Nearly all the verses in Ps. 119 talk about the word of God in one form or another: law, testimonies, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgments. We are taking the intriguing word precepts and examining it further. Precepts are codes of wisdom or principles to guide our lives.
I encourage you to copy and paste the chart in my last post that lists all the verses in Ps. 119 with the word precepts in them. I’m just going to write my thoughts, observations and prayers in the box next to each. You can do the same. Here are my first two:
Psalms 119:4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. |
Precepts are good to know, but I must go beyond knowing them and keep or apply them diligently. |
Psalms 119:15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
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To really get a precept, I must meditate on it. For example, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. |
Meditate on that precept with me. 1Pe 5:5 …”Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”
The best meditation would be to find other verses that amplify that thought. Remember, precept upon precept in Isa. 28:10. I use my Treasury of Scripture Knowledge in my e-sword Bible program (download it for free www.e-sword.net.)
Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Job 22:29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.
Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
Isa 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
Wow. I feel like I’m tiptoeing through a forest of the awesomeness of God—and it’s just a single precept. God responds positively to the humble person. Does my meditation stop there? It could, but remember, precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little.
Let’s see, who in the Old Testament wasn’t very humble, and God brought them down? There are many. But here are two for further examination:
In Daniel 4, king Nebuchadnezzar thought he was the hottest thing going. And then he had a dream that he didn’t understand. Daniel eventually stood before him to interpret the dream, and it wasn’t good. The king could have corrected his life and avoided the prescribed judgment, but humility wasn’t a trait of his. Read what happened.
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Dan 4:30-33 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? (31) While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. (32) And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. (33) The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. |
In Esther 3, king Ahasuerus promoted Haman above all the other princes—to the point that everyone was told to bow down to him, but Esther’s uncle Mordecai wouldn’t comply. What? Not worship Haman? He was furious and devised a plan to kill Mordecai. That involved hanging him on gallows that Haman had built. Haman was too proud, and it came back to bite him. Read what happened. |
Est 7:6-10 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. (7) And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king. (8) Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. (9) And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon. (10) So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified. |
The outcome is never good when we are proud. Remember our precept: God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Back to our first two precept verses from Ps. 119. Aren’t they so much richer?
Psalms 119:4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
Psalms 119:15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
Jody
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