A Work of Art

A Work Of Art (Submitted by Pastor Gary)

Psalm 119:1-8 Aleph

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart! They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways. You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commandments. I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments. I will keep Your statutes; oh, do not forsake me utterly!”

Psalm 119 is a work of art! It is an acrostic using the twenty two letters of the Hebrew alphabet to begin each section and each verse with in the section. It is written in couplets- eight couplets per section. The author is anonymous, although many believe it to be the priest, Ezra. The beauty of its construction is matched only by the profound truths and theology expressed. The first section, Aleph, contains five directive admonitions:

The first is to walk. If we walk in His ways we will be undefiled, a word that means unblemished or kept from being dirtied or damaged. We are also promised a blessing when we walk in the way of the Lord and keep His testimonies. When His testimonies are kept, our lives become a testimony through His showing of blessings.

The second is to seek. Jesus said that if we seek Him with our whole heart, we will find Him. He also said that if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness then all these things (earthy needs and desires) will be added to us. We see a similar admonition here in Psalms 119, that if we seek the Lord with our whole heart we will be blessed.

The third admonition mentioned is to look. “When I look into your commandments.” This has the inference of studying or investigating: to look, evaluate, meditate, or decipher. When you find out what you are supposed to be doing and how you are supposed to be acting, and you apply it, it keeps you from making a fool of yourself.

The fourth is to praise. Praise does so much! Not only does praise remind us of who we are and who He is, it also moves the heart of God. We are told elsewhere in the Scripture that God inhabits our praise. He is touched and responds when we praise Him. It is much like the hearts of earthly parents that are moved when we have done something special for our children and we see a grateful attitude in their hearts. We want to bless them even more.

The fifth admonition of this section is to learn. To be able to learn means that one must be teachable, to have a teachable spirit. We have lost, for the most part, a desire for learning in our culture. We have turned learning into a need, a requirement, or an obligation, instead of it being a privilege, opportunity, or passion. It gives us the confidence to faces tests knowing that we have the knowledge to pass the test with flying colors. The psalmist said with confidence, “I will keep Your statutes.” He could make that declaration because he had learned what His statutes were. We can face life confidently if we will embrace a passion for learning. These are five admonitions found in the first section of Psalms 119. There are twenty one sections left. What a power-pact piece of literature. It truly is a work of art.