Day 196 (Saturday) - Psalms 118:10-119:40

Psalm 119 is an example of the most fully developed form of alphabetic acrostic. Each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet is represented by an eight-line stanza. All eight lines of each stanza begin with the appropriate sequential letter. This psalm is a didactic meditation on the characteristics and blessings of God’s law. Eight distinct terms for God’s law appear repeatedly throughout the psalm. This may explain the eight-fold repetition of each letter in the psalm.

The purpose of this acrostic and the dozens of other alphabetical acrostics in the Scriptures seems to be there to show the comprehensiveness or completeness of the text and subject matter. With 176 verses, I didn’t need an acrostic to see the fullness of Psalm 119!

Day 195 (Friday) - Psalms 114:1-118:9

Merry Christmas from me!

Another great worship song comes from Psalm 115 that we sing often as a church. It's another great Chris Tomlin song called "Not To Us"

Day 194 (Thursday) - Psalms 110-113

I have always been interested in the creativity of a good acrostic. An acrostic is a list of words or sentences that form another word when you line up the first letters of each word or line.
A classic example of acrostic poem in English written by Edgar Allan Poe is entitled simply An Acrostic:
Elizabeth it is in vain you say
"Love not" — thou sayest it in so sweet a way:
In vain those words from thee or L.E.L.
Zantippe's talents had enforced so well:
Ah! if that language from thy heart arise,
Breath it less gently forth — and veil thine eyes.
Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried
To cure his love — was cured of all beside —
His follie — pride — and passion — for he died.

In recent news, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger created an obscene acrostic in a veto he wrote. It was highly inappropriate but also highly entertaining.

Psalm 111 and 112 are both acrostics. Each line begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. There is not a lot of significance to this but it shows the poetic nature of these psalms. We will cover more on these acrostics when we get to Psalm 119.

Day 193 (Wednesday) - Psalms 107:39-109:31

When I’m going through difficult times as a result of the actions of others, I am reminded of Psalm 109. Believe it or not, there are times that people say unkind things about me. These words can strike me deeply and take the wind right out of my sails. I try to reflect on the criticism to see if there is any validity in their accusations, even when it is done in a way that is not intended to help me become a better person. The sad reality is that there are people who feel the need to talk badly about others in order to feel better about their situation. It is in those moments I need to remember to pray for them.


(2) They surround me with hateful words and fight against me for no reason. (3) I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations even as I am praying for them!

Day 192 (Tuesday) - Psalms 106:34-107:38

I’m backing up just a bit today because I love the song Forever by Chris Tomlin. It is based off Psalm 106 and since we have some of psalm 106 in our reading today, I wanted to bring you back to verse one. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good! His faithful love endures forever!

Day 191 (Monday) - Psalms 105:25-106:33

Psalm 106:37-39 have a lot of meaning to me. We live in an age of enlightenment and tolerance. Science is trying to help us realize that our children are not human beings until they emerge from the mother through the birth process. I disagree. We live in a society that worships the idols of luxury, comfort, careers and general selfishness. For some women and couples, it requires the sacrifice of their babies to continue to reap the blessing from those gods. It makes me sick. The actions we read about in Psalm 106 are not so far off from what we see today. God have mercy on us!

Day 190 (Sunday) - Psalms 104:5-105:24

This Psalm has been used in some very significant ways throughout church history. In the Easter Orthodox Church, it is read while the priest stands behind the Royal Doors that separates him from the altar. This is because this Psalm is believed to be a Psalm of Adam and spoken while he was on the outside of the gates looking into the Garden of Eden where he was expelled from.