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“The heart cannot love what the mind does not know.” - Jen Wilkin
I did not love my husband when I first knew him. It took spending time with him, getting to know him – his heart, mind, thoughts, motives and intentions. As I began to learn these things I found someone I did not know was there, someone I admired, loved, respected and only longed for more of – more time, more depth of knowledge and relationship. By learning him and continually learning him well, I can often anticipate his thoughts and responses. Because I take the time to learn and study him, I have a better understanding of what he would want or say. Your love for someone grows as you grow in knowledge of them.
The same is true for our love of God that comes from getting to know Him in the pages of the Bible, where He has made Himself most fully known to us. The Word of God allows us to learn His heart, desires, motives and intentions. By learning Him and His Word, we are learning His voice, and from learning and studying His words we can better understand what He would have for our lives and the decisions we make.
God’s words are identical to His actions. When He speaks He acts (Genesis 1). God’s Word reflects the character of God. Does He still speak? Absolutely. The pages of Scripture are God’s very words for us today. He sent His Son Jesus to be God in flesh, to be His Word in flesh to fulfill the law, that we may know Him more fully and see ourselves more fully in light of the person of Jesus, reflecting God as His Word (John 1:1-5; Colossians 1:15-17).
Rather than telling us exactly what to do in every situation, as if some specific manual for all decisions and circumstances, God gives us the Bible to tells us who He is, what He has done, is doing and what He will do.
Psalm 119 is an Acrostic Psalm and the longest chapter not only in the book of Psalms but also in the Bible. This carefully structured chapter is broken into 22 stanzas, successively following the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each stanza begins with the Hebrew letter, and the eight verses in each stanza begin with that corresponding letter. We lose that in the English language, but whether it’s A to Z or Alepha to Taw (in Hebrew), all of human language should be used to extol the glories of God (Psalm 119:171-172).
We will consider what the Word is, what the Word does, and what we are to do with these Words of Scripture as we look at Psalm 119, a psalm with one theme: the Word of God.