Psalm 119:Bet

We continue our way through the taste test of Jeremiah's menu with Bet.

Read Psalm 119:9-16

Bet (pronounced like "bait") is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet or aleph-bet.

Bet is for "how?" How can a young man keep his way pure?

To be pure  is to be free from anything that makes you less than you were intended to be. "Pure bliss" describes a state of happiness where nothing is detracting from it in the least, i.e. no guilt, no fear, no jealousy. 

Why do we want to know how to keep our way pure?? So we don't have to deal with guilt, fear, or jealousy.

A pure way, leads to a pure heart: undivided, untainted, uncomplicated.  

Why is life so complicated? Because of sin. Sin is something we deal with from the day we are born.

Surely I was sinful at birth,

sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Psalm 51:5

I stand corrected, we are sinful from before we are born, we are sinful from conception. The rebellion of Adam and Eve introduced sin into our DNA. Therefore life is complicated. We desire things that are bad for us. We want what they have. We know what is right and wrong, yet the wrong feels right and the right seems oppressive. The enemy's deception entices us to continue the rebellion established in the Garden by our great-to-the-nth grandparents.

How do we get clean??? How do we rid ourselves of the effects of sin???? The guilt, the shame, the pain, the discontentment!

By living according to Your word. Psalm 119:9

The Word of God leads us to a life of purity. A life free from guilt, shame and discontentment.

We cannot achieve this in our own power no matter what. Only through Jesus - the Word made flesh (John 1:14) - can we keep our way pure.

Jesus offers us the gift of grace. To receive it is to be given a new heart, a clean heart, a pure life. No guilt, no shame, no discontent. This is the joy and wonder of God's Word: Jesus.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1, 2

Receive Jesus, hide Him in your heart, pursue Him through His Word, make it a part of your daily diet.

Psalm 119: Aleph

Jeremiah's menu begins with Aleph . 

Psalm 119, the longest psalm in the Bible, expounds the glory and wonder of God's Word. His torah. His law. Otherwise known as His usual way with people.

In Hebrew, Psalm 119 is laid out as an alphabetic acrostic from aleph to taw, the equivalent of our a to z. 

Read Psalm 119:1-8

Aleph (ah-lef) is for "happy". Happy are those ...who walk in the law of the Lord!

"Blessed" is also a translation for the aleph-word found in this passage, but English doesn't have a single word that conveys the true sense of the Hebrew. According to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament it conveys the idea of “envious desire”. So, an alternate translation for the beginning of Psalm 119 might be:

To be envied with desire are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!

To be envied with desire are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!

Oh, to be like the ones who obey God's Word. To be envied with desire. People want what you have. Doesn't everyone want to be envied that way? Learning about God and living His Word is the way to a life others desire.

There is no way like God's Way. It is a way that protects, guides, and satisfies.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Seek Him, get to know Him, follow Him. That is the secret to a life that everyone wants to live.

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." -- Jesus

John 10:10

Your words came, and I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight. Jeremiah 15:16

Eating the Word of God is a lot like eating food. Only with our eyes and mind, instead of our mouth and stomach. We taste it. We read it. We chew on it. We meditate about it. We ingest it. Food nourishes our body. God’s Word nourishes our souls.

Nourishment from God’s Word requires a little more conscious activity than from food. Our stomach just takes over with food, and we don’t think about it much unless it’s tainted with very unfriendly bacteria or makes us gassy. Scripture, on the other hand, requires more chewing on than most food… think Laffy Taffy… and the essential benefits can only be extracted through obedience.

The meditation process – reading repeatedly, praying about what you’ve read, and listening for the Holy Spirit’s guidance – helps us apply God’s Word to our life. When God reveals the nutritional value in what we’ve eaten (spiritually speaking) then it’s time to act on it through obedience.

I’ve been dining on God’s Word for about 17 years now, and some meals are much easier to swallow than others. But, ultimately, when the Word has been fully ingested there is joy, and my heart delights in drawing closer to God.

I invite you to join me at the table and share God’s Word. You won’t be disappointed.

Taste and see that the Lord is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8