Psalm 119: Focus On God's Word Pt. 47 Take Each Moment To Live For God

I am thankful for all that our Lord Jesus Christ is doing with this Bible study blog. He is putting His power, plan and purpose into His word that is contained in each post we publish.

We have completed two of the 22 eight verse sections of Psalm 119. Today, we begin the third section headed by the Hebrew letter GIMEL.

A prayer to live by in order to obey God's Word. 

Psalm 119:17  GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. 

Eleven times in sixteen verses we see the Psalmist saying "I have done this" or "I will do that." In between his expressed desire to serve Jehovah, are his prayers. 

The "GIMEL" section of Psalm 119 begins with a prayer, whereas the last section began with a question and the first section began with a statement of blessing.

The Psalmist's prayer is not just that God provide so that he can live, but that he might live in a holy way by keeping God's Word. 

This text reminds us what a great honor and privilege it is to be a servant of Jesus Christ, our Lord. One of the greatest benefits from the bountiful hand of God is when He gives us a heart that is hungry for His word and that desires to obey it. 

God's Word must not only be understood, but it must be obeyed. This is what it means to "keep" His Word. Thus, we must have understanding of God's Word before we can keep it, by obeying what He says. 

Those who love Christ keep His commands.

John 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 

Many professing Christians have a head knowledge of the Bible. They can recite all the narratives and doctrine. But, what they truly need is a heart brought into submission to what God says to us in His Word. 

Jesus taught us that all who have His commandments and who keep them, are the ones who actually love Christ. If we love Jesus and keep His commandments, then we also enjoy the Father's love. Jesus promised His abiding presence with those who truly love Him.  

The span of our lives is not based upon what we can do for we are a feeble people. Rather, it is the free grace of God giving us life each day when we wake up, in order that we might seek ways to serve Him. 

Long life is a blessing for obedience to God.

Proverbs 28:16  The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor: but he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days. 

When we choose to keep or obey God's Word, then we will hate sin. In this case, Solomon tells us about hating the sin of covetousness, which helps prolong our days. 

Exodus 20:12  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 

Long life is a benefit from obeying the fifth commandment, to honor our parents. 

Psalm 91:14-16  Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15)  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16)  With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. 

God says of those who seek Him with their whole heart, and who love Him, He will bless us with a long life. 

The wicked and disobedient will not enjoy long life.

Ecclesiastes 8:13  But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God. 

On the other hand, those who live a sinful life will not prolong their days. The way of a transgressor is hard physically, mentally and spiritually, because sin takes an enormous toll on all people. 

Jesus Christ holds the universe together with His Word. 

Hebrews 1:1-3  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2)  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3)  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 

The preeminence of Christ is on display in this text. It reminds believers that the "Word" from God created all things that exist.  The "Word" from God sustains and governs it all.  And, the "Word" from God will one day undo it all.  Praise God!

We must confess as the Psalmist is, that in God we live, we move and we have our being (Acts 17:28). God's almighty hand holds the soul and breath of all mankind (Job 12:10). If God lets go for one moment, then all are undone (Job 6:9). 

He preserves our lives as He deems best.

Psalm 36:6   Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.  

God preserves the life of both man and beast. His excellent loving kindness is poured out on the just and the unjust, He sends rain and sun and harvests to good and bad people. All living things that exist are provided for by God's common grace. 

His mercies flow afresh each morning. 

Lamentations 3:21-23  This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.  22)  It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  23)  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

The prayer of the Psalmist is predicated on his understanding that we deserve nothing from God and rather than mercy, we deserve punishment for our sins. 

The prophet Jeremiah showed us that we receive what we do not deserve from the hand of God. This gives us renewed hope each day. His mercy restrains his hand from consuming all sinners. 

His compassion for our fallen state never waivers and He provided the salvation we needed, through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

We can say with Jacob, that we are not worthy of the least of His mercies, and yet He freely gives it to us because of our faith in Christ (Genesis 32:10). 

Psalm 119:17  GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. 

Based upon what we have learned so far from this text, understanding the Word of God is connected to obeying it. Our lives are in the hands of God and only He knows how long our life will be. 

We must wake up each morning seeking God for help and strength to do whatever He wants us to do that day. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

Psalm 90:12  So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. 

We need to remember that no one is guaranteed to wake up again tomorrow morning. 

The idea of numbering our days, is that we bear in mind that life is a vapor that quickly passes. Therefore, we must use the commodity of time wisely. 

Rather than a five year plan, we need a right now plan. That does not mean that we can't prepare for the future, but it does mean that  God has given us this day, this moment right now. Will we use our allotted time for his glory? Will we honor Him as we live in this moment of time? 

God our Father graciously provides for our temporal needs. He knows that we need food, clothing, shelter and water and He provides for those needs (Matthew 6:25-34). 

As wonderful as God's daily provisions are for us, we would rank temporal blessings as these as the least of His mercies.

Why? Because God has given us all spiritual blessing in Christ. 

All that we need for eternal salvation, redemption, regeneration, resurrection and glorification are ours, through faith in Christ. 

These are the greatest of His mercies and they came at the greatest cost to the Father. The sacrifice of His own Son. 

I pray that the Lord of Glory will speak to our hearts through His eternal word. May we take heed to what the Psalmist is teaching us. We learn God's Word into order to have obedient lives growing in God's love for Him and others. 

May we praise and express our thanksgiving to God for each day that He gives us, and for His daily provision. 

May we number our days, and redeem the time for His kingdom glory, rather than expending it on our selfish pursuits. 

Bob