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Read Psalm 119:1-8 What would your Christian life be like if you had no Bible? Would that make any difference? After all, what is the Bible supposed to do for our lives? God gives us some answers to those questions in this Psalm. Almost every verse in this long psalm in some way refers to the Word of God. The psalm is arranged according to the Hebrew alphabet. The first eight verses all begin with the Hebrew letter aleph; the next eight verses start with beth; the next eight,

Read Psalm 119:105 What does it mean to have the Word of God as light? Verse 105 gives us four statements that answer that question. First, the Word is a light that shines from above. It is revelation. We know that God is Light ( I John 1:5 ). He gave us the Word, just as He gave us the sun. The sun is at the center of our solar system; if it ever burned out, we would die. Likewise, God is the center of our universe through His Word. The Word is a necessity, not a luxury. Lik

Read Psalm 119:113-120 Let's take time for a spiritual inventory and ask three simple questions: What do you hate? Where are you hiding? In what do you hope? The best answers to those questions are found in verses 113 and 114. "I hate the double-minded, but I love Your law. You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word." What do you hate? The psalmist hated vain thoughts ( Ps. 119:37 ). Vanity means that which is empty, false and temporary. Thoughts are important

Read Psalm 119:121-128 I have a large library, and I've written a few books myself, but I cannot point to the books I've written or collected and say that everything in them is absolutely right. In fact, I've been embarrassed to find typographical, factual or other kinds of errors in the ones I've written. Only one book can carry an unqualified endorsement, and that is the Word of God. That's why the psalmist writes, "Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consid

Read Psalm 119:129-136 Have you ever faced the problems of dullness, darkness and dryness? Certain days come to us that are simply dull. There may be sameness and tameness about them. And sometimes we have to go through periods of darkness, and we wonder what in the world God is doing. Or we experience dryness--we are so spiritually dry, hungry and thirsty. What is the answer to dullness? The Word of God. "Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them" (v. 129)

Read Psalm 119:137-144 Whenever we buy appliances, we want a guarantee that they're going to work efficiently. So we look for those special seals of approval that indicate the product has been tested. Similarly, when we buy food at the store, we want to be sure that the ingredients are safe for consumption. God's Word has been tested and found true. It is guaranteed. "Your word is very pure [refined]; therefore Your servant loves it" (v. 140). It has gone through the furnace.

Read Psalm 119:145-152 Would you rather have the Word of God than sleep? Don't misunderstand me. We need sleep. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that God expects us to take care of our bodies, and sleep is part of that care. But the psalmist says that he would rather have the Word of God than sleep. "I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your word. My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word" (vv. 147,148). Im

Read Psalm 119:153-160 Nobody enjoys going to court. I once was a character witness in a court case, and it wasn't fun. How much worse it must be for the accused. But if you must stand trial, it's good to know that somebody is there to plead your case. This is what the psalmist talks about when he says to the Lord, "Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me according to Your word" (v. 154). The greatest Advocate we have is God. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" ( Rom.

Read Psalm 119:161-168 "I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure" (v. 162). When do we find great treasure or spoil? Usually after a battle. Thus, this verse indicates that Bible study involves a battle or conflict that starts with our own flesh. The flesh and the natural mind don't want to be disciplined enough to read and study the Word of God. Of course, the world doesn't want this either. The world wants us to ignore Scripture and believe its own lies and va

Read Psalm 119:169-176 Let me tell you about a spiritual chain reaction that has the power to transform our lives. It begins in verse 169: "Let my cry come before You, O Lord; give me understanding according to Your word." Prayer leads to understanding. This is the first part of the chain reaction. Do you pray for understanding as you read your Bible? Do you pray, "Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law" (119:18)? Next, understanding leads to freedom. "Let

Read Psalm 120:1-7 Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers" ( Matt. 5:9 ). But not everybody in this world is a peacemaker. Some people are troublemakers. They enjoy making trouble, and sometimes we have to live or work with them. That's the kind of situation the psalmist found himself in when he wrote Psalm 120. "In my distress I cried to the Lord, and He heard me. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue" (vv. 1,2). He continues, "My soul has dw

Read Psalm 121:1-8 This psalm is special to my family. When our children were young and we were all in the car ready to leave on a trip or a vacation, we often read Psalm 121 and then prayed. The children became accustomed to hearing the words, "I will lift up my eyes to the hills--from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth" (vv. 1,2). God is our Helper. You don't have to go on a vacation or drive on a busy highway to know that. Where do

Read Psalm 122:1-9 Are you glad when it's time to go to the house of God to worship? Are you really happy when, on the Lord's Day or any other day, you can go to church? The psalmist was. "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord"' (v. 1). We worship the Lord privately as well. I trust that every day you read His Word and pray and worship Him. But Christians belong to each other. We are the sheep of God's flock. We're the children in His family,

Read Psalm 123:1-4 If the outlook in your life is disturbing, try the uplook. That's what the psalmist did. "Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens" (v. 1). What does it mean to lift your eyes to the Lord? First, it means to acknowledge His sovereignty. We lift our eyes because He is higher than we are. Isaiah focused his eyes on the throne of God and saw Him "high and lifted up" in the temple ( Isa. 6:1 ). He is sovereign. He is the Master; we are the ser

Read Psalm 124:1-8 "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Paul asked in Romans 8:31 , and we know the answer. No one can be against us if God is for us. That's the theme of Psalm 124. "If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, when their wrath was kindled against us" (vv. 2,3). Because God is on our side, men cannot devour us. The psalmist compares his enemies to ferocious lions or bears who migh

Read Psalm 125:1-5 "As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever" (v. 2). We don't have to know much about geography to understand what the psalmist is saying. It's a declaration we can believe and put to work in our own lives today. God is compared to many things in the Bible. For example, "our God is a consuming fire" ( Heb. 12:29 ). Or, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" ( Ps. 46:1 ). H

Read Psalm 126:1-6 Did you know that each one of us is a sower? Each of us today is sowing seed that will produce a harvest. Some people are sowing to the flesh. Paul tells us in Galatians 6:8 that those who sow to the flesh will reap corruption. Some are sowing discord among the brethren. Some are sowing lies. Psalm 126 tells us to be careful what and how we sow, because we're the ones who will reap the harvest. Notice what the psalmist says: "Those who sow in tears shall r

Read Psalm 126:1-6 The context of this psalm is II Kings 19 and Isaiah 37, when Hezekiah, king of Judah, was attacked by Sennacharib and the Assyrian forces. The enemy forces surrounded Jerusalem, so the Jews had to protect their food supply. They already had lost an entire season of sowing and reaping. Grain was precious. When the people went back to their farms after being delivered, they had to make a decision. Should they use the grain to feed the children, or should they

Read Psalm 127:1-5 I feel like weeping when I think about the tragedy of more than 1.5 million babies murdered in their mothers' wombs in the United States every year. Abortion has turned the womb into a tomb. I wonder what those presiding doctors and nurses would think if they read Psalm 127. "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is His reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has h

Read Psalm 128:1-6 We don't hear much these days about the fear of the Lord. All too often the Lord is looked upon only as a heavenly friend, someone who walks with us and smiles on us constantly. But verse 1 says, "Blessed is every one who fears the Lord." What does it mean to fear the Lord? It means to be in reverential awe of Him. It means we don't tempt Him. We don't jest with Him. We don't try to make Him do things He will not do. The Israelites did not fear the Lord. Th

Read Psalm 129:1-8 Verse 3 is a vivid description of personal suffering: "The plowers plowed on my back; they made their furrows long." Many other pictures of personal suffering are found in the Word of God: going through the storm, going through the furnace, going through a battle and carrying a burden. Why would the psalmist use plowing as a picture of personal suffering? For one thing, he felt as if people were treating him like dirt. They were saying, "You're just like a

Read Psalm 130:1-8 The next time you feel at rock bottom, read Psalm 130. "Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord" (v. 1). Three basic requests in this psalm echo the concerns in our hearts today. First, the psalmist says, "Lord, hear my voice!" (v. 2). Why? "I can't swim; I am in the deep waters, and they are coming over my head. I am drowning, and I'm afraid I can't make it." No matter how far down you may go or feel, God always hears you. Then he says, "If You, Lord

Read Psalm 131:1-3 One day King David was walking through the palace, and he heard a child crying. What was going on? The child was being weaned. The mother was saying, "Now, my child, you are growing up, and it is time for you to be weaned." The child was saying, "You don't love me; you hate me. If you loved me, you wouldn't do this." Then David went to his desk, got his pen and wrote Psalm 131. The problem with too many of us is that we have grown old without growing up--we

Read Psalm 132:1-10 What is the consuming ambition of your life? What is the dream that fills your mind and heart? King David's dream was to build a temple for the Lord. He tells us about it in this psalm. I wish more people had this same wonderful ambition--to be builders, not destroyers. During much of his life, David was a soldier. He defended Israel from her enemies and brought about peace in the land. But then he wanted to turn from battling to building. He wanted to exc