Where is my help? Sometimes we take stock of our resources and find ourselves short. Sometimes we make a list of our friends and find it shorter than the list of our enemies. The writer of Psalm 119 was in such a place in this twentieth stanza. This stanza is an urgent cry to God…
Who has heard our cry? I am yet to meet the person who describes himself as a champion at prayer. Most of us will admit we do not pray as we would like. Aside from not knowing what to say, or how to say it, we often wonder if we will be heard. The writer…
What about the world? Long ago, David questioned why the heathen rage and why the nations plot emptiness. We might ask why the sun rises or rain falls–it’s just the nature of the thing. Likewise, the world is at enmity with God and his word and continually assaults the Bible’s rocky shore line with wave…
Why? Mankind wrestles with questions about life and why things happen as they do. Some events seem straightforward cause-and-effect, but others remain inexplicable to us. The writer of Psalm 119, in the seventeenth stanza, recognizes the difficulty of understanding life events and sees the importance of understanding God’s word for navigating life.
How do we wait? Most of us are no good at waiting. We would rather be told no than be told to wait. Throughout the Bible and history, people have wrestled with waiting when things seem to be going wrong. Consider Psalm 37 and 73 as David and Asaph were waiting in affliction while the…
Who shall oppose us? Christianity is not merely an intellectual pursuit, where we politely sit at circular tables, sipping coffee and tea, and thinking things about things. Christianity is following Jesus. It is a way through life surrounded by enemies who are set on destroying your soul. The writer of Psalm 119 is aware of…
How shall we see where to go? In the brightness of the noon sun, we don’t feel urgency to have a light with us. In the darkness of midnight, we are desperate for a light. Life is the world is mostly a dark background and the writer of Psalm 119 recognizes the need for light.…
How shall we live? Proverbs teaches that wisdom is a way, or a path. This means that having or acquiring wisdom means going a certain way. It means living life in a particular direction. It’s not possible to really have wisdom and walk the way of folly. The writer of Psalm 119 praises God’s word…
Where do we stand when all around is sand? The world around us seems to be constantly changing. We need a firm foundation and a firm hold to grasp, if we are going to stay upright. The writer of Psalm 119 recognizes and focuses on God’s word as firm and unchanging and worth committing oneself…
What about when suffering is extended? Suffering well and bearing up under afflictions doesn’t mean we cannot, or should not, pray for deliverance. It does mean that we don’t turn back from following Jesus. It means we recognize the good in it and submit to God’s judgments. We can and should pray for deliverance. In…