Longing for Your Salvation

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Tim Farley

Photo by Nikolay Draganov on Pexels.com

Reading the Word

Psalm 119:121–128 (ESV)

¹²¹ I have done what is just and right; do not leave me to my oppressors. ¹²² Give your servant a pledge of good; let not the insolent oppress me. ¹²³ My eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise. ¹²⁴ Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes. ¹²⁵ I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies! ¹²⁶ It is time for the Lord to act, for your law has been broken. ¹²⁷ Therefore I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold. ¹²⁸ Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way.

Understanding and Applying the Word

The psalmist declares that his “eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.” He desires that God will come and judge the world with righteousness and justice. The psalmist is facing oppression from those who do not know the Lord or follow the Lord’s word. So, it is time for God to act and save his people.

In every age, the people of God have faced rejection and persecution on some level. Some face mocking and loss of family and friend relationships. Others may face public shaming or ostracism from the community. And some face harsh consequences including imprisonment or death. It is not easy to live out the word of God in our lives. For some, it is extremely difficult.

However, for the believer, we place our hope in the salvation that God has promised to those who trust in him. The Bible tells us that if we trust in the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ for our sins against God we will be saved. Through Christ, our sins are paid for. And for those who trust in the Lord, we receive the promise of an eternity with God in a new heaven and new earth where sin has received its final judgment and is no more. So, we too long for the salvation that God has promised and wait for him to act.

**Shaped by the Word is a daily Bible reading devotional. Please use the links at the bottom to subscribe to this page. You can also share this post with your friends through social media using the buttons below. Thanks for reading!

My Hiding Place

Posted on November 14, 2018 by Tim Farley

Reading the Word

Psalm 119:113–120 (ESV) ¹¹³ I hate the double-minded, but I love your law. ¹¹⁴ You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word. ¹¹⁵ Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God. ¹¹⁶ Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope! ¹¹⁷ Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually! ¹¹⁸ You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain. ¹¹⁹ All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies. ¹²⁰ My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.

Understanding and Applying the Word

The double-minded, evildoers, and wicked disregard the commands of God. However, those who fear God and his judgments seek to live according to God’s word. In so doing, they find hope and a place of refuge.There are ultimately two ways to live our lives. We can live according to the way we decide or we can live according to what God has said in his word. These options are the same as they have been since the garden of Eden in Genesis 3. There, the first man and woman decided to live their own way and disobey God. Mankind has been in rebellion against God ever since.The world will tell you that it is best and most fulfilling to follow your own path. God’s word tells us that this way is actually the path to destruction, not fulfillment. It is only through God’s word, his instruction to us, that we find hope. It is those who trust in God’s salvation through Jesus Christ that look forward to eternal life. What are you looking for to fulfill you? Turn to God’s word. It is the only place you will find what you seek.**Shaped by the Word is a daily Bible reading devotional. Please use the links at the bottom to subscribe to this page. You can also share this post with your friends through social media using the buttons below. Thanks for reading!

A Lamp to My Feet

Posted on November 13, 2018 by Tim Farley

Reading the Word

Psalm 119:105–112 (ESV)

¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. ¹⁰⁶ I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules. ¹⁰⁷ I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word! ¹⁰⁸ Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules. ¹⁰⁹ I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. ¹¹⁰ The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. ¹¹¹ Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. ¹¹² I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.

Understanding and Applying the Word

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” These are the opening words of today’s reading. By these words, the psalmist tells us that it is God’s word that guides him safely in life. Without the light of God’s word, we are left to wander in darkness and drift away from the path.

As we live in this world, we are presented with a variety of ways to live. Just go to any bookstore and look at the self-help books, psychology books, and counseling publications. There are many who claim to have the secret to living a full and happy life. But it is God who tells us what is truly fulfilling. It is God, the Creator, who tells us the true way to live. And God does does this through his word. When we live in obedience to God, we find that God’s word is not a burden, but brings joy to our hearts (v. 111).

How Sweet Are Your Words

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Tim Farley

Reading the Word

Psalm 119:97–104 (ESV)

⁹⁷ Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. ⁹⁸ Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. ⁹⁹ I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. ¹⁰⁰ I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. ¹⁰¹ I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. ¹⁰² I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. ¹⁰³ How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! ¹⁰⁴ Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

Understanding and Applying the Word

What should be our attitude towards the word of God? Is it something we need to concern ourselves with simply because we need to know what God wants from us? Is it something that we devote time to out of requirement alone? This was not the psalmist’s mindset!

The psalmist writes that he loves God’s law and he meditates on it all the time! God’s word brings wisdom, understanding, and directs our steps. Rather than being an obligation, God’s word is sweeter than honey. It is wonderful!

As you pick up your Bible each day to read, remind yourself that you are reading the words that the God of all things, who created you and loves you so much that he sent his Son into the world for you, wrote down for you to know him and love him. Let us treasure his word through love, not obligation, because his word is sweet and wonderful.

Your Word Is Firmly Fixed

Posted on November 11, 2018 by Tim Farley

Psalms

Thanks for reading Shaped by the Word. This is a daily Bible-reading devotional. While I do not publish devotional material on Sundays, I do include a suggested Scripture reading. Be sure to subscribe to this page or follow this page on Facebook so you can read along each day. We are reading through the Book of Psalms in 2018.

Reading the Word

Psalm 119:89–96 (ESV)

⁸⁹ Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. ⁹⁰ Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. ⁹¹ By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants. ⁹² If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. ⁹³ I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. ⁹⁴ I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts. ⁹⁵ The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies. ⁹⁶ I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad.

I Hope in Your Word

Posted on November 10, 2018 by Tim Farley

Reading the Word

Psalm 119:81–88 (ESV)

⁸¹ My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word. ⁸² My eyes long for your promise; I ask, “When will you comfort me?” ⁸³ For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes. ⁸⁴ How long must your servant endure? When will you judge those who persecute me? ⁸⁵ The insolent have dug pitfalls for me; they do not live according to your law. ⁸⁶ All your commandments are sure; they persecute me with falsehood; help me! ⁸⁷ They have almost made an end of me on earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts. ⁸⁸ In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.

Understanding and Applying the Word

Sometimes life is hard. It may even feel like you cannot go any further. This is how the psalmist felt. Listen as he says, “My soul longs for your salvation…My eyes long for your promise.” Here we read of one who is desperate for God to intervene.

As we read the feelings of the psalmist, let us not miss what sustains him through his trouble. It is because his hope is in God’s word and in the promises that God has made that he is able to persevere. Though the world is seemingly against him, he remains steadfast in living according to God’s word and waiting for the promises to be fulfilled.

This is what faith is all about. It is trusting in the word of God no matter what. It is believing the promises of God and living according to his word. It is believing that God is saving his people through his Son, Jesus Christ, and that one day he will gather his people to be with him forever. And faith is what gives us the strength to persevere in this word until we reach the next one where sin and suffering are no more. Do you trust the word of God?

You Have Made Me

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Tim Farley

Reading the Word

Psalm 119:73–80 (ESV)

⁷³ Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments. ⁷⁴ Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word. ⁷⁵ I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. ⁷⁶ Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant. ⁷⁷ Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight. ⁷⁸ Let the insolent be put to shame, because they have wronged me with falsehood; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts. ⁷⁹ Let those who fear you turn to me, that they may know your testimonies. ⁸⁰ May my heart be blameless in your statutes, that I may not be put to shame!

Understanding and Applying the Word

When you use a product, how do you learn to use it to its full potential? You read the manual. The manual is written by the designers of the product and it makes sense that they would know best how to use it.

God has made and fashioned us (cf. verse 73). Therefore, we should pay careful attention to his word to us that tells us how to live. This is why the psalmist desires understanding of God’s word. He wants to put it into practice because it is what is best. And when we live according to God’s word, we become a witness to the world of God’s greatness (verse 74).

Do you want to live a full and meaningful life? You will not find it by chasing after the world’s ideas. You will only find it by living according to God’s word. This is what Jesus meant in Matthew 16:24-25:

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Are you ready to follow the instructions of the One who formed and fashioned you? Commit yourself to reading his word and ask him to teach you his ways. There is nothing more satisfying.

The Good of Affliction

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Tim Farley

Photo by burak kostak on Pexels.com

Reading the Word

Psalm 119:65–72 (ESV)

⁶⁵ You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word. ⁶⁶ Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. ⁶⁷ Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. ⁶⁸ You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. ⁶⁹ The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts; ⁷⁰ their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law. ⁷¹ It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. ⁷² The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

Understanding and Applying the Word

The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines affliction as “a cause of pain or harm.” Why then does the author of Psalm 119 says in verse 71 that “It is good for me that I was afflicted?” After all, who likes to suffer?

The psalmist speaks of the good of affliction because it was through suffering at the hands of others that he turned to the word of God. As he was facing pain, he found hope through the promises of God. This is why the psalm ends by saying, “The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.”

Are you hurting or facing your own affliction? Turn to the promises of God that are recorded in his word. Know that God is faithful and always keeps his promises. And remember that he is good and does good (cf. verse 68).

Keeping Your Commandments

Posted on November 7, 2018 by Tim Farley

Knowledge Book Library Glasses Textbook

Reading the Word

Psalm 119:57–64 (ESV)

⁵⁷ The Lord is my portion; I promise to keep your words. ⁵⁸ I entreat your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise. ⁵⁹ When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies; ⁶⁰ I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments. ⁶¹ Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law. ⁶² At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous rules. ⁶³ I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts. ⁶⁴ The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes!

Understanding and Applying the Word

Why do we devote ourselves to God’s word? That we might know it. And we desire to know it, not so we can answer trivia questions about it or win debates, but so we can live according to its teachings! This is the desire of the psalmist in these verses. He states, “I promise to keep your words,” and “I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandment.”

As you read your Bible, do not just do it so you can check off an item on your daily list or so you can gather more interesting information. We need to read our Bibles so we know who God is, what he has done, and so we might know how to live for him. We need to allow the word to impact our hearts, not just fill our brains. As we pick up God’s word each day, let us pray that God would use it to change us for his glory.

My Comfort in Affliction

Posted on November 6, 2018 by Tim Farley

Photo by Lynnelle Richardson on Pexels.com

Reading the Word

Psalm 119:49–56 (ESV)

⁴⁹ Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. ⁵⁰ This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. ⁵¹ The insolent utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law. ⁵² When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O Lord. ⁵³ Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake your law. ⁵⁴ Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning. ⁵⁵ I remember your name in the night, O Lord, and keep your law. ⁵⁶ This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts.

Understanding and Applying the Word

Going through difficult circumstances is not easy for anyone. It can bring stress, worry, fear, and a host of other emotions that we would rather not experience. Such circumstances can be even more difficult if they are caused or made worse by others who purposely wish to harm us. This is the situation with the psalmist in these verses. His is under attack from others who seek his harm.

Even though he is under attack, the psalmist remains hopeful. Why? Because he trusts in the word of God. He believes that God will be faithful to do what he has promised to do. The word of God brings the psalmist hope, life, comfort, and singing in the midst of difficulty. We too can face our circumstances in the same way. We too can trust in God’s word, knowing he will fulfill his promises to his people. When we do this, we are prepared to face whatever life may send our way and we can do so with hope.

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Reading the Word

Understanding and Applying the Word

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