Psalm 119:33-64; He, Waw, Zayin, Heth

ה He Give me understanding, so that I may keep Your law and obey it with all my heart.
Jehovah, if You do not incline Yourself to me, I am lost. I need You, Holy Spirit to teach me, remind me and advise me on the Way Everlasting that I may, with my whole heart, love Your path.

ו Waw May Your unfailing love come to me, Lord, … then I can answer anyone who taunts me, for I trust in Your Word.
Father, the art and the “freedom of self-forgetfulness” is to be found only in Your love. May I trust as You love, unfailingly – and to the praise of Your very great Name.

I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees.
May my desire be such that I reach and yearn and climb and pursue Your words. May they fill my mind and heart and soul and life.

ז Zayin In the night, Lord, I remember Your Name, that I may keep Your law.
 
Spirit of the Living God, fill my nights and dreams with Your presence, Your names and Your purposes. Reveal Your glorious self to me in visions that I may know You and obey You better. Thank You for meeting me in unexpected places and for Your divine revelations. My dreams are Yours to inhabit and fill.

ח Heth You are my Portion, Lord; I have promised to obey Your words. … The earth is filled with Your love, Lord; teach me Your decrees.
Oh, that You really were all that I desire in this world. I confess, I want too many, too much; I succumb to distractions in attention and affection. But, You are my Portion, and I seek to obey Your words, teach me – that I may fully partake in Your love which fills the earth.

Psalm 119:1-32 Aleph, Bet, Gimel, Daleth

Aleph
     Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to
        the law of the Lord.
Happy are the ones who obey Your commands.  Happy, blessed, fulfilled.  Not miserable, robotic, mindless, Stepford Christians.  Happy.  Help me, help us to live this.  To so embrace You in our lives that we live that blessed and happy life - because of our knowing and experiencing You, not because we have the circumstances which sell.  You, You alone.  Let me walk blamelessly according to Your law, because You have given me the privilege; not because I am working on attaining anything or achieving some performance-based award.  You.

Bet
     I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.
Holy Spirit, I do not seek with all my heart.  Please help my heart not be divided that I may seek You with all my heart.  That my obedience would match the heart, undivided and focused on You.

Gimel
     My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.
Not so, Lord God; but make it so, please.  I want to be consumed with You and Your ways.  Love God and love others.  Your priorities for life.  Make it so in my life, heart, mind and soul.  Let me spend my strength on this.

Daleth     Cause me to understand the way of your precepts, that I may meditate 
       on your wonderful deeds.
Please Lord, grant me understanding that I may glorify You in my thoughts, words, life.

Psalm 118

I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done. 

Thank You Lord for this gentle reminder that You have died that I may live – even with You. May my life proclaim Your amazing yet tangible love and works. Also, Holy Spirit, I confess I don’t always react the best and most trusting way to Your invitation; but You again remind me that I will not die – despite my initial, fleshly responses to Your direction. It won’t kill me. Or at least all of me, just the part that needs to die, the part that resists You and Your words. So, thank You and please continue to show me how to die to myself that I may live and proclaim, extol what You have done, Who You are. I trust You.

With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.
  
Thank You my Lord for showing me that all the celebrations should have You as the center, the focus. Anything else will glorify self and lead us astray. Teach me how to party in Your Name. You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, and I will exalt You. I give thanks to You, Lord, for You is good; Your love endures forever – and includes me.

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

Father, while I know it refers to my Messiah, today these words strike me as referring to the Jewish people. One man into a nation who is blessed by God, yet cursed and rejected by man. The faith and truth entrusted to them for the world is the cornerstone of the Messiah’s teachings. How much more should this Jesus of Nazareth resonate with God’s chosen ones as their own, their very own Messiah. You, God, You have done this and it is marvelous. Thank You for eyes to see Your handiwork and invitation. You are wonderful and good and forever faithful. Please open eyes all over the world, grant spiritual vision for Your precious ones, faith and willingness to receive Your revelation. I also pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all of Israel. God, remember Your people. And remember Your Church. Let the Church bless in Your Name Your people, may I be a part of that.

Psalm 117

Extol – to praise highly, glorify

Him – the Lord,
                     Creator of all nations and all peoples,
                     Great Lover of us,
                     Faithful Lord, enduringly faithful,
                     forever

Praise the Lord.

Thank You, my Lord and my God, for resetting my focus on praise and extolling rather than react and emoting. You are good. May I so grow in praising You that I would be not merely a praiser but an extoller of my God.

Psalm 116

The Lord protects the unwary – You guard the unsophisticated, You take care of the clueless, You shield the simple, You secure the unsuspecting. You are too kind. Thank You for your gracious inclination to me. My soul can return to its rest, for You have been good to me, Your faithfulness endures forever and through each moment of today. I praise You now. May I praise You every moment.

Psalm 115

Not to us, Lord, not to us but to Your Name be the glory,  because of Your love and faithfulness.

Not to me, not mine but Your Name. Not my glory; but Your glory.  I am not faithful.  I do not love.  Only by Your grace and giftings am I able to be present, to attempt love and be somewhat consistent.  And this only because of Your love and faithfulness.  Who am i that You would choose to  love me, reveal Yourself to me and invite me to join You in Your purposes.  I am but a blight on Your good credit; yet You absorbed my cost and made me Your Own.  What in the world?  Not to me but to You, Your ways are not mine.  You faithfulness is persistent.  Your love is complete and completing.  Thank You for Your wonders, choices and Your power which  is stopped by no thing. 

Psalm 114

All creation testifies, responds, acknowledges God. Father, grant me vision to see their testimony.
God’s sanctuary, Your haven, Your place. Holy Spirit, I thank You for Your presence, Your indwelling and constancy in my life. Teach me how to be more than just a house for You that I may be Your sanctuary, Your tabernacle, Your haven. I am not asking for physically things; but for the spiritual accommodations which make me Your home and not merely Your housing. Decorate my soul, my spirit, me with all that suits You, anything which pleases You and whatever brings You best glory. Your Name be praised in and through my little life. May You be famous at this temporal address. What a privilege You have given me.

Psalm 113

I wonder when this was written…during or just after difficulties or at the climax of prosperity? Lord, this Word says for me, Your servant, to praise You and bless You…for You are high above the nations and Your glory is higher than the heavens. Because You are You. Not because of what You do for me or others, not because Who You are implies certain wonderfully kind actions; but You. I want to praise You and bless You so consistently throughout my days that the circumstances matter not; but I keep getting caught in the frivolities of life. Lord, I don’t really desire that – yet I subscribe to that relentlessly. Help me, please to discern between where You are/what You are doing and the vain indulgences which make up American life. God, I am tired of being moved along by headlines, bylines and sidelines. By worthless chatter and things that don’t enrich or edify Your Kingdom. God, help me. It feels like I, the land dweller, am trying to learn how to breathe underwater. I know it won’t kill me to do what You’ve called me to do; but I am mindlessly addicted and hopelessly conditioned to breathing air…I want Your Living Water to flood my mind, my soul, my life. I want to breathe You, that I may breathe out You. Let me gulp You down in big choking gasps which will save my life today. Let me not sip, daintily, safely, or even experimentally of Your gracious provision. I want to be filled that I might slosh Your grace, Your hope, Your peace, Your gospel on others through my whole, entire life. Help me. Thank You. I praise You and bless Your Holy and Generous Name. You are my HOPE. My God. Let all that is within me be bathed in Your Living Water. Bless the Lord!

Psalm 112

Joyful, delighted, successful heirs, blessing entire generation of godly ones, wealthy, legacy, generous, compassionate, righteous, brave, confident, fearless, influential, honorable.
Thank You, Lord. Thank You that light shines in the darkness for the godly. Light puts off dark. Light gives off a glow. Light allows vision, swallows darkness, attracts the eye. Light comforts, warms, heals. Light is necessary for life. You have shined into the darkness for me. Your light, divine brilliance has been entrusted to me. May I be faithful to shine in the darkness to the glorious praise of Your Name.

Soli Deo gloria!

Psalm 111

He has paid a full ransom for His people. He has guaranteed His covenant with them forever....He always remembers His covenant.  What a holy, awe-inspiring Name He has!

That's my God, do ya know Him?!  Oh, my God, the psalmist didn't know the whole story.  If back then they thought You had paid a full ransom for Your people, what would they think now?  Thank You Lord God, that You, full of power and majesty and omni-omni'd qualities would choose to pay anything for your people.  What a statement.  What love.  I thank You for Your divine Guarantee, for Your ever-remembering, for Your grace poured out on a roughly-hewn cross in my stead.  Your names, as Your praise, are endless; but today (as always), I am particularly grateful You are Mine and I am Yours.

Psalm 110

When you go to war, your people will serve you willingly.

Lord, something about the ‘serve You willingly’ hits me today. Am I in Your service ready? Do I always preferably follow You, obey You, choose You? No. I am not always willing. I am often willful. My will, not Thine. Thank You that You have paid for this; but please let me walk in Your provision of delighting myself in You. Deliberately, eagerly, gladly, freely, willingly, lovingly, volitionally and wholeheartedly prepared to be about serving You. Today. Wherever You go, I want to follow. Closely. Willingly. Holding nothing back or up.

Psalm 109

Thank You God for showing me how important words are.  I can praise You; but do I really make that a focused effort for my mouth? 

Being silent.  Slander, lies, accusations.  Praying.  Cursing versus blessing.  The wicked speak evil and horrible things and finagle guilty verdicts against the psalmist.  Passionate cries from the writer to the Lord God for rescue based on the reputation of God (the things said of Him) fill the body of the passage.  Promising repeated thanks and rejoicing for the God-intervention,  the author praises God with his last lines.  Even though all he's done is present his case to God, the man with the pen has shifted from his situation to His God.  and the praise flows.

Father, help me look at You in the terrible times and not just at the terrible.  May my voice, my words my cries be ever-thanking and always praising You; for You are worthy and You deserve no less.   Your Name sake is all that's on the line - when I remember that, praise flows.  You are the Creator, I am the created.  I praise You.

Psalm 108

… all human help is useless. With God’s help we will do mighty things, for He will trample down our foes.

Lord, I need to remember the futility of human effort, my effort. Only by Your power can we accomplish anything; any mighty thing is from Your hand. You are the One who defeats our enemies, You alone are the victor. Even if I think I have won or I rerouted the attack, You are the One responsible for the outcome, the maneuvers, the strategy. You are the Trampler of Foes. I praise You. Why You would choose to use a useless one, as myself, I cannot comprehend. Mighty things, from a Mighty God!

Psalm 106

Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord?      Who can ever praise Him enough?  ... Save us, O Lord our God!  ...  so we can thank Your holy Name and rejoice and praise You.

Two things, my Lord.  I could never, all of humanity could never, even throughout all time, we could never list Your glorious miracles nor praise You enough.  Never.  Yet, You allow us the time, the opportunity and the privilege to praise You, to apply ourselves to the amazing obligation of expressing our love and awe of You.  Wow.  Thank You.  Even when 'thank You' seems so small.  Then, God, we beg You to save us, so we can thank You and be joyful in You.  What are we thinking?  You are faithful, ever-consistent and God.  How dare we, me.  You have done too much in creation.  Approving the debt we can never reduce, never address, never fully comprehend, You have gone too far in love - and still You went there.  Despite the fact I am only consistent in my need of You, my fallibility and my biddability by the world; You brought me and bought me into Your divine home, Your sacred family, Your exquisite Name.  Thank You for Your attention and provision in the face of my unfaithful gratitude, inconsistent joy and rebellious will.  You are grander than my mind can consider, more loving than I deserve or imagine and authoritative over all.  Thank You for being You.  You are good, great and grandest of all.

Psalm 105

Give thanks to the Lord, proclaim His greatness.
    ... sing his praises. ... Exult in His holy name;
    rejoice, you who worship the Lord. ...  Search for the Lord and for His strength;
    continually seek Him. ... Remember the wonders He has performed,
    His miracles, and the rulings He has given ...

give thanks, proclaim, sing, exult, rejoice, worship, search, seek, remember

No small god I serve, no small love to offer.  You are worthy, my God.  You alone.

Until the time came to fulfill his dreams ...

Thank You God that there is no wasted time with You.  Things happen with reason, in season for the glory of Your Name, until the time comes to fulfill.  God, You fulfill.  You, Fulfiller.  I praise You.  May I praise You all the time, until the time and for all time. 

Psalm 104

O Lord my God, how great you are! You are robed with honor and majesty.

O Lord my God, You are great and Your goodness, creativity and power are endless. Please grant me a psalmist’s heart and mind that I may worship You in the context of this passage. Open my understanding of how to praise You, for You are worthy of my ever-increasing praise! May I adore You more for Who You are, how You are and not only for what You do. Expand my vision to know You and love You more.

Psalm 103

Let ALL that I am PRAISE the Lord

Oh God, were that I would be so devoted to praising You; that all that I am would praise You. My mouth, my eyes, my life, my entertainment, my studies, my passions, my glances, my body language, my reactions, my decisions, my driving, my humor, my emotions, my worship, my listening … all. ALL.THAT.I.AM may it PRAISE YOU. Offering any other response is a lesser choice. Save me from mediocrity.
The Lord is filled with unfailing love; the world is full of unloving fail. Why do I ever choose any thing but You?

Psalm 102

... so that a people not yet born will praise the Lord...But you are always the same; You will live forever.  The children of your people will live in security.  Their children’s children will thrive in Your presence.

Lord God, help me to tell of Your fame, to share Your stories, to go everywhere You have me to go and to teach that the children may thrive in Your presence.  You alone are Eternal, You alone are Omnipotent, You alone are Omniscient.  You never change.  Your Word will still be true in generations as it has always been.  May I share that praise and blessing may come from Your Name.

Psalm 101

A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.

Evicting perversion from my innermost being; by the grace-power granted me from my God of the Universe, I emphatically set my life’s course on purity. I refuse to know wickedness. REFUSE. Only by Your mercy do I even wish to not be perverse, do I desire to know virtue, truth, sacredness. What kindness You show me – drawing me near to You, cultivating the holy within me, growing me up in You. I am undone. grateful. breathlessly grateful. Oh, great God, that You would even call me by name.

Psalm 100

 Know that the Lord, He is God ...  It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves...Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.   For the Lord is good...

thank You, I bless Your Name.  You are good, please continue to reveal Yourself to me that I may know You more and more.  That I may know You, God, my Creator, Good and Faithful.  I bless Your Name forevermore.

Psalm 99

He dwells between the cherubim...He is great...high above...Exalt the Lord our God...worship at His footstool, at His holy hill.  Let them praise Your great and awesome Name.

He dwells in the center, in the middle, as the focus of worship and adoration.  As I exalt and worship and praise, I create a more welcoming environment for the Lord my God.  May my devotion increase from the incidental to the perpetual; may my desire be constantly met in Him; may I live a worship-God-life, rather than a life rerouted by events, people, circumstances...the world, my flesh, anything apart from the Holy One.

Psalm 98

The Lord has made known His salvation. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

The point of the physical is the spiritual.

Thank You, Lord, for Your salvation, for making it known and making it available. Thank You for giving us eyes to see and hearts to respond. Thank You for giving us Your righteousness for with righteousness You will judge. Oh God, in Your mercy and faithfulness, remember Israel. Help us, in the context of Your mercy and faithfulness to us, to remember both Israel and the various members of the Body which are not available to us.  May we join the perpetual praise chorus of creation responding to You in joy, praise and rejoicing. A new song for the singular, marvelous deed-doing Majesty.

Psalm 97

The heavens declare His righteousness...
Lord, how do they?  Since that's what they are proclaiming, how can I not understand?  In the heavens I see Your power, creativity, majesty, glory, faithfulness, goodness, beauty, passion.  Reminders of Your grace and provision, creation and ascension, manna and Your soon-returning, promises made and promises kept; but I am at a loss for righteousness.  Not that I doubt it; but I don't make the connection...unless it's Your righteousness is found in the sum of these very components.  Please teach me more, reveal more of Yourself to me that I may know and serve You better.

...And all the peoples see His glory.
God-glory is surely visible to all people.  Thank You for eyes to see and Your Spirit in me that I may comprehend.  Mercy comes from You.

Psalm 96

Never ending newness and eternal steadfastness are why I praise You this day! Thank You and may I sing Your praises all the day.

Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. … Give to the Lord glory and strength. … the glory due His Name; … bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!

Declaring me to be Your temple, granting me and sealing me with Your Holy Presence, empowering me with Your Holy Spirit, You have made this little life a very full and God-glorifying sanctuary. May I graciously worship You in the beauty of Your sacredly supplied holiness, in supernatural strength and in devoted faithfulness, stewarding well the gifts You have given me, lovingly and excitedly offering them back to You, for the glory of Your great Name.

Psalm 95

Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts....
“They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.”
let us:  sing to the Lord
              make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation! 
              come into His presence with thanksgiving             
              make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!

Lord God, I praise You and am so grateful that allow us to hear Your voice.  Your are available and accessible to us, to me.  I thank You that You warn me that I can have a hard heart, it's my choice; I can be cognizant of Your communication with me and decide to ignore You, to steel myself, my soul my spirit against You.  May I rehearse Your benefits, Your gifts, Your divine interactions and provisions in my life.  May I joyfully remember and celebrate Your steadfast and immovable Presence through Jesus Christ; may I grow in gratitude and grace as I choose to reflect on Who You are; may I praise You because I know Your ways, I love Your ways and Your ways are best.  Lord, teach me to sing and to make joyful noise to You, my Praiseworthy Savior.  I thank You that You desire for my heart to stay on You and that You are the only deserving One on which to be focused.  May I not stray from You in my heart nor my mind, my plans nor my passions, my attention nor my actual life.  You are my Lord, the Rock of my  salvation.  This morning, I praise You and recount Your greatness to me.

Psalm 94

They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast.  They crush your people, O Lord, and afflict Your heritage.  They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless ...  They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.

This is what the wicked do.  I can recognize wickedness by this M.O.  They seem to have free-rein in this world, accomplishing what they desire.  While there is a man considered blessed because of the discipline of the Lord.  So the righteous get caught and taught; whereas the evil do as they please and are called by God 'fools' and 'dullest of people.'  The obedient are named 'unforsaken' and "His,' they have access to Your steadfast love, Your ever-presence, Your consolation, You - the Rock of their Refuge and Stronghold.  I thank You Lord God, that I am among those You have made righteous and obedient.  Only by Your power and strength and plan, my God, would I qualify for Your team.  May I live in response to all You generously and without fail offer me.  Glory and honor to Your Name.

Psalm 93

Reigns, majesty, strength, enrobed, enthroned, established, everlasting, immovable (steadfast), mighty, creator, on high, decree-giver, communicator, trustworthy, holiness, forevermore.

God, fill my mind and my imagination with these attributes of You today. Holy Spirit, remind me of these qualities that I may worship more genuinely in response to the revelation You have given me. Rewire my American brain to comprehend the gloriousness, the majesty, the power, the respect, appropriate reaction and service, the unilateral-ness of a divine Monarch. May I live today today in a manner worthy of Your creation, Your servant, Your daughter. Not by my abilities, nor by my offering; but by Your grace and empowering strength. You are worthy of the most sincere response of my soul.

Psalm 92

They (the righteous) still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green...

Lord God, I praise You for Your provision of fruit for the whole life.  There is no pointless life with You.  God, I pray that I would be ever full of sap and green (that makes me smile), bearing fruit to the expanse of Your Kingdom, the nourishment of Your people, the fame of Your great Name.

Psalm 91

God declares, "I will be with him in trouble..."

He will not remove me from trouble, He will not teach me about trouble and send me on, He will not leave me to trouble and meet on the other side; but He will be with me in trouble.  I will be with Him when trouble is around me.  This comforts me today.  Trouble is a faithful presence in the world; yet, He is more faithful, more present, more powerful.  He wants to go with me through the trouble.  It will not be too much for Him, it will not overwhelm Him, it will not.  And He goes with me.  Lord God, help me to stay close to You at all times.  May trouble prove a good instructor for me that I abide closer than ever to You.  In your shadow, under Your wing, holding fast to You in love; because You have me.

Psalm 90

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. ...  Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Help me to number the minutes, that I am ever-mindful of the stewardship and privilege of time.  I want to stand before You, knowing the time was well-minded, not sad because of how wastefully I treated it.  Teach me, Lord Rabbi, Your priorities, Your time-management, Your itineraries.  Organize me, revolutionize me, revitalize me, to the praise of Your Name and the benefit of Your Kingdom.  May I recognize and apply myself to Your steadfast love each morning, that I may choose and thrive in the spirit-satisfied life by Your Spirit, power and grace!