Devotion to God and His Word in Psalm 119

2026-10-24 · 3.975 MHz · 0600 PST

The Bible reading

Psalm 119:1-32

The study began with an introduction to Psalm 119, highlighting its status as the longest chapter in the Bible and its unique alphabetic acrostic structure. The net control explained that the psalm is a prayer addressed to God, emphasizing that devotion to God and devotion to His Word are inseparable. The group noted that the psalm functions like Proverbs, with individual verses standing as distinct units of thought rather than a continuous narrative flow.

Insights

The alphabetic structure of Psalm 119 was likely used to teach the Hebrew alphabet and aid in memorization.
Knowing the Scriptures without knowing the God they reveal leads to legalistic self-righteousness.
Devotion to God without the Scriptures leads to a subjective, imagined version of God.
The phrase 'enlarge my heart' in verse 32 implies a heart wrapped around God's will, enabling intense obedience.
The psalm's structure suggests that no part of human life is off-limits to the guidance of God's Word.
Reading Psalm 119 repeatedly yields fresh insights and encouragement, unlike other texts that may feel exhausted after one reading.

Transcript

0:00All right, real good.

0:02Okay, any other check-ins this morning?

0:04Please come now.

0:14Al, KJ7QQH, if you could put me on the prayer list.

0:18As soon as the net's over, I'm going to be headed up to Portland Airport

0:21to fly to Palm Springs today.

0:25And then I'll be preaching at Calvary Baptist Church in Yucca Valley tomorrow, Sunday,

0:34and then I'll be flying back on Monday.

0:36So just for Journey's Mercies to Palm Springs and back,

0:39and God's blessing on the ministry down there.

0:43I'll be running the net remotely via the Rockland remote tomorrow morning

0:48from my hotel room down there.

0:51But just Journey's Mercies, Al, if you could, please.

0:55Good copy, KJ7QQH.

0:58Thank you for that, Al.

0:59Appreciate that.

1:01All right, WB7MAX, looking for check-ins.

1:03Please come now.

1:05W7RKD checking in for my daily bread.

1:08Right, I got Bert, W7RKD, checking in for his daily bread.

1:12Bert, how are you and Danny doing?

1:13We're doing great.

1:14We're blessed.

1:15Blessed.

1:16Overly blessed.

1:18And what Roger would say, better than we deserve.

1:20So, yeah, yeah, we, you know, wow, we're just awful.

1:26Every time we turn around, we're amazed at our Father's grace and mercy.

1:30I hope everybody else is treated the same and experiencing the same

1:34and even blessed more than we are here in Troy, Montana this morning.

1:38And I hope you all have a blessed day.

1:41W7RKD listening, I hope you're having a blessed day, Max.

1:46Yeah, we sure are.

1:47Really grateful to be here and grateful for the fellowship of kindred spirits

1:51around the scriptures and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

1:56All right, so we got you checked in there, Bert, W7RKD.

2:00All right, so the net would like to acknowledge Gene, K7GWR.

2:04Good morning, Gene.

2:05See you there on the Utah SDR, and good to have you with us.

2:10All right, oh, and there's Peter, KJ7BA.

2:13Good morning, Peter.

2:14You showed up there and see you on the Utah SDR.

2:18All right, and Peter says good morning to everyone.

2:21Good morning to you, Peter.

2:22Good contact there.

2:24Okay, who else do I have here on Utah?

2:27I got Brian, KJ7PWM.

2:31Brian, are you on the microphone today?

2:32Go ahead.

2:34KJ7PWM.

2:36I am here this morning.

2:38No new prayer request.

2:40I haven't heard how easy this thing was, but Alex is still here,

2:45so he's not here in the back of the morning.

2:48But he might pop in.

2:51And other than that, everything's doing good.

2:53Have a good day.

2:53Yeah, so the colonoscopy went okay with Avery.

2:59We just don't have any results yet.

3:02Is that correct?

3:04Roger that.

3:07All right, real good.

3:08Thank you for that.

3:09Okay, that is Brian, KJ7PWM.

3:13All right, any other prayer requests or check-ins?

3:16Please come now.

3:18All right, I think we had a double there, but I did hear Roger, WB7VZO.

3:24Good morning, Roger.

3:25How are you doing?

3:27Well, getting ready for a rather unusual Sabbath.

3:33We're going to a church that I pastored in the early 80s to acknowledge their 150th year and month,

3:45they're highlighting this month, of their organization back in 1876.

3:53So I'll be going up there with my dear wife and actually highlighting some of the music that those old pioneers sang.

4:03So we've got music and preaching, some of the roots of the Adventist message that Jesus is coming back.

4:18I suppose we could touch on Daniel 2 and Daniel 8, etc.

4:25And then we also have a rather large memorial service, and I'm providing a half-hour of prelude music with the viola.

4:36They just want the viola.

4:40So, anyway, it's a big day, so I should use your prayers for sure.

4:46WB7VZO.

4:48All right, Roger, real good.

4:50Glad to hear you're able to go back to that old church that you used to pastor and has some tremendous history.

4:58That's a long run for a church.

4:59Praise the Lord for that.

5:01Okay, so we're going to pray for Roger WB7VZO as he travels and ministers today in his old church.

5:10All right, copy there, Al.

5:15Good copy.

5:16Type the music.

5:18Thank you for that.

5:19All right, Annette, we'd like to acknowledge Richard, KC6ART.

5:23Good morning, Richard.

5:24Good to have you with us.

5:25Appreciate you checking in.

5:27All right, that is Richard, KC6ART.

5:31All right, any other check-ins this morning?

5:33Please come now.

5:35KE7WKI.

5:38Okay, I think that was Dave.

5:40KE7WKI.

5:41Dave, come back to me.

5:44KE7WKI.

5:45This is Dave.

5:46I think I was the double that you had a minute ago.

5:50And I have no prayer request.

5:52I had a wonderful day yesterday of rain, and we really needed rain in Idaho.

6:00All right, Dave, real good.

6:02Yep.

6:02I thought maybe you were the double, but it just wasn't clear enough.

6:05So, Dave, KE7WKI, glad you're with us.

6:08Glad you had some rain.

6:10Copy no prayer requests.

6:12And really appreciate you being with us.

6:14All right, that's Dave, KE7WKI.

6:16All right, any other check-ins?

6:17Please come now.

6:19KE7WKI.

6:19KB7ZXN, good morning.

6:21And good morning, Kevin.

6:22KB7ZXN, good to have you with us.

6:24How are you guys doing?

6:26We're doing well.

6:27Good to hear everyone this morning.

6:28And looking forward to a wonderful text today, KB7ZXN.

6:33I copy that, Kevin.

6:35We're going to be doing Psalm 119, verses 1 to 32.

6:38So those first four sections there.

6:41All right, any other check-ins?

6:42Please come now.

6:43All right, well, it's time for us to get started with the West Coast Bible Study.

6:54I'm just glancing through my SDRs one last time.

6:58Oh, there's Lee, AL7KG.

7:00Good morning, Lee.

7:01Good to have you with us.

7:03Good to see your call sign there on the Utah SDR.

7:06All right, we got Lee, AL7KG, all checked in.

7:11All right, who else do we have that has a call sign?

7:15All right, I think we've got them all.

7:17Okay, we are going to just go ahead and go with the start of our Bible study.

7:21We are in Psalm 119 today.

7:23We're going to be looking at verses 1 to 32.

7:25But before we get started, we want to open our Bible study in prayer.

7:29So, Mike, N7GND, could you please open in prayer for us today?

7:33Go ahead, Mike.

7:34Yeah, make an action.

7:35Lord, we come to you in humility and sort of this desperation to speak that word to our heart and our mind and our soul.

7:48You know that we were mindful and we were just, but you put something inside of us that is of you and of your spirit.

8:00And I just ask that we'd be stirred up this morning as we gather the word over the air of this technology.

8:06We just want to focus on you.

8:10I know there's a lot of stuff going on.

8:12We all have to-do lists and weighed heavily by some things, but other things not.

8:18But we just ask for some focus to focus on you and what you're going to do in our hearts this morning to prepare us for the day and for the weeks ahead.

8:33And we're just grateful.

8:35We're grateful, God, for your word and for the scholarship.

8:39In Jesus' name.

8:40Amen.

8:41Amen.

8:41Amen, Mike.

8:46Thank you so much for that prayer.

8:48I really appreciate that, especially the prayer for focus.

8:50Boy, I struggle with that a lot.

8:52So thank you for that.

8:54All right.

8:54That's Mike N7GND opening in prayer for us.

8:59All right.

9:00We're in Psalm 119.

9:01And, of course, we've all been eyeballing this psalm ever since we started the book of Psalms, saying to ourselves,

9:10what are we going to do with this one?

9:14Well, Psalm 119 is a remarkable psalm for a number of reasons.

9:20It's remarkable because of its length.

9:22At 176 verses, it is not only the longest psalm by far, it's also the longest chapter in the Bible.

9:32Secondly, it's remarkable, not only for its length, but it's also remarkable that the longest chapter in the Bible is a chapter about the Bible itself.

9:45Psalm 119 is about the Word of God.

9:50It's about its blessing, its benefit, its authority, its power, its wisdom, its value, and many other characteristics that the Scriptures possess.

10:02And so the third thing that's remarkable about this is not only its length and the fact that it's about the Bible itself,

10:11but that other than the first three verses, it's addressed exclusively to God Himself.

10:17That is, this psalm, Psalm 119, is a prayer addressed to God.

10:25It's also a prayer of a man of God speaking to the person of God about the Word of God.

10:34So that's pretty remarkable right there.

10:37And then, finally, in addition to this, this psalm is remarkable in that out of 176 verses in this psalm,

10:47only five of them do not mention the Scriptures or some synonym that refers to the Scripture.

10:56So since this is about the Word of God, the Word of God is referred to in every single verse except for five.

11:05And so it uses synonyms like law and statutes and commandments and precepts.

11:12And so every verse specifically mentions the Word of God by one of these synonyms except for five of them.

11:23And I think that's 84, 90, 121, 122, and 132 that don't mention the Scriptures explicitly.

11:32And then, finally, this psalm is remarkable for its structure.

11:37This psalm is in the form of an alphabetic acrostic.

11:42That is, it's made up of 22 sections of eight verses each, with each section in Hebrew alphabetic order.

11:51And what that means is the first eight verses all start with Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

11:59The second eight verses all start with Beth, the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and so on,

12:08through the entire Hebrew alphabet of 22 letters.

12:11So what we have in this psalm is 22 sets of eight verses each, for a total of 176 verses,

12:21with each set of eight beginning each verse in that set with the letter of the Hebrew alphabet for that section.

12:31And, of course, it moves through the entire alphabet in groups of eight.

12:36Now, the purpose for this alphabetic acrostic is twofold.

12:42First of all, it was a great help for memorization,

12:47because there was a phonetic link and a phonetic progression to the whole psalm

12:52that would make it easier to remember the start of the next verse.

12:57And the fact that this psalm was expected to be memorized is indicated in verse 11,

13:03where it says, Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.

13:09So the psalmist memorized, he expected us to memorize,

13:13and it's easier to memorize, at least in the Hebrew,

13:17when you can see that each section of eight starts.

13:20Each verse was the same Hebrew letter for that section.

13:25And then, secondly, I think that the reason why the entire Hebrew alphabet is represented here

13:33is that it was a declaration that nothing less than the totality of human language,

13:39of which the alphabet was the best summary and example,

13:44was adequate to convey the wonder of the Word of God.

13:48You know, if we're going to convey the wonder of the Word of God,

13:50we're going to have to grab every single word and every single adjective and adverb

13:57in the entire human language in order to express that,

14:01and even then we're going to fall short.

14:04So the main message of this psalm is that devotion to God

14:10and devotion to His Word cannot be separated from each other.

14:15You have to have devotion to both God and His Word,

14:20or else you're not going to have either of them.

14:23If someone is devoted to God but not to His Word,

14:27then one will simply be engaging in supernatural mysticism,

14:31where God becomes whoever you want Him to be.

14:35Because if the Scriptures do not define and control

14:38who we understand God to be and to be like,

14:41then we're going to wind up with a God of our own imagination

14:44and thus no God at all.

14:47On the other hand,

14:48if one is devoted to God's Word but not the God that it reveals,

14:54then one is simply going to be a legalistic Pharisee

14:57who will derive a set of rules from the Scripture

15:00in order to build their own self-righteousness and personal power.

15:04And so we know from the Gospels

15:06that the Pharisees knew the Scriptures really well,

15:08but they didn't know the God of the Scriptures.

15:10And so the Scriptures are studied for the sake of self-justification

15:16so that one may be self-righteous,

15:20but they're not studied so that one may learn the God of the Scriptures

15:23and humble himself before them.

15:25So that's what happens when somebody knows the Scriptures

15:28but doesn't know the God of the Scriptures.

15:30So, devotion to God and devotion to His Word cannot be separated.

15:36And this psalm is a compelling example of a man who loves both the Word of God

15:43and the God of the Word.

15:46So what we have here is a genuine example of what real Christianity

15:51and true conversion and heart religion looks like.

15:55Here in this psalm is the heartbeat of a man of God

15:59and the central organizing principle of his life,

16:03which is the Word of God and the God of the Word.

16:07And that is his whole existence.

16:11Now, I've got a couple more comments here.

16:14WB-7-MAX here, Net Control for the West Coast Bible Study.

16:18And that is the nature of this psalm

16:21is that it's written a lot like the book of Proverbs is written,

16:26in that it is largely a series of individual verses

16:29that are not really connected to each other

16:32or related to each other either by theme or by a flow of thought.

16:38And what I mean by that is one idea will be expressed in one verse

16:42and really quite a different idea in the next verse

16:46and then a third separate idea in the next verse and so on.

16:52And so each verse really stands as an individual unit of thought and idea

16:57which is unrelated to the verse before it or the verse after it

17:02with only a couple of exceptions,

17:04such as the first three verses of this psalm.

17:07So, if you took a section of eight verses

17:11arranged under one of the letters of the alphabet

17:13and you attempted to expound that,

17:17you would really have eight different sermons.

17:20So what this means is that if you were going to try to preach through Psalm 119,

17:25you would wind up with about 170 different sermons,

17:29just like if you tried to preach through Proverbs chapter 10 through 29,

17:33you would wind up with about 500 different sermons.

17:36Because each verse really talks about a different subject.

17:39So, what we have here in Psalm 119

17:42is a chest full of individual golden rings

17:47rather than an interconnected golden chain of unfolding thoughts

17:52like we do in all the other psalms.

17:55So, we're going to have to just kind of pick verses and talk about them.

18:00And so, that's what we're going to do as we go through the psalms.

18:04So, what we're going to do is read about four sections at a time.

18:09So, it'll take us about five days to get through this psalm.

18:14And as we read a section, if a particular verse strikes you,

18:17well, that's your verse and you explain it to us

18:20and you talk to us about it and about how it applies to your life.

18:24All right.

18:24I know that was kind of an extended introduction,

18:26but this is an unusual psalm

18:28and required a little more expansive treatment

18:31by way of introducing it to you.

18:34All right.

18:35WB7MAX here in that control for the West Coast Bible Study.

18:38And now we're going to ask Scott, KD7YQT.

18:43Scott, if you can read for us, please,

18:45Psalm 119, verses 1 to 32,

18:48those first four sections there.

18:49Scott, go ahead.

18:50This is KD7YQT reading of Psalm 119, verses 1 to 32,

18:58how happy are those whose ways language

19:02who live according to the Lord's instruction.

19:05Happy are those who keep His decrees and hate them

19:08of all their hearts.

19:09So, I am the Savior of the Lord,

19:11and I am the Savior of the Lord,

19:12and I am the Savior of the Lord,

19:13and I am the Savior of the Lord,

19:14and I am the Savior of the Lord,

19:15and I am the Savior of the Lord,

19:16and I am the Savior of the Lord.

19:16If only my ways were committed,

19:19I am the Savior of the Lord,

19:20and I am the Savior of the Lord,

19:21and I am the Savior of the Lord,

19:22and I am the Savior of the Lord,

19:23and I am the Savior of the Lord.

19:23When I think about all your commands,

19:26I will raise you in sincere heart.

19:28When I learn your righteous judgment,

19:30I will keep your statutes,

19:33and never abandon me.

19:35Then, verse starting verse 9.

19:37How can a young man keep his weight here?

19:40By keeping your Word.

19:42I have left you with all my heart.

19:45I will keep you on earth.

19:46I'll protect you.

19:47I'll protect you with all my heart.

19:49Lord, may you be praised.

19:55Teach me your stature.

19:57This is your way.

19:59All the letters are in your mouth.

20:01Every choice in the way we be.

20:04I will not forget your words.

20:17I will not forget your service, and I will keep your words.

20:27Open my eyes so that I may contemplate wonderful things in your instructions.

20:32I am a stranger on earth.

20:34Do not find your commandment for me.

20:37I am continually overcome longing for your death.

20:41I will keep the proud, the one under earth.

20:44The one under earth.

20:47Take this all and prod your place away from me, for I have new degrees.

20:53Through the princess sit together speaking against me.

20:57Your servant will think about your stature.

20:59Your degrees are my delight and my comfort.

21:03New life, starting in verse 25.

21:06My life is down in the garden.

21:09Give me life for your words.

21:11I told you about my mother and you've listened to me.

21:15Teach me your stature.

21:17Help me understand the meaning of your precepts, so that I can meditate on your wonders.

21:23I am free from grief.

21:25Strengthen me through your words.

21:27Keep me from the way of deceit and graciously give me your instructions.

21:32I have chosen the way of deceit.

21:36I have sent your ordinances before me.

21:38I claim to your decrees.

21:41Lord, do not pursue your shame.

21:43I pursue the way of your command.

21:45Lord, you've brought my understanding.

21:48Thank you.

21:48Scott, KD7YQT, thank you so much for that reading.

21:55Really appreciate that.

21:57All right.

21:57I'm sure that some of these verses struck some of you as being especially useful and appropriate in your life.

22:04Any comments on Psalm 119?

22:06Please come now.

22:10YSI.

22:11Steve, W6YSI.

22:13Go ahead.

22:13And here it is, verse 5.

22:16Oh, that my ways may be established to keep thy statutes.

22:24W6YSI.

22:26Yeah, Steve, what a wonderful passage.

22:29And, you know, I think all of us feel exactly that.

22:32You know, in the King James it says,

22:35Oh, that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes.

22:39And, you know, all of us want to obey the Word of God better than we do.

22:46You know, we look at what it tells us to do and we say to ourselves,

22:50Yeah, that's what I want to do.

22:52But then we find we struggle with the world and the flesh and the devil.

22:56And so, you know, instead of 100% following the Lord,

23:01you know, we wind up following him at 70% or 80%.

23:05Sometimes, you know, we go negative and we actually commit sin.

23:11So, yes, that's a wonderful prayer, Steve,

23:14that all of us can pray every day at the start of the day,

23:18Oh, that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes.

23:22And, you know, we mourn over the fact that we don't keep them any better than we do.

23:28We see Paul talking about that in Romans 7, right, where he says,

23:33I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I find another law in my members,

23:39warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the principle of sin that's in my members.

23:45And he says, Oh, wretched man that I am.

23:47So, Steve, understand exactly what this verse is saying.

23:53The longing of your heart is certainly the longing of my heart, and I'm sure all of us here today.

24:00And so what a great prayer to start the day with.

24:02Lord, work in my heart to will and to do, to choose and to carry out your good pleasure.

24:10Steve, thanks for sharing.

24:12All right, somebody else.

24:12Go ahead.

24:14WB7VZL.

24:16Roger, WB7VZL.

24:17Yeah, I appreciate Steve's thoughts and that verse 5.

24:23And coupled with that, I was thinking about the last verse that was read, verse 32, that includes the heart.

24:34And I'm always reminded when I pray the prayer, take my defective heart and send it back to be purified and sanctified.

24:46I'm thinking of Jeremiah, where he says in Jeremiah 17, verse 9,

24:52The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.

24:56And that's why the first part, you were talking about the couplets or the two parts.

25:04That's why the first part is so, so important because it's, it's a, it's a, the law is a, it's a flashlight guiding us about what, what our hearts should be like.

25:17I will run the way of thy commandments.

25:22And, you know, they talk about the circulation in the heart being enlivened as we exercise it.

25:30And so I like that imagery.

25:32I shall run the way of thy commandments.

25:35For thou wilt enlarge my heart.

25:39So we don't want enlarged hearts in, in the negative sense, but we certainly want a heart that, that's guided by the principles of love, as the law reveals in, in Romans.

25:54W.B. Sum of Israel?

25:56Yeah, Roger.

25:57Great comment and great verse.

25:58You know, metaphorically speaking, we say, you know, that man has a big heart, right?

26:06And what we mean by that is that he's loving, he's kind, he's compassionate.

26:10His heart has been enlarged to encompass people other than himself, right?

26:17And so we talk about a big, big hearted man.

26:20And I, and I think that's, what's being talked about here.

26:23Lord, I will run in the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart.

26:28That is, when my heart is, is wrapped around your will and your ways and, and, and your person and your worship.

26:37And so the idea here is that without the engagement of the heart, we're never going to run in the way of God's commandments.

26:46And, you know, we, we recognize that, Roger, you expressed so well, that the Christianity is a religion of the heart.

26:55It's not an external thing, you know, stained glass windows and, and, and a padded pews.

27:01It's about our personal heart relationship with Jesus Christ through repentance of sin and faith in him and his atoning work.

27:11And then a heart engagement with the word of God.

27:16And then, of course, from the heart, striving to carry out that word, believe the promises it contains, and worship the God that it reveals.

27:27So there's another good prayer that goes right along with Stephen, verse 5.

27:32Oh, that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes.

27:36Lord, enlarge my heart so I can run in your will and to run in your ways.

27:42And the idea of running here is not lackadaisical, right?

27:46We're talking about intensity.

27:47And so may the Lord help us to live intense, focused lives in his will and his ways.

27:55All right.

27:55Other comments on our passage come now.

27:58KJ7, TVT.

28:00All right.

28:00I heard Mark.

28:01KJ7, TVT.

28:02Mark, go ahead.

28:05Verses 25, 26, 27.

28:08We know that all have sinned and fallen short for the glory of God.

28:15We start with that.

28:18That's an amazing statement.

28:21All have sinned and fallen short for the glory of God.

28:24So we are not there.

28:29And it says in 25, my soul clings to the dust.

28:33At the start, it's constantly, we were made from dust and ashes to ashes.

28:43We have death in front of us.

28:47And our soul clings to the dust, it says here.

28:50And then his prayer is,

28:51Revive me according to your word.

28:55I have declared my ways and you answered me.

28:58And so this is kind of a, a bit of a statement of a person who starts out, as we all do,

29:09fallen short of the glory of God.

29:12And then comes into a knowledge to be replied by the word of God.

29:20And then he declares those.

29:22He declares his ways.

29:23And when he does that, God answers him.

29:27Teach me your statutes.

29:28He continues along the truth.

29:31Teach me your statutes.

29:32Make me understand the way of your precepts.

29:35Sometimes we have to have this pounded into our head.

29:37Many times it comes to sickness and other things.

29:40But that's what God is tender with us.

29:43And he continues to pull us along.

29:47He is the one who saved us.

29:48There's a reason why he died on the cross.

29:51He says that it pull us from this clinging to the dust.

29:57So shall I meditate on the wonders of your work.

30:02My soul, and so that's where I end it right there.

30:05So shall I meditate on the wonder of your work.

30:07So those are my thoughts.

30:09Those are what hit me.

30:10And it was generated by that very first line.

30:13My soul clings to the dust.

30:15Back to you.

30:16That's me.

30:18All right, Mark, KJ7PVT.

30:22Thank you for those thoughts.

30:23For those of you who weren't able to hear Mark, he was talking about verses 25, 26, and 27.

30:31And he started out by saying, you know, we've all sinned and come short.

30:34We've fallen short of the glory of God.

30:37And that seems to be the consciousness there in verse 25.

30:40My soul cleaves to the dust.

30:43And the idea that I need to be revived.

30:45You know, we were made out of dust, and we fall.

30:48And the idea is that we've fallen down and back into the dust, as it were, you know, when we sin.

30:55And so we fall.

30:57We fall short.

30:59And so Mark was talking about this prayer in verse 25.

31:02And so he's talking about his sinful ways here.

31:32And how that he repented, and God heard him.

31:36And so there's this note of failure in verse 25.

31:39There's this note of confession in verse 26.

31:42And then there's this prayer of restoration.

31:45Verse 27.

31:47Make me to understand the way of thy precepts.

31:50So shall I talk of thy wondrous works.

31:52So here's someone who is now moving back into obedience and a desire to bring glory to God.

32:01So that's what struck Mark, especially that first phrase in verse 25, my soul cleaves to the dust.

32:07Mark, thank you, KJ7PVT, for sharing those thoughts with us.

32:12All right.

32:13Who else has something here that they want to share?

32:15KM-5F.

32:18Will, KM-5F, go ahead.

32:20This is just a note about the overall, all of the Psalm 119.

32:26From a past sermon, I recall some research that was done that said that the Psalm 119 may have been used to actually teach the alphabet,

32:36as well as the Torah and the et cetera, KM-5F.

32:46Yeah, Will, Will made the comment that this Psalm 119 may have been used in the instruction of children to teach them the alphabet or converts.

32:55And I think that's probably very true, Will.

32:57And what a great way to teach children the alphabet than by teaching them Psalm 119, if you're Hebrew.

33:07And so we did that with our verse.

33:09We had an alphabet that we taught our kids.

33:13A, all ascend and come short of the glory of God.

33:17B, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

33:22C, Christ died for sinners.

33:24Anyway, this phonetic alphabet just had a Bible verse attached to each letter.

33:31You can probably look that up on Google or wherever.

33:34But that's one way in which we taught our children the alphabet is by tying each letter to a Bible verse.

33:41So they not only learned the alphabet, they also learned, you know, 26 Bible verses.

33:49Thank you for pointing that out, Will.

33:51All right, any other comments?

33:52Please come down.

33:54There's only, they taught that in school now.

33:57Copy that, Beck.

34:01Amen on that one.

34:03Yeah, yeah.

34:04Well, I remember being in school where they taught us the Bible, but then, of course, they kicked it out in, what, 63, I think it was.

34:11And no more Bible, no more prayer, no more Ten Commandments, 62, 63, three disastrous decisions from the Supreme Court, basically saying to God, get out of our national life.

34:23And, you know, what's crazy is we have on our coins in God we trust, and yet we do anything but trust in him by thumbing our nose at him and saying we don't want his word in our national discourse or our national life.

34:38Well, our Supreme Court has been incredibly destructive of the Christian heritage of our nation, and it's very sad.

34:45But getting back to our passage, any verses in Psalm 119, verses 1 to 32 that somebody wants to comment on?

34:52Please come down.

34:54And Katie, 70, yes.

34:56Okay, Katie, 70, yes.

34:58Eric, go ahead.

34:59Yeah, well, I know you said one, but I see three that kind of stand out.

35:06And verse 12 says,

35:09Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy statutes.

35:14And then verse 18 says,

35:17Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

35:22And then also, verse 27,

35:30Make me to understand the way of thy precepts, so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.

35:39And so what kind of stood out to me is,

35:43It says, you know, verse 12,

35:45Teach me thy statutes.

35:47And then verse 18, it says,

35:50Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold.

35:53And then also, and then 27, it says,

35:56Make me to understand the way of thy precepts, so,

36:01You know, it's kind of like a prayer to help me open my eyes and see these wondrous things of the Word of God.

36:10So, anyways, it was kind of my thought.

36:13And back to you, Max, Katie, 70, yes.

36:17Eric, thank you so much for bringing those three verses out.

36:21And, of course, the whole psalm is a prayer.

36:24And so to pray, verse 12,

36:28Teach me thy statutes.

36:30Verse 18, open my eyes.

36:33Verse 27, make me to understand.

36:36You know, we can't just approach the Word of God like we do anything else

36:40with just our intellect and our reasoning skills.

36:45We need divine illumination.

36:48There's a supernatural transaction that has to take place when we read the Word of God.

36:55And that supernatural transaction is that God would open our understanding that we might understand the Scriptures.

37:02And that's why, you know, when Mike, in 7G&D, opened a prayer for us this morning,

37:09you know, one of the things he asked for is that God would help us to understand the Word of God.

37:13And so that's why we pray before we open the Scriptures and start to read these exact prayers.

37:21Eric, it would be a great way to start your morning devotion.

37:25You know, when you read the Bible during the day, before you ever start,

37:30Lord, teach me your statutes.

37:32Lord, open my eyes.

37:33Lord, make me to understand.

37:36It's a great way to pray before we start reading our Bibles.

37:40Thank you, Eric.

37:41All right, other comments.

37:42Come now.

37:43W7RKD.

37:44Bert, W7RKD.

37:46Go ahead.

37:47Yeah.

37:48You probably know my past.

37:50They come from another spiritual teaching.

37:55They actually took the...

37:57And the Catholics took the Bible and turned it into a way of recovering from alcoholism,

38:05which is, you know, definitely a demon that plagued me.

38:09And I learned the excerpts from the Bible in there.

38:13And they always referred me to their literature.

38:18And, you know, it's been a long walk, but it's very true.

38:21And it comes here to verse 24.

38:26You know, their testimonies gave me hope, you know.

38:31And, you know, it ended up...

38:35And my hope is found in the words that I read.

38:40You know, that all of...

38:43There's a solution for every problem in my life in those words.

38:48And that has been now translated over in the past several years.

38:54Now that I put that old literature away, I've graduated.

38:58I've moved on to the Word of God.

39:01And it's no different than it was then.

39:05Every problem I have in my life, I'll find a solution to it right in here in the Bible.

39:12So, somewhere in this Bible, there is an answer to my problem.

39:18And it is my counselor's and his wisdom and his testimony.

39:23So, this Bible is very valuable to me.

39:27It should be to others, too.

39:28His Word is so valuable.

39:29W7R, Katie.

39:31What a great comment.

39:34Thank you so much for that, Bert.

39:36Verse 24,

39:38Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.

39:42There is a solution to every problem in the Bible.

39:46So, when you need a counselor, open the Bible.

39:49And it will counsel you, as Bert well said, about every circumstance in your life.

39:57The answers are there.

39:58We just need to read until we find it.

40:01Bert, great comment.

40:02Thank you for that.

40:03All right.

40:04Other comments, please come down.

40:05The Bible is life's recipe.

40:09Yeah, amen, Joe.

40:11The Bible is a life recipe.

40:12It's a recipe for life, isn't it?

40:14I mean, look, it's the owner's manual, right?

40:17I mean, you buy a car, you get an owner's manual from the manufacturer who made the thing and fully understands it.

40:23And so, God made us.

40:25The Bible's our owner's manual.

40:27And therefore, when we read in the Bible, we read about ourselves, how we're supposed to function, what we're supposed to do, what works best to give us a life that not only is blessed now, but a life of being with God forever in heaven.

40:43Joe, thanks for that comment.

40:45All right.

40:46Other comments come now.

40:47In 7 G&D.

40:51In 7 G&D.

40:53Mike, go ahead.

40:55Yeah, verse 26.

40:58What struck me about that is I'm working on putting an inverter in the RV right now, and I had a lot of time to think.

41:13And I'm just thinking about where I'm at today, and, you know, it's the demographic.

41:20I've got a lot of history in us, and I have not always been faithful, and the people around me have not always been faithful.

41:28I can't change that.

41:29I can't change people.

41:30And it's just looking back on the past and all the good things and the terrible things that have happened, I have to remind myself that as I recount my ways, He answers me.

41:50And it's, He's teaching me His decrees, His word, that I will hold fast to Him, and I will walk with Him, regardless of what people do or don't do around me.

42:05Relatives, friends, I have to, I want to hold fast to Him, and depend upon Him and what He's doing with His word in my heart in 7 G&D.

42:17Mike, really well said.

42:19Thank you for sharing that.

42:20Yes, you know, people will, you know, knock us around in all sorts of different directions, but we just keep having to go back to the Lord and find our strength, our comfort, our help, and our direction from Him and His word.

42:38So praise the Lord, Mike, for turning away from the chaos and turning to the peace of God, His word, His will, and His ways.

42:50So praise the Lord that when we declare our troubles, He hears us, and He meets the needs that we have.

42:58All right, any other comments on our passage?

43:00Please come down.

43:04YSI.

43:05YSI, go ahead.

43:06Pastor Max, can I ask you to comment on verse 1?

43:14How blessed are, some folks in the Bible say, how happy are those whose way is blameless?

43:23And the word blameless is from the Hebrew word tam, which means completeness.

43:30That'd be a 6YSI.

43:34Yeah, Steve.

43:35The idea there of blamelessness or completeness is the idea of a comprehensive obedience.

43:41And, you know, in the King James it says, blessed are the undefiled in the way.

43:49You know, your version says, blessed are the blameless in the way.

43:53The idea there isn't that of sinless perfection.

43:57It's the idea of a comprehensive obedience.

44:00That is, I look to God and His word and will and ways to run each area of my life.

44:07So whether it's my work life or whether it's my family life or my recreational life, you know, whatever I do, God is in control of all of it.

44:18And I'm seeking to obey Him not just in this area or that area, but in every area.

44:24And so what it means here, blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord,

44:31is just the idea that here's a person who lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God in every area of his life.

44:41And so there's no part of my life that's off-limits to being guided and directed and reproved by the word of God

44:52and what it has to say about that particular dimension.

44:56Burt W7RKD said a little earlier that whatever problem you have, the scriptures has a solution to it.

45:04And so that's the thing, is that God runs and rules and guides every area of my life, no matter what it is.

45:14And His word has something to say about that.

45:17Steve, W6YSI, back to you.

45:20Yeah, it really makes me think, you know, and I appreciate, I think it was Burt mentioned,

45:27about peace, peace in our heart.

45:33And I think that that verse really opens the subject up that in order for us to have complete peace,

45:45blessed, a happy peace, these things that we're going to be reading about for the next five days are extremely important.

45:54W6YSI.

45:55Yes, they sure are, Steve.

45:58And, boy, we can just go through here and underline verse after verse.

46:03You know, I just never, you can't wear out Psalm 119.

46:10You know, you read a book, right?

46:11And it's like you're not going to read it a second time because you already know what it says,

46:14and there's nothing there for you.

46:17But we can read Psalm 119 over and over and over again,

46:20and every time it's fresh, it's new, it's powerful, it's applicable, and it's encouraging.

46:27So, yeah, the blessed man, verse 1, verse 2, are those who keep God's testimonies and seek him with their whole heart.

46:37So, once again, there's that heart religion tied to the objective truth of the Word of God

46:43that point us to the God of the Word and cause us to worship him and follow him.

46:48All right, we are out of time.

46:51I know that there's probably lots more that can be said about this section,

46:55but we need to go to prayer now.

46:58So, Al, KJ7.

46:59Well, let's see.

47:00Are there any final prayer requests before Al leads us in prayer?

47:02Please come now.

47:03All right, Al, KJ7 QQH.

47:10Please go ahead and close in prayer for us.

47:14Thank you, Pastor Max.

47:15Good morning to everyone on the net.

47:17This is KJ7 QQH.

47:19Let's go before the Lord in prayer.

47:22Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time today in your presence and in your Word.

47:27And we just are here, humble and grateful, rallying together to lift each other up

47:34and to bring before you our needs and the prayers and praises for you today.

47:42For our brother Roger, WB7BZL, we pray that he has safe travels to his old church

47:49and also for his music ministry there, that this would be a blessing

47:55and to touch the hearts of all that are there, and also for his safe return.

48:03For Pastor Max, WB7MAX, we ask for safe travels for him to Palm Springs

48:11and also for his ministry there at Calvary Baptist Church in Yucca Valley

48:16and for his safe return on Monday.

48:18For Al in 6MOT, we ask for prayers for his health issues for he and his wife.

48:28For Joe, AI6WXB, we pray for the lady who had a heart attack at the Formosa racetrack

48:38near Bakersfield yesterday.

48:41For Jerry, 87ER, safe travels to Lebanon to visit family today

48:46and for his safe return to Roseburg, Oregon.

48:51For Mark, KJ7PBT, we continue to pray for his son Avery, who had a colonoscopy yesterday,

48:57and we pray for a clear report.

49:01For Keith, N7NEV, we give praise that his dog, Buck, made it through surgery

49:06and pray now for his successful recovery.

49:12For George, K1, K-O-Y.

49:14He lost his wife, Pamela, into cancer in July, and we pray for the comfort.

49:21And for George and his family, they would find peace and harmony in dealing with the situation.

49:32And we also pray for all who are dealing with cancer.

49:37And for myself, I continue prayer for the recovery of my hand from the procedure that I had done

49:46on the contraction of the tendon and also for the minimal pain and swelling.

49:53For Charles, N7NEV, the T-E-N, his son Trevor, passed cancer on October 11th.

50:01And now we just lift up the whole family for their peace and comfort during this time of grief.

50:08For Dave, AI7QQ, we continue to pray for Noah

50:14and give praise that this young man in Dave's prison ministry is now saved in an Indian church.

50:21We pray that Noah will continue in your word and his faith.

50:26For Jerry of KG6J, we pray for his boss, Rochelle,

50:31as she goes through chemo and radiation treatments on her neck cancer.

50:36And we're praying for the treatments to be effective.

50:38We pray for Jerry's physical therapy, for his release of his back pain, and balance issues.

50:47For Gene, K7GWR, we pray for Laura, KD7RID,

50:54who continues to have health complications from a face-to-face implant.

50:59And now we're praying for peace and comfort as her condition has become terminal.

51:05And we just ask that her continuing, her final days would be peaceful

51:12and of good quality as she prepares for her homecoming to you.

51:21For Beck, Alpha 5 Yankee, we pray for continued healing of his vision.

51:26For Beck, the next day, we pray for a better health insurance.

51:31KD7RID, she always should.

51:33We pray for Nancy showing great improvement.

51:37She has five more chemo treatments to go.

51:41For Jan Bruckart, a diabetic, who's had some of her foot removed.

51:45She's home now and improving.

51:48For her husband, Ken, who's had heart arrhythmia issues.

51:51And we also pray for a better house that Beck and his wife Sandy are looking at and looking

52:00forward to moving to.

52:02For my KI7 RSV, we pray for his wife Liz who's fighting cancer and we're praying for an effective

52:10chemo treatment.

52:13For Will, Kilo Mike 5, we give prayers for continuing hormone treatment for the next year.

52:21And we pray for these treatments to be effective in restraining and removing the prostate cancer.

52:28We continue to pray for Keisha, a liver transplant who's been postponed since she's stable now.

52:37We pray for that and we give prayers for the stress that she has in her life.

52:46For Jeff, AK-60K, we pray for the thousands of Bibles being shipped out to our troops that

52:53he has been part of his mission.

52:55And we ask that these Bibles be used to save and sanctify the soldiers that they come to

53:03contact with.

53:05We also give prayers for Jeff's daughter, Kristi, who broke her elbow from working with a horse.

53:18Now we lift up Tom, WW17.

53:22Tom's recovering from a major spine surgery and he's in a wheelchair.

53:26We're praying that his physical therapy would provide at least some pain and increase mobility.

53:33We pray he'll be approved for an electric wheelchair and that that need will be met soon.

53:40For Pastor Jeff Black, who has severe ulcerative colitis, we pray for his healing and through

53:46the medical treatments that he's received.

53:49For Cody, KI-7 TRS, for the healing of his Uncle Doug, a believer with severe head injury.

53:57And Doug's in the hospital now with a brain infection.

54:01We pray for his ongoing treatment and recovery.

54:04For Steve, W6YSI, we continue to lift up his wife, Leslie, to find out the cause of the leg pain that she has.

54:13And we pray for a call from the doctors with a good diagnosis.

54:20For Scott, Katie, Seth, and YQT.

54:23We pray for his wife, Pam, who has severe lupus.

54:26And that that would go into remission.

54:29We pray for his daughter, Kendra, whose ongoing multiple chronic health needs.

54:34And we pray for Mike, KK7N, with stage 4 cancer.

54:39We pray for the chemo treatment that started on September 26th to be infected.

54:46For our church, Fern Ridge Christian Church is still searching for a pastor.

54:52We pray that we are able to continue with visiting pastors.

54:57And that we would find a permanent shepherd soon.

55:02We pray for the silent multitude who listen to the West Coast Bible study.

55:08That you, God, would meet their needs.

55:11And for Brian, KJ7CWM, we pray for Chris, for his salvation.

55:20And for him to be open to Bible, Brian's ministry.

55:24For Jeff, AK6OK, we pray for his grandson, Noah, and his wife to be saved.

55:30We pray for the wisdom and spiritual protection of our pastors in all of our church.

55:36We pray for the unsaved and the unchurched in our community to hear and believe the gospel.

55:43And we pray for all those suffering throughout the world and all those who have unspoken prayers.

55:49We just thank you, Lord, for your goodness and your mercy and your grace to each one of us.

55:55And mostly for the Son, the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, is through him that we pray all these things.

56:02Amen.

56:03This is KJ7QQH, returning back to you there, Pastor Max of NetControl.

56:10Thank you, Al, so much for the prayer.

56:12Really appreciate that.

56:13This is WB7MAX NetControl for the West Coast Bible study.

56:17I want to thank all the stations who checked in this morning as well as those who stood by to give us a clear operating frequency.

56:23We meet here seven days a week at 6 a.m. in order to read the scriptures, understand their meaning message and application,

56:30and then to pray for grace and mercy to be able to live out what we learn and for God to meet the needs of those that are in our circle of fellowship.

56:38I'll be returning this frequency now to regular amateur use.

56:41This is WB7MAX.

56:43I'm going to be clear and QRT because I have to go catch an airplane.

56:47And so you all have a great day.

56:49Feel free to talk among yourselves.

56:52But I'm going to go QRT at this time because I've got to get out the door to catch my flight to Palm Springs,

57:00where I'll be preaching this weekend.

57:03All right.

57:04God bless each one.

57:05See you later.

57:06Safe travels, Max.

57:11Thank you for that.

57:15Paul, does anybody want to hear today's joke?

57:18Oh, yeah.

57:21Bring it.

57:22All right.

57:23If athletes get athlete's foot, what do elves get?

57:27Missile cell?

57:28Yeah.

57:29Way to go.

57:30Good answer.

57:31I haven't even had my coffee yet.

57:32Oh, you're really on the ball then.

57:33That's the power of green tea.

57:34Did you say green tea?

57:35No.

57:36No.

57:37No.

57:38No.

57:39No.

57:40No.

57:41No.

57:42No.

57:43No.

57:44No.

57:46No.

57:47No.

57:48No.

57:49No.

57:50No.

57:51No.

57:52No.

57:53No.

57:54No.

57:55No.

57:56No.

57:58Roger.

58:00Roger.

58:01Roger.

58:02Roger.

58:03Okay.

58:04That's funny.

58:05I've got my hearing aids in.

58:06I can hear the clack of the relay now.

58:08But I didn't understand what you said.

58:10Sandy doesn't have her hearing aids in and she did.

58:12Maybe I need to have mine adjusted.

58:17It could be my chief microphone too.

58:23I don't know.

58:24You've got good audio.

58:26I guess we dialed it in okay.

58:33Hey, Beck, and all of you, we'll see you tomorrow.

58:36KI6WXP, I'm going to go QSY.

58:40Roger, have a good day.

58:42Stay blessed.

58:44Roger that.

58:45You guys enjoy your Q, so I'll be talking to you tomorrow, and have a blessed day.

58:50Goodbye.

58:5273, Joe.

58:5673.

59:02Well, I guess I'm going to pull the plug, too, start breakfast, take my pills, give myself my shot, and get on the road here.

59:09Roger.

59:12All right, Mr. Beck, good to have you there, and you and Sandy have a good day, and Jerry and I and Lenny, all of us, will do the same.

59:21Thanks.

59:21We're going to go QRTR cell.

59:247-3's off.

59:29Wishing you all a blessed day.

59:31KT-6J, off to start my day, too.

59:36Thanks, Jerry.

59:37Take care.

59:40Oh, God bless us all.

59:42All and everyone.

59:44Alpha Alpha 5 Yankee, QRT.

59:45Thank you, Tiny Jim.

59:56I was wondering where I remembered that from.

60:02Here's the season.

60:08Let's all sing Tiptoe Through the Tulips Together.

60:11Oh, my gosh.

60:15Oh, no.

60:17I remember when I was a young man.

60:20Now, this was back in the day when laughing used to be on TV.

60:24And I saw Tim and E. Tim, and I listened to him sing, and I thought, what a freak.

60:36Now I've got to get that song out of my head.

60:39I better go cook.

60:40Alpha Alpha 5 Yankee.

60:41Alpha 5 Yankee, I really am QRT.

60:42Thank you.

61:11Thank you.

61:41Thank you.

62:11Thank you.

62:12Thank you.

62:41Thank you.

62:42Thank you.

62:43Thank you.

63:11Thank you.

63:12Thank you.

63:41Thank you.

64:11Thank you.

64:41Thank you.