Christian Living
Praying God’s Word Psalm 119
Hi, Faith-Writers I thank God for another opportunity to share His Word with you. God has led me to share the topic of “The Word of God” in my last article. We are going to continue to share more powerful information given to us in Psalm 119 about the Word of God. There’s so much information and revelation about the Power of God’s Word in Psalm 119. This is the longest Psalm in the Old Testament, it has 176 verses, and it’s divided up in 22 sections each section corresponding to the Hebrew alphabet which makes it easier to remember and meditate on it systematically by the Hebrews as well as believers today. The purpose of sharing it in this article is to enlighten the Body of Christ in the approach we should consider when it comes to praying God’s Word.
Your Word Your Precepts Your Statutes Your Commandments
The interesting part of Psalm 119 is the way they referred to God’s Word during their Prayer, Proclamation, Testimony, and Praise. The Psalmist always started or finished his prayer with the phrases; Your Word, Your Precepts, Your Statutes, Your Commandments, Your Testimonies, Your Law, Your Judgments, Your Ways and more… What’s the big deal about this you may ask? It doesn’t matter what phrase they used because all these phrases are in God’s Holy Word. In other words, God’s Word contains His Commandments, Laws, and His Precept’s and more…The thought is that we need to rightly interpret the Word of God when we are seeking to understand the appropriate application of it. It’s called rightly defining the Word of God.
Religion vs. Rightly Interpreted Passages of Scripture
I would like to point out that we should be conscious of how Scripture is used by the believers in the Old Testament. Many believers today tend to be religious in their application of the Book of Psalms. Some people will write the entire Psalm out on a piece of paper and tape it to the wall or carry it around for protection. I used to do these same practices until I began reading the Word of God and coming to revelation that this is not what God intends for us to practice.
We must carefully read the Psalms and see the appropriate application that we need to take to experience the Word of God in our lives as believers today.
Acknowledging the Correct Application
Another point we must consider when it comes to reading Psalm 119 is the areas in which the Psalmist applied the Scriptures. For example, when the Psalmist said, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word (Psalm 119:9 NKJV). The Psalmist wasn’t praying and asking God for insight to cleanse his way. The Psalmist acknowledged that the only way a young man can cleanse his way is by taking heed to God’s Word. What’s the difference? This is a statement in reference to the Psalmist revelation that he received way back when that gave him clear understanding of how we can experience God’s cleansing power—by taking heed to His Word (that is, by practically living it out!)
By taking heed to God’s Word we can cleanse our way today! This statement is a Biblical truth that we must acknowledge and practically apply today.
When we read Psalm 119 we will learn that the Psalmist didn’t just pray he did more than pray—the Psalmist Prayed, Proclaimed, shared a point, a principle, and a testimony to God’s goodness, power and blessing in his life. So we need to rightly interpret what the Psalmist shared.
A Principle of God’s Word
Here’s what a principle reads like; How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word (Psalm 119:9 NKJV) The Psalmist shared a Principle with us in this verse.
A Prayer of God’s Word
Here’s what a prayer reads like; With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You (Psalm 119:10-11 NKJV) This verse is a request in prayer to God and it is also a Proclamation of sincere dedication to God by way of Psalmist hiding God’s Word in his heart so he won’t sin against God. So by carefully considering each verse in Psalm 119 we have Principles, Prayers and Proclamations. The key is acknowledging how to rightly interpret which verse applies.
The Psalm 119 List of God’s Word
Last night the Holy Spirit taught me how to breakdown the phrases the Psalmist used to explain his encounter with God’s Word and how he related it to God’s Precepts, Statutes, Commandments, Righteous Judgments, Word, Testimonies and more… Here’s the list the Psalmist shared;
1. The phrase (Your Precepts) is quoted 20 times in verses—4, 15, 27, 40, 45, 56, 63, 69, 78, 87, 93, 94, 100, 104, 110, 128, 134, 141, 159 and 173.
2. The phrase (Your Statutes) is quoted 21 times in verses—5, 8, 12, 16, 23, 26, 33, 48, 64, 68, 71, 80, 83, 112, 117, 118, 124, 135, 145, 155, and 171.
3. The phrase (Your Commandments) is quoted 21 times in verses—6, 10, 19, 21, 32, 35, 47, 48, 60, 66, 73, 86, 96, 98, 127, 131, 143, 151, 166, 172 and 176.
4. The phrase (Your Righteous Judgments) is quoted 5 times in verses—7, 62, 106, 160 and 164.
5. The phrase (Your Word) is quoted 39 times in verses—9, 11, 16, 17, 25, 28, 38, 41, 42, 50, 57, 58, 65, 67, 74, 76, 81, 82, 89, 101, 103, 105, 107, 114, 116, 130, 133, 139, 140, 147, 148, 154, 158, 160, 161, 162, 169, 170 and 172.
6. The phrase (Your Mouth) is quoted 3 times in verses—13, 72 and 88.
7. The phrase (Your Testimonies) is quoted 21 times in verses—14, 22, 24, 31, 36, 46, 59, 79, 95, 99, 111, 119, 125, 129, 138, 144, 146, 152, 157, 167 and 168.
8. The phrase (Your Ways) is quoted 2 times in verses—15 and 37.
9. The phrase (Your Servant) is quoted 14 times in verses—17, 23, 38, 49, 65, 76, 84, 91, 122, 124, 125, 135, 140 and 176.
10. The phrase (Your Law) is quoted 23 times in verses—18, 29, 34, 44, 51, 53, 55, 61, 70, 77, 85, 92, 97, 109, 113, 126, 136, 142, 150, 153, 163, 165 and 174.
11. The phrase (Your Judgments) is quoted 11 times in verses—20, 30, 39, 52, 75, 102, 108, 120, 137, 156 and 175.
12. The phrase (Your Wonderful Works) is quoted once in verse 27.
13. The phrase (Your Righteousness) is quoted twice in verses 40 and 142.
14. The phrase (Your Ordinances) is quoted twice in verses 43 and 91.
15. The phrase (Your Name) is quoted twice in verses 55 and 132.
16. The phrase (Your Favor) is quoted once in verse 58.
17. The phrase (Your Mercy) is quoted twice in verses 64 and 124.
18. The phrase (Your Hands) is quoted twice in verses 73 and 173.
19. The phrase (Your Merciful Kindness) is quoted once in verse 76.
20. The phrase (Your Tender Mercies) is quoted twice in verses 77 and 156.
21. The phrase (Your Salvation) is quoted 4 times in verses—81, 123, 166 and 174.
22. The phrase (Your Loving-kindness) is quoted 3 times in verses—88, 149 and 159.
23. The phrase (Your Faithfulness) is quoted once in verse 90.
24. The phrase (Your Righteous Word) is quoted once in verse 123.
25. The phrase (Your Custom) is quoted once in verse 132.
26. The phrase (Your Justice) is quoted once in verse 149.
The Purpose of the List
The point of making this list is not to impress you with a long boring list. Its design to enlighten us to several things;
1. The Psalmist always referred back to God’s Word.
2. The Psalmist always acknowledged God’s Divine ability during his challenges.
3. The Psalmist either Prayed, Proclaimed, Testified or just explained the Power of God’s Word that had a tremendous impact in his life.
The more we read Psalm 119 the better we will get a handle on understanding which verse applies to our particular situation and we can carefully apply it where it’s needed.
Applying Psalm 119
We all experience battles with mental and emotion stress and sometimes we may experience an emotional meltdown. The Psalmist experienced the same thing. So what did he do to overcome the challenge of emotional turmoil? The Psalmist prayed these verses;
My soul clings to the dust; Revive me according to Your Word (Psalm 119:25 NKJV)
My soul melts from heaviness; Strengthen me according to Your Word (Psalm 119:28 NKJV)
We can pray these prayers for ourselves when we are encountering the emotional turmoil that the Psalmist experienced. The practical applications in Psalm 119 is given to us in detail to single out the solution to our problems and how to deal with our problems spiritually and through prayer like the Psalmist did. We only need to add the name of Jesus after the verses we quoted or prayed. May God bless you to be a prayer warrior like the Psalmist who prayed in Psalm 119, in Jesus name, amen.
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