Morning Moments

GIMEL – The third letter of twenty two in the Hebrew alphabet is the title of this section.
Psalm 119:17-24
Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. 18Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. 19I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. 20My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. 21Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments. 22Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies. 23Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. 24Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.

The eightfold Gimel. This is his life's aim: he will do it under fear of the curse of apostasy; he will do it also though he suffer persecution on account of it.Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament - Commentary on the Old Testament – Volume 5: Psalms.

From the Word of God we can see the benefits of blessing and the burdens of betrayal that life brings, so the follower of the LORD wants to long experience the bountiful blessings of believing the Word. Our desire is to have the Holy Spirit open the Word to us by opening our eyes to it. We are mere pilgrims with a map, journeying through a foreign land contemplating all the wonders of Father’s instructions.

When I was a boy, travelling with my parents, my mom would always point out the beauty of our journey. She may say, “Look at that big red barn. Do you see any animals?” In that same way, we travel through the world our Father made that is filled with amazing attractions. That is also how we view the utterly astounding Word of God. We do not want to miss a thing.

This inexplicable longing overcomes us as we see over and over again the astounding justice of God as He corrects and convicts and chastises those who are so easily distracted and wander off path in the pain of thorns and the plight of terror by not staying focused upon His Word.

The psalmist asks that he may be protected from shame and disgrace as he keeps the commands of God. Regardless of the position and power of those who may speak against him, his focus will continually be upon decrees of the Word of God which serve as his counselors in whom he delights.

When life seems to have us down, we must trust God to lifts up. When words and ways of others crush us, God will carry us up on eagle’s wings. “Who shall lay ANYTHING to the charge of God’s elect? It is God who declares us righteous, for CHRIST is our righteousness; and if God be for us WHO can be against us?”

I love verse 26 when the psalmist says, I told you about my life and you listened to me. WOW! How open God wants us to be with Him…and we CAN be without fear. I like to think of it this way: We all have stored away in the basement, the attic, or the closet, a suitcase full of garbage (past deeds, desires, dreams, or whatever). We have put them away, hidden them, but WE know where they are. But when we open up to God, He takes the baggage of blackness and makes it blessings of light. Hallelujah!

So, he says, “Teach me so that I may understand the meaning of your principles, precepts, promises, and purposes and continually reflect upon them.

We may be talked about, taunted, terrorized and tempted, but we MUST stay TRUE.


BLESSINGS!