The WordDevotion In Motion
Morning Inspiration
Psalm 119:1-6
In Medieval England there was a custom. Before a convicted criminal swung from the gallows, he could have a clergyman read him a psalm. When George Wishart was ready to be hung he chose Psalm 119. George knew it was the longest chapter in the Bible – 176 verses. The story goes, two-thirds of the way through a pardon came ordering Wishart’s freedom. George’s knowledge of the Bible saved his life.
If ole George had chosen Psalm 117 he’d been dead meat in a few seconds. George Wishart is not the only man who’s been saved by Psalm 119. Many a man has been saved – not by its length, but by its content. Psalm 119 is the Bible on the Bible. It’s all about the Word of God. Ten synonyms are used for the Bible in Psalm 119 – law, way, precepts, testimony, word, commandments, judgments, sayings, statutes, truth.
“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart! They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways. You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commandments.”
I read a quote, “Women don’t want to hear what you think. They just want to hear what they think… in a deeper voice.” But that’s true of us all. The purpose of the Bible isn’t just to confirm what you think. It’s God’s means of directing our steps, renewing our minds, shaping our lives… Notice too, the psalmist’s desire in verse 6 is to “look into ALL Your commandments.” He’s not content to know a little here, a little there. Paul reminded the Ephesian elders that he had given them “the whole counsel of God.” This is the psalmist’s desire to know all God’s Word.
I love this quote from AW Tozer, “The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.”
2 Timothy 3:16 tells us, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction…”
The Scriptures are the stairway to heaven. It takes us home to God.
We are called to know the whole bible, not just a bit here and a bit there but the whole thing.
