Savoring the Scripture

It Is Good For Me That I Was Afflicted  Psalm 119:65-72  Faith can make use of the waters of affliction to swim faster to Christ. Thomas Watson  "It is good for me that I was afflicted" (119:71). What enables a man or woman to say this? Trouble, distress, affliction. These usually cause our shoulders to droop a bit more and our hearts to start complaining. How can we have a perspective that sees our affliction as good? In the hardships we face right now, can we see anything profitable? In Psalm 119:65-72, the psalmist shows us truth that can shape our view of affliction. He shows us God's good character, God's good Word, and God's good work. We will walk through these and see how the psalmist can conclude that his affliction was indeed good for him. With the eyes of faith, we too can look at our affliction as good. Earlier in the psalms, it tells us that those who know God's name put their trust in Him (9:10). To know His name is to know His character. In this...

A Prayer of Examination Psalm 119:57-64 I misconstrued dependence on the Holy Spirit to mean I was to make no effort, that I had no responsibility…But this is not God’s way. He makes provision for our holiness, but He gives us the responsibility of using those provisions. Jerry Bridges The New Year is regularly a time for reflection. We look at our lives over the last year, perhaps longer, and we reevaluate. What did we do well? What changes do we need to make? What things would we like to accomplish this coming year? Self-reflection is helpful, and for the believer, considering our ways should be done regularly. Like the psalmist, we need to think on our ways and turn our feet to the Lord’s testimonies (Psalm 119:59).    As the psalmist calls us to think on our ways, Paul, in 2 Corinthians 13:5, calls believers to examine themselves. "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in ...

A Prayer for Comfort in Affliction  Psalm 119:49-56 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly… ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭1‬-2a For the souls weighed down by oppression and affliction, they long for comfort and rest. Questions may rise. Does God care? How long will this last? Will I feel this way forever? Will my sorrow ever come to an end? Will I feel joy again? What comfort can be mine now in the midst of my suffering? God cares for the afflicted For twenty years Jacob suffered at the hand of his oppressor. Deceived and cheated many times, Laban's authority and power over him put Jacob in a position of vulnerability. At times, he was even fearful. The story of Laban’s mistreatment of Jacob can be found in Genesis 29-31. Truly, these years were years of affliction for Jacob. But God had given him a promise, "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you...

Brick Upon Brick—the formative power of our words Psalm 119:41-48 Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Proverbs 18:21 Refreshing. Encouraging. Uplifting. Gracious. Comforting. Wise. Tender. Gentle. Embracing. Soothing. Calming. Understanding. Joyful. Life-giving. If you’ve ever been with someone and walked away feeling their words imparted something of that list, you leave the conversation a little lighter, more joyful, and refreshed. And in your soul, you know that to speak in such a life-giving way is a blessing and treasure to those who benefit from it. As believers, this is our call and aim. We are to speak to others in such a way that our words lift others up, impart grace, and they leave our presence refreshed. If metaphorically another person was a building, would our words be carefully placed bricks, building them up? Or are our words chisels or sledgehammers, destroying and breaking one another down? Paul encourages us to consider our words carefully. In Ephesians 4:...

Turn My Eyes from Worthless Things Psalm 119:33-40 The glowing screen on my phone projects into my eyes the desires and loves that live in the most abstract corners of my heart and soul, finding visible expression in pixels of images, video, and text for me to see and consume and type and share. This means that whatever happens on my smartphone, especially under the guise of anonymity, is the true exposé of my heart, reflected in full-color pixels back into my eyes. Tony Reinke, 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You   Screens. Screens. Screens. It seems everywhere we turn in our homes and elsewhere we are inundated with screens. Handheld devices. TVs. Computers. In our society, and increasingly many more, digital devices with immediate access to anything our heart and eyes desire is becoming the norm. This is not a post about the absolute evil of technology, because technology and our access and sharing of knowledge and information has proved useful and instrumental for good purposes....

A Prayer for Strength in Times of Sorrow Psalm 119:25-32 When through the deep waters I call thee to go, The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow; For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,  And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress. "How Firm a Foundation"  Abraham Lincoln wrote, “In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to us all.” We live in a sad world, a broken world, cursed and marred by the fall of Adam. It is not only sad as if there could be no happiness, but it remains true that sorrow comes to us all. Sin has left its mark on this world and on each one of us. We all know someone walking a sorrowful road, or perhaps we are on one ourselves. For the believer, we too know sorrow, but we also know the Man of Sorrows, who is acquainted with grief. Not just grief in general, but He is personally, intimately acquainted with our grief. We do not carry this burden of sorrow alone. "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried" (Isaiah 53:4 NAS...

A Prayer for Understanding Psalm 119:17-24 I pray Psalm 119:18 each time I go to the Bible, “Open my eyes that I may behold wonders in your law.”  I'm asking specifically that I would have spiritual eyes to see what is wonderful as wonderful. And don't think that it doesn't matter that you read glorious things without seeing them as glorious. It matters, and therefore we should plead with God to open our eyes. John Piper Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, prayed “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened” (Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭17‬-‭18‬). Paul knew that in order for the Ephesian believers to truly understand the things of God, they would need the Lord to enable their spiritual understanding. The physical ears, eyes, and mind may be fully engaged and functioning, but without the enabling power of God, His Word will fall on deaf ears and hard ...

Guard Your Way Psalm 119:9-16 In ancient times, a strong wall surrounding a city was a necessity. The wall protected the city from invasion and infiltration of the enemy. The wall was built to be both tall and thick. Broken down or weak areas were quickly repaired. But what if there was no wall? What if, instead of heavy gates to keep enemies out, the way was open or the walls crumbling? The danger would rise exponentially. Similarly, in what way are you guarding your heart, your mind, your way? Are you just coasting and hoping the enemy doesn’t do too much damage when he attacks? Are you ignorant that there’s even a spiritual battle going on? Or are you building a strong, thick protection for yourself built with the promises of His Word? The psalmist in Psalm 119:9-16 longs to keep his way pure and to not sin against his Lord. He recognizes the tactics of the enemy. If the enemy breaks through his defenses, weakens his resolve, infiltrates his heart, then the enemy will have the upper...

A Prayer for Obedience Psalm 119:1-8 There is no hope of obedience to Him in our actions unless He is enshrined in our affections. Spurgeon Israel’s first king, Saul, is the classic illustration for the importance of obedience to the Lord. Many are familiar with the Samuel’s words, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel‬ ‭15‬:‭22‬). The Lord had commanded Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites. Yet, when Saul had defeated them, he spared the king and the best of the animals. Being deceived in his own mind, Saul thought his disobedience was excusable, even acceptable and honorable, because he had disobeyed in order to use the animals as a sacrifice to the Lord. However, his disobedience showed his heart for the Lord. Samuel called Saul’s disobedience “evil in the sight of the Lord”(15:19) and told Saul, “You have rejected the word of the...

A Prayer When Suffering Seems Without Boundaries Psalm 118 "And I placed boundaries on it and set a bolt and doors, And I said, “Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop" (Job 38:10-11 NASBS). The Lord spoke these words to Job explaining His mighty power and ruling of all things. The boundaries the Lord set on the seas and oceans were not the only things He hemmed in with His power and authority. If you read through Job 38-40, it is astounding to think of all the things our Lord governs. He laid the foundations of the earth, commands the morning and causes the dawn to know its place, He reserves storehouses of snow and hail for His appointed time, He divides the light and directs the wind, brings rain, and makes seeds sprout. He wisely governs all these things. Not only did God show His power to place limitations on the created world, but also in the story of Job, He demonstrates His power and right to exercise a restraining hand on the su...