O How I Love Your Law!

I Will Keep Your Law Continually | Psalm 119:44

I will keep your law continually,forever and ever, Psalm 119:44 ESV After the twofold petition that the psalmist made in verses 41-43 (first for salvation, then for God’s Word not to be taken from him), the psalmist now moves into a series of declarations that will last the remainder of stanza waw. He begins with …

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O How I Love Your Law!

Take Not the Word of Truth Utterly Out of My Mouth | Psalm 119:43

And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,for my hope is in your rules. Psalm 119:43 ESV Again, this verse is bound to the one before it for a proper understanding. So far in our present stanza, Waw, the psalmist has cried out for God’s steadfast love and salvation to come …

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O How I Love Your Law!

An Answer for Him Who Taunts Me | Psalm 119:42

then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me,for I trust in your word. Psalm 119:42 ESV This verse builds directly upon the thought expressed in verse 41; it is a continuation of that verse. After praying for God’s steadfast love and salvation to come to him according to God’s promise, the psalmist …

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O How I Love Your Law!

Let Your Steadfast Love Come to Me | Psalm 119:41

Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD,your salvation according to your promise; Psalm 119:41 ESV With this verse, we enter into the sixth stanza of the Psalm 119 in which each verse begins with the Hebrew letter Waw. The overall structure of the stanza sees the psalmist petitioning the LORD in verses 41-43 …

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O How I Love Your Law!

Behold, I Long for Your Precepts | Psalm 119:40

Behold, I long for your precepts;in your righteousness give me life! Psalm 119:40 ESV To conclude the He stanza, the psalmist cries out to the LORD, behold, I long for your precepts. This is no new idea to Psalm 119. In verse 20, he declared, “My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at …

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O How I Love Your Law!

Turn Away the Reproach That I Dread | Psalm 119:39

Turn away the reproach that I dread,for your rules are good. Psalm 119:39 ESV After praying to behold the confirmation of God’s promise with the Scriptures, the psalmist now prays for the LORD to turn away the reproach that I dread. The most natural question to ask is: What kind of reproach does he dread? …

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Biblical Wisdom

The LORD Weighs the Heart | Proverbs 21:2

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,but the LORD weighs the heart. Proverbs 21:2 ESV As this verse states, self-justification comes all too easy. For example, I immediately condemn the driver who cuts me off, but whenever I cut someone off, then it is justified as being either an accident or …

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Biblical Wisdom

Keep Aloof from Strife | Proverbs 20:3

It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife,but every fool will be quarreling. Proverbs 20:3 ESV Although all of Proverbs applies to all ages of humanity, this verse feels particularly relevant today. With advent of the Internet and especially social media, it sometimes seems as though life has become one massive …

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Grace & Bitterness | Jonah 4:1-2

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? …for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. …

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Christ Behind Us | Exodus 14:19-20

Then the angel of God who was going before the hose of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the …

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