Satisfied

It's a beautiful morning here on the mountain.  I'm back home after a few days away, celebrating the Resurrection in our "home" church, the church we attended through the early days of our marriage, where our boys grew up.  It was great to see so many dear friends and to worship with them again.  I'm loving the beauty of spring as it is trying to come to our mountain!  It's good to be back in my favorite chair, with a good cup of coffee, and studying Psalm 119 with you again!

Did you take the challenge to do some word study last week?  If so, you found that, although several different words are used by the psalmist to refer to the Word of God, the differences between them are really very subtle.  You may be wondering why so many different words are used, and I'm not sure that we can really understand that unless we have a really deep understanding of the Hebrew language (and I don't!), but perhaps one reason is so that we will slow down and take time to at least try to understand!  I think the slowing down is the main thing!!  In our culture, we're always in a hurry, aren't we?  We're conditioned to instant this and microwave that, so slowing down and taking time are sometimes foreign concepts.....almost as foreign to us as Hebrew.   Perhaps if we think it through slowly and deliberately, we can see the completeness of the Word of God for us.......the use of all these different words show us the fullness, the sufficiency of God's Word for our lives.  We see more than just the Law, but a code of wisdom.  In the word mishpat, we see not only the definition "ordinance" (which could mean law), but we also see that it can mean "justice", which is an attribute of God Himself.  If you found yourself a bit frustrated with all the definitions and the mechanics of looking up words which seem to all mean pretty much the same thing, perhaps you can find time to review your findings and consider them again in that light.

In the meantime, let's look once more at the heth stanza which begins with these words:  "The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words."  Before we camp out on that verse, let's look ahead to what else the psalmist says.......he considers his ways (v. 58) and we considered our ways as well in a previous assignment.  Once the psalmist considers (thinks about) his ways, what does he do?  He turns his feet to God's testimonies!  He DOES NOT DELAY to be obedient!  I don't know about you, but I am not always so prompt to be obedient!!  Do you find yourself sometimes dragging your feet as well?  This verse has really convicted me as I have been studying!!

Now, back to verse 57....."The Lord is my portion."  What does that mean exactly?  I looked up the Hebrew word used for portion and guess what it means?  It means "portion"!  That's not terribly helpful, is it?  So, I looked the verse up in the "The Message", a contemporary paraphrase of the Scripture, and it reads this way....."Because you have satisfied me, God, I promise to do everything you say."  Wow!!  That really cuts to the chase, doesn't it??!!

Think of a portion of food on your plate, perhaps of your favorite food.  If it's your very favorite food, you want a full portion, don't you......not a skimpy serving!  That's the picture I'm getting here......a plate absolutely full of a favorite food, so full that when I eat it, I am completely satisfied and not needing anything else!  The Lord is my portion......He completely satisfies!!

Because that is true, what am I going to do?  The psalmist says "I have promised to keep Your words"......or as The Message puts it, "I promise to do everything you say."  And where will we find "everything" God says......in the written Word, the Scriptures, of course......which is why studying is so important!  How else will we know everything God says, so that we can do everything He says?!!

Thinking about this verse and how to apply it has brought to mind the words of an old hymn..."I am satisfied with Jesus, He has done so much for me."  The hymn closes with these words, "But the question comes to me, as I think of Calvary, is my Master satisfied with me?"
Give that some thought today, and we'll move on to the teth stanza tomorrow.