What is the purpose of this Website, practically speaking?

First, I invite you to read Psalm 119!  Plain and simple.  Take up and read!  

Second, I invite you to pray these psalms along with me.

The Writing of the Prayers.  Along with each stanza of 8 verses, headed by its Hebrew title, I have written a carefully researched devotional prayer.  Why the extra prayer?  The psalms are prayers:  joint prayers with other believers as well as private prayers to God.  This psalm is not to be read like a book, but said privately, publically, and acted upon in faith.

It is sometimes hard to understand the archaic language of the Bible. It can also be easy to gloss over the familiar in scripture and lose meaning and application of it.  In relative comfort, we get lazy; but in need, we are too pressed to study and “soak” in the depth of the riches of God’s Word.

Therefore, I wanted to study now and write out the results of the study in more accessible terms.  I want to pray His Word accurately, not prone to moods, emotions or lazy scholarship.  I want to mean the words as I pray them, which will of course mean a “turning” of my will toward God’s own will.  This “turning” is called repentence and heart-change.  I need this (as Psalm 119 so often reminds me!).

This desire is not unique to me; it is for all who desire to know God and follow Him more. I write these prayers with the hope that by hearing these stanzas re-phrased (according to good, available scholarship), they will open our hearts to fresh application, heart transformation, and renewed joy in the worship of our Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Resources used for the prayers.  The prayers are researched using standard Biblical references. They follow the scripture passage itself and are a kind of paraphrase. John Calvin’s commentaries have been the central one used to ensure a stable understanding of each passage; but other commentaries, language studies, and historical helps have also provided a wide lens. I am thankful for Biblehub.com and BibleGateway.com as free resources that I link to often.

I encourage you to continue your own study with maps, commentaries, word studies, and more.  I also hope that you will post your comments, whether you have a correction or discussion, or want to relate a personal experience with the psalms.  I would enjoy hearing from you!

Blog Posts.  Finally, blog posts progressively discuss the intersection of life with each stanza as I continue to work through this psalm myself. At the end of each post, I have added FURTHER RESOURCES for deeper study, beautiful worship (song, video or audio, poetry), and greater application of the truths studied.  This is where you can sit back and have a Bible Study morning for a moment or a longer period of time.  I hope that you will alert others and encourage them to ponder the riches of this Psalm.

This psalm, God’s own inspired Word, teaches me how to express myself before God in all honesty and in all of life–during the best and the worst of times. The prayers help me move past the circumstantial self-talk that always gets in the way of godly conversation with God.

My goal is for us to read together, study together, pray together, memorize together, and encourage one another in light of the beauty, power, and holiness of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  Thank you for visiting!  

© 2018 by http://www.readpsalm119.com; last updated on Jan 25, 2019.