Pray the Psalms: Psalm 119 – Part 1

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[MUSIC PLAYING] Hi, this is Rick Hamlin, and this is Psalm 119. 

Now, I’ve been kind of dreading this psalm because it’s so long and there’s so much here. As always, I think we can break it up, and I’m going to break up this part with different videos, in about, sort of, 40 verses, 50 verses at a time. So here, the first 40 verses. 

Well, what is there here? It’s always good when you look at a psalm, just—what verse speaks to you, or what theme speaks to you? And there’s the theme here in Psalm 119 about following God’s statutes—following God’s laws. 

Well, when you follow a law, it’s not just because it’s good for you or because somebody said you should. As kids, we often hear—or say, it’s not fair. Or our kids say to us, it’s not fair. Well, the prayer here is, help me understand, God, why I should do this, why I should follow your law. And obviously, the law of God is the law of love. 

So listen. It’s “Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law. Yay, I shall observe it with my whole heart.” 

So it’s not just following laws because you’re told to, but it’s following something that is filled with love. I shall keep it with my heart, not with my head—but with my heart. 

Psalm 119. 

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