Psalm 119:25-32

DALETH – the fourth letter of the Hebrew Alphabet

The psalmist continues to sing his praises to God for his Word, doing so by starting each “verse” in this 8 verse “poem” with the letter DALETH. I want us to focus in on 3 of these 8 verses in particular today. They are:

I lie in the dust; revive me by Your word.

(Psalms 119:25)

I weep with sorrow; encourage me by Your word.

(Psalms 119:28)

I cling to Your laws. LORD, don't let me be put to shame!

(Psalms 119:31)

Just looking at these 3 verses, we see that when a person is:

SPIRITUALLY DRY – The Lord can revive them; but the vehicle through which He often does this is HIS WORD. Maybe you have had this kind of experience before… spiritually you feel like your sucking dust, you’re in a desert place and you long for a drink of water. The Word of God is no Mirage… it is a FOUNTAIN of life, a RIVER of living water. All we have to do is be faithful to turn to it, to open it’s pages and open our hearts, and the Lord will speak and REVIVE us. The King James uses the word QUICKEN to describe what God’s word does… I like that, it gives us the impression of a dead thing being INFUSED with life.

SPIRITUALLY WEIGHED DOWN – The Lord can relieve the burden! God’s word offers us both strength and encouragement. We go through times of sorrow, times when as the King James puts it, “our soul melts with heaviness”. At these times we often cry out to the Lord for RELIEF, when what the Lord really wants is to GIVE US STRENGTH TO BEAR THE BURDEN. When we turn to His word in these times, He is able to give us strength that can come from no other place! My friends, seek God in times of difficulty, and do it by opening his word.

Notice the attitude of the Psalmist… because he knows that the Lord can do these things through His word, HE CLINGS TO THE LAW OF THE LORD! My friends, are you clinging to God’s Word? Are you hanging on to it for dear life, or is your relationship to it casual? I pray that as we continue to study this Psalm it would cause all of us to fall more in love with the Bible, and recognize the central role it should play in our lives.