Look on my affliction and deliver me,
for I do not forget your law.
154 Plead my cause and redeem me;
give me life according to your promise!
155 Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek your statutes.
156 Great is your mercy, O LORD;
give me life according to your rules.
If the above Scripture reference looks strange to you with three triple-digit numbers, it is because Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible and it is entirely about the Scriptures. Here, the psalmist proclaims that he does not forget God’s law found in the Torah. If we look at the rest of the psalm we will find that he does not merely remember to meditate on the law but he enjoys it and looks forward to it. That makes a big difference in the way we see the Bible and its author. Do we love him and his word or just tolerate him?
Verse 156 shows us why we should love him entirely. Because he first loved us with his great mercy. He does not love us or give us life based on our obedience to his statutes but on his grace to us. The lost of this world are far from him because they have not been taught his ways or his word. The need for Bible teaching grows by the day as the world plunges toward the end. How different life is for us who know that God’s Revelation promises life and deliverance from our afflictions because of the cross of Jesus!
Dear Lord, thank you for the difference in our lives because of hope. We pray for those without hope, that we would show them Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church