Devotion 6.23.26

Psalm 119

Resh

"153 Look on my affliction and deliver me,

  for I do not forget your law.

154 Plead my cause and redeem me;

  give me life according to your promise!

155 Salvation is far from the wicked,

  for they do not seek your statutes.

156 Great is your mercy, O Lord;

  give me life according to your rules.

157 Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,

  but I do not swerve from your testimonies.

158 I look at the faithless with disgust,

  because they do not keep your commands.

159 Consider how I love your precepts!

  Give me life, O Lord, according to your steadfast love.

160 The sum of your word is truth,

  and every one of your righteous rules endures forever."

It's interesting how God allows affliction among his people and uses it to draw us closer to him. Having been afflicted a time or two in my life with various and sundry illnesses, broken bones, and other maladies, I know I was on my knees praying to God more than when I was riding high and conquering the world on my own (or so I thought).

I don't know your story in life, but I do know my own. God has been there for me when I needed him, and I needed him much more than I realized until I started the aging process. As I talk to others who are where I'm at, I have learned the prayer each day is for a right attitude as I face the day and to give thanks for the simple things.

The truth is God saw fit to bless me at times and to use affliction to turn me to him which served as a wakeup call.

Our psalmist today says as much. He uses phrases in today's section of the psalm that sound almost Joh-like. Afflicted, plead his cause, and redeem me are all familiar words from Job. I don't know as much as I'd like to on Psalm 119, but here is what I do know: the writer uses the Hebrew alphabet, letter by letter, to write a portion of the psalm. It is the longest psalm of the entire book of Psalms. It may also be the longest chapter in the entire bible due to its structure. The writer also expresses common themes: law, statutes, testimonies, Word, salvation and others. He starts each one expressing a joy, a concern, a prayer (like today's) or a need.

He then turns to God after expressing each and asks God to use the observation to ask for God to use it to teach him his Word, his laws, statutes, and testimonies to help him know God better, to learn of the salvation he knows he has through his Word. It is interesting to note that the psalmist notes in later verses that he turns to God in prayer seven times each day (v 164). Seven times a day? I feel good when I remember to turn to God in prayer once each day. Redemption, at the end of each day, is a great relief for the afflicted. My grace is sufficient for thee, are words of comfort that Paul hears in his own affliction (2nd Corinthians 12). God's Word is truth, the psalmist closes. Salvation, through faith, is what is important. Bringing us to that truth is God's desire for us.

We give thanks to having a loving God to turn to and confess our needs (our turn away from sin, our desire to know him better, our praises for the blessings he has given us, our afflictions or the afflictions of those we know and love). We ask for God to hear our prayer(s) lifted each day and for his Word to turn to for all occasions. We ask that God give us his Word, help us learn his Word, and for opportunities to share that Word.

Amen.

Hope Men's Ministry is a ministry in service to Hope Lutheran Church and School. Our purpose is to grow, unite, and share God's Word to all men through meaningful activities. These activities center on fellowship, service, conversation, prayer, study and devotion as we seek to become men of God as He created us to be.