Day 193

Psalm 119.  “Shaped by the Word of God”

         Psalm 119 is the longest psalm, and an acrostic where every eight verses begin with each successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Out of nearly 200 verses, all but two do not directly or by inference refer to the word of God. Its emphasis is clearly on the value of the word of God in the life of believers, and it is this psalm that helped change the direction of my life.
         I knew about God from the time I was young, but I would not say it affected my life greatly until I was only weeks from graduating high school. At that point I heard a pastor speak on verse 11 of Psalm 119, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
         Within this one verse we can see that the psalmist is sharing principles he has learned that help him avoid sin: 1) The psalmist desired not to sin. 2) The psalmist would have continued in sin if nothing was done. 3) The psalmist emphasized how sin came from the inner self. 4) The psalmist opened his heart to the Word of God. 5) The psalmist allowed the Word of God to shape his decisions.

General Questions for each day:
Summarize the day’s Bible passage in your own words.
What thoughts, actions, attitudes or beliefs are addressed in the passage?
How is the Holy Spirit leading you to apply this passage to your life today?