Psalm 119:25-32 Daleth
Daleth - Determination to obey the Law of God
My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!
When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes!
Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!
Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law!
I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.
I cling to your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!
Daleth is the fourth letter of the Hebrew Alphabet.
Just as a reminder, Psalm 119 was originally written as an acrostic poem with each of the eight verses in the stanza starting with the letter Daleth.
Rabbin Deborah Brandt points out in her book “A Devotional Study in Psalm 119” that while verses 25-32 remind each of us to obey the Law of God, Leviticus 19:18 puts it simply “You shall love your neighbor as yourself".”
So then building out the message of the gospel using all the first four Hebrew letters we see, Alpha pointing to Torah, Beth pointing to divine services, Gimel pointing to acts of kindness, and Daleth pointing to fellowship with God and His people. We see a continuation of this teaching when Jesus silenced the Jewish leaders when they tried to test him in Matthew 22:34-40.
Charles Spurgeon characterizes Psalm 119:25-32 as a lament with this observation of the Psalmist’s disposition:
“bondage to earthly things in which he finds his mind to be held.”
“His soul cleaves to the dust, melts for heaviness, and cries to be released from it spiritual prison. In these verses, we will see the influence of the divine Word on the heart which laments it downward tendencies and is filled with mourning because of its deadening surroundings. The Word of the Lord evidently arouses prayer (verses 25-29), confirms choice (verse 30), and inspires renewed resolve (verse 32).”
“…it sings of depression, in the spirit of devotion, determination, and dependence.”
These verses give me such hope. It puts into words my conflicting emotions of feeling down and near defeat while still being “we are more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37). It refocuses my eyes off of myself and onto God and others. These verses show me what it looks like to talk with God reminding me that it is a two-way conversation, it is a relationship. On a daily basis, God reveals Himself to me through His Word, wise people in my life, circumstances and I talk to him in prayer because we have a relationship.
Often I meet with folks who are somewhat puffed up by their Bible intake and struggle with applying what they have learned in relationship to God and others. Some folks I talk to have a nearly opposite problem. They are rarely in their Bible, say they pray often, but do not know the God of the Bible. One of God’s desires is to be known and He accomplishes this primarily by revealing Himself to us through His Word.
God has promised that we will be “conformed into the image of the Son” (Romans 8:29). That means not only do we know Him better and know what He said about Himself, but we also need to be open to love those people God puts in our path each day. We are called to love God and love others. Both! Not “either or” but “both and.” Not according to my personality type or love language! We are “to be conformed.”
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. — Romans 8:29 ESV
In summary, we are called to obedience to God’s Word even when we may be experiencing a kaleidoscope of emotions at any one time. As God’s children, we focus ourselves on God and others, we lament our circumstances and emotions, and we pray God’s promise to conform us into the image of Jesus.
Please do not misunderstand, these are not four steps to eternal life. Once you receive the saving grace through faith alone, this is a glimpse what the daily Christian life looks like.
Thomas Watson in “The Saint’s Spiritual Delight” (1657) had this to say concerning the law…
“it is not how much we do, but how much we love; hypocrites may obey God’s law, but the saints love his law; this carries away the garland” – p.12
God, only You provide rich, simple insights into life because You are the author of life. You are the all-perfect, all-powerful, all-loving, all-knowing Creator. You knew me before I was born, you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. Nothing good exist that You did not create. Keep my feet on the path that leads to life. Keep me obedient to Your Word. Amen
In session application questions:
When are the times you allow yourself to give way to your feelings and forget to remind yourself of gospel truth.
What are situations that you find yourself thinking only about either “God but not neighbor” or just “neighbor and not God?”
What does self-talk sound like when you are “in your head” and your emotions are swirling?
Out of session homework:
Practice starting each day and seeing it as a gift from God. One that will go perfectly according to His plan and observe what you see differently. Be prepared to have to remind yourself often throughout the day to are doing this exercise.
When you find your emotions overwhelming your thoughts, consider stopping and reversing the pattern. Try to take gospel truths and reframe your emotions.
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