Psalm 119

English Standard Version

Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet

Aleph

Before the first verse of Psalm 119, which is a very long psalm, we will find a marker identifying each section. In this case it is Aleph. Just for curiosities sake, since I did not know what it meant, I looked it up in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.

Aleph: a’-lef (‘): The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It is nearly soundless itself and best represented, as in this Encyclopedia, by the smooth breathing (‘), but it is the direct ancestor of the Greek, Latin and English “a” as in “father.” In either case this beginning of the alphabet happens to be near the very basis of all speech-in one case the simple expiration of breath, in the other the simplest possible vocal action-the actual basis from which all other vowels are evolved. It became also the symbol for the number one (1) and, with the dieresis, 1,000. It is the symbol also for one of the most famous of Greek Biblical manuscripts, the Codex Sinaiticus.

Nearly soundless. Open your mouth slightly and exhale. That is the sound of breath, the first indicator of the existence of life. When you call 9-1-1 because of a medical emergency the first thing the operator asks is “Are they breathing?”

Genesis 2:7 English Standard Version (ESV) then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Our system for finding scriptures is numerical. Romans 3:30 tells us God is One which implies that the Triune God is in harmony, of one mind, in agreement. Here in Psalm 119 the identifiers are not numerical, they are alphabetical. The first letter tells us of something significant in what God does by breathing life into the scriptures.

Praise God for all the resources that came before us.

1 Timothy 4:16 English Standard Version (ESV) Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

The primary definition of the Greek word for persist is “to abide in”, “to tarry”.

Today I was in a conversation with a Chess Club leader who asked me to join his club. While I was grateful for the invitation I declined stating that my memory skills are not what they once were. When I penned these words I saw in them a spiritual truth. “Memory is like any other muscle, if you do not exercise it regularly, it weakens.”

Paul’s exhortation to Timothy was to persist in bible reading and teaching and to keep a close watch on himself. I believe that what Paul was referring to when he said to keep a close watch on ourselves is to make sure that none of our life skills have declined. This goes for all aspects of this life in Christ, not just memory.

In saying we can save ourselves, we must remember that salvation is not a one and done deal. We are saved daily, that the Holy Spirit is an active agent of change for our own good and the good of others.

Why would we want to give up our climb to the top just because we are winded in any moment?

The natural order of humanity is deterioration. When I was sixteen I ran three miles every day. Now at seventy-five I have to will myself to walk two miles. I ran as a teen for the fun of it. I walk now for my health. Attitude is as much a part of this life in Christ as our physical conditioning.

Life skills in Christ are subject to our will to be persistent. Take on the attitude that “I’m already there” and we will not get to experience what Christ has waiting for us around the corner.