Psalm 119.

So admit it…do you get nervous, or maybe worried about being bored, at the thought of reading through Psalm 119?  If you are

Thorncrown Chapel, near Eureka Springs, Arkansas where we spent our honeymoon. One of the most amazing chapels I have ever seen in my life. It was so beautiful and peaceful.

unfamiliar, this is the Psalm also known as the longest chapter in the Bible with 176 verses.  This chapter is all about God’s word – with it in our lives.  Or without it.

I’ll admit it.  It made me go cross-eyed once I got past verse ten or twenty, it seemed to be all the same.  Yes, yes, I get it.  Read God’s Word.  Obey God’s Word.  Check.  Double-check.  Next…

Then a dear friend challenged me to read Psalm 119 slowly and carefully and write out a list of the benefits of being in God’s word.  Intriguing.  Challenging.  And a LIST.  Now you’re speaking my language. I love lists.  So I started off on my adventure and was more, much more, pleasantly surprised than I thought would be.

I was floored.  I was changed.  My faith was reawakened from a restless nap and renewed.

Psalm 119 is a chapter rich with personal assurance and promises for every, and I mean every, situation in our lives.  It is also filled with praise and thanksgiving for God and His word.   What a fantastic combination!

I love to read through and/or handwrite my list periodically because the simple act of doing so is such a great reminder of all that I learned, not to mention a huge encouragement.  I’m not going to post my whole list because it is something very personal to me and you should do your own list (if you feel you should, of course).  But here’s how I started mine.

I read the following passage:

^1[a] Blessed are those whose^(A) way is blameless,
who^(B) walk in the law of the LORD!
²Blessed are those who^(C) keep his^(D) testimonies,
who^(E) seek him with their whole heart,
³who also^(F) do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
⁴You have commanded your^(G) precepts
to be kept diligently.
⁵Oh that my ways may^(H) be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
^6(I) Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
⁷I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn^(J) your righteous rules.^[b]
8I will keep your statutes;
^(K) do not utterly forsake me!

⁹How can^(L) a young man keep his way pure?

By guarding it according to your word.
^10(M) With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not^(N) wander from your commandments!
¹¹I have^(O) stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.

My beginning of my list, derived from those verses.

1.   I will be blessed, joyful, blameless, undefiled when I walk in the way of the Lord according to His word.

2.  I will be blessed by seeking Him with my whole heart and keeping His statutes.

3.  I will be unashamed.

4.  I will praise Him as I learn His ways.

5.  I will obey Him.

6.  I can keep my way pure by living according to Your word.

7.  Hiding Your word in my heart will help me to not sin against you.