Teach Me, O Lord

"Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I shall observe it to the end."  (Psalm 119:33)

This begins the next segment of Psalm 119, the he stanza.  Before we jump into that, here's a quick question for you......did you realize that you are learning the Hebrew alphabet as we go along?  So far, we've learned the first five letters:  aleph, beth, gimel, daleth, he.  You could spring that on your friends next time you're out to lunch and see what their reaction is!  OK, now it's time to get serious!

Read through verses 33 through 40, and once again note repeated words and phrases.  If you have time today, you might go back and read all 40 verses that we have covered so far.  This will help you have the overall context and will enable you to see the full progression of thought.  Once you have carefully read these verses, answer the following questons:

• What do you learn about the Word in this stanza?
• Are there any repeated concepts?  If so, what are they?  Are any new concepts introduced here?
• What does the psalmist pray for?
• Do you relate to any of these requests? In what way?
• Verses 34 and 35 refer to keeping God's law (v. 34) and delighting in God's commandments (v. 35).  Is there a difference between "keeping" and "delighting"?  If so, what is the difference?
• What does it mean to"delight" in the "path of Your commandments"?  What does that "look like" in real life?
• To what extent do you delight in God's commandments?

We have already noted that this stanza begins with the phrase "teach me."  This is a repeated phrase throughout the Psalm, so be watching for the phrase and what the psalmist wants to be taught.  We also see a repeated use of the phrase "revive me", which first occurred in the previous stanza.  Be alert for repetitions of that phrase as well.  The Hebrew word is hayah (translated "quicken me" in the KJV), which means to be alive, to live, to keep alive.  The Word Study Dictionary - Old Testament says "Psalm 119 employs this word to say that God's Word preserves life."  That's an interesting point, don't you think?  Where would we be without the Word of God?  Something to think about......

Heart is another repeated word in this stanza, as well as throughout the Psalm.  We have seen seven references to "heart" in these first five stanzas!  The psalmist aspires to keep God's law with all his heart and asks God to incline his heart. He is not just talking about external obedience by rote. 

As you wind up your study time today, turn to Deuteronomy 6:5-9.  As you read those verses, think about what the psalmist has prayed for and how it relates to this passage in Deuteronomy.  It's a good time for us to pause and consider our own hearts. 

"Give me understandng, that I may observe Your law and keep it with all my heart."  (Ps. 119:34)
"Incline my heart to Your testimonies..." (Ps. 119:36)

"And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."  (Deut. 6:5)

The word "all" is an interesting word.  I looked it up in the Lexical Aids and guess what it means?  "Each, every, all, everything, the whole, entire".  How interesting!  All means all!  So, the question for us today is....are we keeping God's law with ALL our hearts, or are our hearts divided?  Something to think about....