Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Resting In His Promises!
The Questions
1) How can the psalmist possibly say, “I will always keep them”? Surely, even the psalmist couldn’t keep all of the God’s commands.
2) What is significant about the structure of verses 33 and 34?
3) What benefits does the psalmist list for following God’s ways?
Psalm 119:33-38
Teach me, Lord, the meaning of your statutes,
and I will always keep them.
34 Help me understand your instruction,
and I will obey it
and follow it with all my heart.
35 Help me stay on the path of your commands,
for I take pleasure in it.
36 Turn my heart to your decrees
and not to dishonest profit.
37 Turn my eyes
from looking at what is worthless;
give me life in your ways.
38 Confirm what you said to your servant,
for it produces reverence for you.
Original Intent
1) How can the psalmist possibly say, “I will always keep them”? Surely, even the psalmist couldn’t keep all of the God’s commands.
Translating words from Hebrew (the original language of the Old Testament) to English is a challenging and critical task. The translations we use for study are extremely important (for more on why, check here!). At Gracefully Truthful, we study with the Christian Standard Bible, which holds tightly to the original words while also working to preserve the original intended meaning or idea. The original Hebrew for the phrase “I will always keep them” is not a direct word-for-word translation because doing so, would not have made grammatical sense. The word translated “keep” originally means “guard, protect, watch over, and preserve”. The word translated “always” originally had the context of a consequence for actions in a positive sense, as in earning a reward, or receiving a solid gain. In entirety, the original meaning would have meant something along the lines of “I will guard and protect them as my cherished reward or gain.” The psalmist most definitely didn’t mean he had the ability to follow every one of the Lord’s laws perfectly, rather that the Lord’s ways were precious and worth holding close, as a reward of extreme value and importance.
2) What is significant about the structure of verses 33 and 34?
Both of these verses display a logical if A, then B scenario. If the Lord teaches the meaning (or the pathway, as in showing how to succeed) of His statutes (or ways), then I will cherish them as rich reward and will guard them closely. (verse 33) If the Lord helps me understand and know and experience and grasp His instructions, then I will obey and follow wholeheartedly. (verse 34) The psalmist sets up a natural overflow of what happens in our hearts when we are taught by the Lord and when He helps us understand His Word. The result is delight and a life that is solidly built from a heart that takes pleasure in following the right paths of the Lord.
3) What benefits does the psalmist list for following God’s ways?
The psalmist finds delightful pleasure in following God’s ways. (verse 35) He receives the deep, rich “life” found only in God and His pattern of living. (verse 37) Reverence, awe, glory to God, and a deepening of intimate relationship between the psalmist and God is built when he sees the glories of the Lord unfolded as a result of following Him. (verse 38) Those are rich rewards for following the way of the Lord, which is revealed through His Word. Studying it, holding it near, being teachable to His instruction, and reaching out for help from God and His Word are all necessary components of finding these sweet benefits.
Everyday Application
1) How can the psalmist possibly say, “I will always keep them”? Surely, even the psalmist couldn’t keep all of the God’s commands.
Take a few minutes to consider how you view God’s word. What adjectives would you use to describe it from your perspective? How important would you say studying and reading God’s Word is based on today’s passage? The real question is, how do your actions reflect the reality of what you believe? When it comes to our walk with the Lord, we are exactly where we want to be, because of the choices we have made to be here. If you want to be closer, if you want to know His Word better, if you want to hold His Words as a reward, practice being in His Word. Daily. Consistently. Then watch Him do a great work in you!
2) What is significant about the structure of verses 33 and 34?
Reading the Bible can feel daunting and difficult to understand, but it doesn’t need to be. Even better, the Lord God wants you to know and understand His ways. But knowing Him is discovered and experienced when the Lord Himself is our teacher. We can fill our heads with endless learning and theological studies, but unless the Lord, through the Spirit, who uses the Word of God, is our teacher, our learning will be in vain. Podcasts, websites, devotional books, pastors, and Bible teachers can be great resources, but it all quickly becomes “just knowledge” if we are not continually digging into Scripture itself. Ask the Lord to teach, request His help in understanding, and He will build your life on a solid foundation.
3) What benefits does the psalmist list for following God’s ways?
The Bible is full of benefits to following God’s design for living life, which makes sense as He is the Author of life. In just this short passage, how have you experienced the benefits of delight, abundant life, and intimate relationship with the Lord? Slow down to fully answer that question and then turn it back in praise to the Savior for giving those gifts! If you hunger for more of these benefits with a longing for new and deeper perspectives on them, the pathway to enjoying them is simple: dwell deeply in the Word of the Lord.
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Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Resting In His Promises!
Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
Memorize It!
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Hmm, it makes a great difference when God is our teacher,He does not teach only knowledge, but gives us revelation of Himself.
I am blessed by this journey.
Thank you, Sarah! I LOVE how you stated this, “He gives us revelation of Himself”… with tears in my eyes, I KNOW this is true because I learn more of Him everytime I pray and open His words. What a faithful God He is!