Thoughts for the Day

The Lord is my portion;
I promise to keep your words.
I implore your favour with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to your promise.
When I think of your ways,
I turn my feet to your decrees;
I hurry and do not delay
to keep your commandments.
Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,
I do not forget your law.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

We have seen Psalm 119 before - the longest psalm in our Old Testament - and it is concerned with keeping God's laws.. It uses eight different words for 'Law', and it is mentioned in almost every one of the 176 verses. It was probably not written at the time of King David, but later in the time of the prophets Nehemiah or Ezra, and is arranged as an acrostic, where the first letter of each verse spells out a word or message, although in this case it's the alphabet. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and there are 22 sections (of 8 verses) in Psalm 119, and each section is given a letter of the alphabet and each line in that section begins with that letter.

The psalmist says that once he found the scriptures and turned his mind towards God, he wanted to follow in His ways and obey His laws. For us, the 'scriptures' means our Bible, and the 'law' is that given to us by Jesus - to 'Love God, and your neighbour as yourself'. So I have some questions for you:

• Do you know where your Bible is?
• Do you have a modern Bible to help you understand its words?
• Is you bible pristine and new?

You may read the bible online, but there's nothing like having a copy you love, and the older it gets the better, for it means you use it a lot.

Lord God,
may we learn to love Your words
in our Bibles,
may they speak to us each day,
and may we seek understanding
and apply Your words to our daily live.
Amen.