save. so where
where is the the writer's thoughts
here i consider your testimonies that's where
life is found and then he says that in conclusion in
(12:49):
verse 96 i've seen a limit to all perfection everything
else out there there's a limit to it but your commands are boundless they're
exceedingly broad it says in the esv everything else has limits but not you
not your commands your commandment is It's perfect and it has no limits. My life has limits.
(13:10):
Everything else I can see has limits, but not your commands, not your law. So...
As I was going through this psalm and thinking about our approach to the Bible
and how to better study the Bible, and of course, we've talked about this before.
It's not just studying the Bible. It's loving the word. It's delighting in the word.
(13:30):
It's dwelling in the word. All of that is wrapped up in studying the Bible.
How to better study it is to have this as our focus in verse 92,
to really think of it this way. Anyway, if your law, your word,
your testimony, your commandments had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
As we approach the word, I want us to be thinking about it that way.
(13:52):
No matter where you are, you could be reading Genesis, you could be reading
1 John, you could be in any of the Gospels, any corner of the Bible.
Let's approach the word like this. If it wasn't for your word and me delighting
in your word, having complete joy in your word, misery would swallow me up.
(14:13):
I could perish in my affliction.
And the truth is, the reality is we will perish in our affliction if we don't
have delight in God's law.
You see, it's one thing to know God, to know his word. That's great.
But we are invited to delight in his word, to just have so much joy in being in his word.
(14:38):
You know, as I record this podcast here right now, I'm thinking about,
I just came back from a camping trip with my husband where we kayaked up in
through Stanislaus National Forest on a beautiful lake,
Spicer Meadow Reservoir and beauty all around me and just gasping in delight
at all the beauty around me and the the sunrise and the sunset and the trees
(15:02):
and the light shimmering off of the water and the sound of the wind rustling through the trees.
So much light filled me in God's creation and how restoring that was to my soul,
how renewing it was to me. But you know what?
That can and will fade away. That tree will come and go.
(15:24):
The wind will come and go. The waters will come and go. but God's word is always there.
I could perish because of my affliction and my misery, and I can feel swallowed up by it.
But as I approach my study in God's word, I constantly will go back now to this.
My delight will be the source of my joy, and your word will be the source of
(15:48):
my joy. Knowing God's word.
And not just studying the Bible for a mental exercise or a self-discipline,
but really just being in awe and thankful for it.
As much as I'm in awe of sunrises and sunsets and wind blowing through the trees,
being in awe and being so thankful and having so much joy to be in God's Word.
(16:13):
So that's how we approach God's Word. That's how we study it.
We don't just study it to get it done.
We study to delight in it, to ask God to give us that kind of joy that we have.
And to be in touch with the reality that without the truth of God's word that stands forever,
that everything that God created is fixed firmly, including his word,
and that we can delight in it and know our salvation is from God's word that
(16:36):
he has spoken and given to us so lovingly.
So tomorrow we're going to get into this next section that literally starts
off with the love that we have for the law.
And it's just a perfect segue from this portion of delighting in it to the next
portion coming up in our next episode, Mem, the next letter of this Hebrew alphabet.
(16:56):
And so I hope you'll join me for that. And I hope today you'll reread this passage,
and delight in God's word and be satisfied in the joy that we have because of
what he's given us in his word.
I always appreciate you being here with me and thank you for sharing and loving
this podcast and most of all, loving God's word with me as well.
Know as always that you are loved and prayed for and I look forward to being
(17:18):
back here again with you real soon. Bye-bye for now. Thank you.
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