A Lamp to My Feet: Psalm 119 Week 4

H.M. Coker

27 May, 2024

A Lamp to My Feet: Psalm 119 Week 4

Click here for the free printable download of “A Lamp to My Feet: A Study of Psalm 119″ Week 4.

Week 4, Day 1:

Pray: “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and He will hear me.  In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord” (Psalm 77:1-2a).

Hear: In Week 2 we learned that the Psalmist was in a season of affliction, but there was purpose in the affliction and in the midst of it, it was God to Whom the Psalmist turned for deliverance (119:153).

  1. By way of review, Who is the Psalmist speaking (singing) to in Psalm 119?  If you aren’t sure read 119:1-12 again.  Write your answer below.
  2. Now, read Psalm 119 and highlight in pink everything that the Psalmist asks of the Lord, his requests and supplications.  Don’t stress over whether you are highlighting too much or too little. The purpose of each of these exercises is not to get the right things highlighted or to make the Psalm fit perfectly into an organized chart.  We will be using charts this week (Yay!), but if your goal is to organize the Psalm perfectly then you will be disappointed.  Psalm 119 isn’t a book of history or a letter of doctrine and instruction.  It’s a poem filled with emotion and feeling; and since when do emotions ever come out organized?   So, the point of these exercises is not to highlight the “right” things, but to help you view Psalm 119 from all its different angles, to learn all its details, and to dwell richly in the Word every day.

Do: This week’s memory verse is Psalm 119:50, “This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your promise gives me life.”  Write the verse in the space below.

Week 4, Day 2:

Pray: Dear Lord, I praise You for You have said, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8). 

Hear: In the downloadable lesson, is a chart entitled, “The Psalmist’s Requests.”  In the first column, write the requests the Psalmist makes to the Lord (you highlighted these in pink yesterday).  Where applicable, write the Psalmist’s “so that” statements for the request in the second column and write the Psalmist’s “according to” statements in the third column.

For example:

VsSupplicationsSo ThatAccording To
116Uphold meThat I may liveAccording to Your promise

Today will take some time, but oh how you will profit from this time in the Word.  However, if you are not able to complete this exercise, just slowly read through everything you highlighted yesterday in pink.

When you are done.  Answer the questions below to summarize what you have learned.

  1. What does the Psalmist ask for?  Can you group his requests into four or five primary categories?  Write them below.  (If you have time I recommend going through your chart and color coding each of his requests with highlighters.  For example, on my chart I highlighted all of his requests for God to teach him and give him understanding in yellow).
  2. Why?  Look at your second column.  What are the reasons he gives for why he makes these requests?  What is his motivation?  To Whose glory is it?
  3. What does he appeal to?  Look at your third column and write your answers below.
  4. Now look back to your first column.  What does he spend almost no time at all asking for?

Do: In Psalm 119 the Psalmist gives us an example of honest, raw prayer.  Throughout the Psalm he pours out his troubles to the Lord and even asks the Lord, “When will You comfort me?  How long must Your servant endure?  When will you judge those who persecute me?” (Psalm 119:82-84).  And how can your heart help but wring as you read his cry in verse 145, “With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord!”  But the Psalmist doesn’t end there.  In addition to telling God his troubles, he also asks the Lord to deliver him. “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in Your words” (119:147). “Let Your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, Your salvation according to Your promise” (119:41).  “I am Yours; save me, for I have sought Your precepts” (119:94).  “Let my plea come before You; deliver me according to Your Word” (119:170).   In his letter to the Philippians, Paul calls this “prayer and supplication.”  He writes, “The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:5b-7).  Is your heart troubled?  Are you facing affliction?  Tell it to God and, with thanksgiving, make your requests to Him.  Write your prayers below.

Week 4, Day 3:

Pray: Dear Lord, Direct our hearts to Your love and to the steadfastness of Christ (2 Thessalonians 3:5)

Hear: Did you notice how often the Psalmist’s requests are followed by his active choices.  Read Psalm 119 again and double-underline all of the Psalmist’s actions.  Look for “I action” statements such as I delight, I declare, I keep, I meditate, I trust, and I hope.

Do: We are called to be doers of the Word and not hearers only (James 1:22).  Psalm 119:11 says, “I have stored up Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You.”  Verse 7 says, “I will praise You with and upright heart, when I learn Your righteous rules.”  Verse 9 says, “How can a young man keep his way pure?  By guarding it according to Your Word.”  Verse 101 says, “I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your Word.”  And verse 112 says, “I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.” The Word of God is to be obeyed in action.  Read over what you’ve underlined and then pray and ask God to show you in what ways you need to change in order to be a doer of the Word.  Journal what you learn in the space below.

Week 4 Day 4:

Pray: Dear Lord, You are my Shepherd; I shall not want.  You make me lie down in green pastures.  You lead me beside still waters.  You restore my soul.  You lead me in paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in Your house forever.  Amen.  (Psalm 23)

Hear: Today, write all of the “I action” statements which you double-underlined yesterday on the blank page at the end of this lesson.  This may seem repetitive, but that’s because it is.  Writing what you are learning will help to cement it into your memory.

Do: Read through your list and note how often the Psalmist uses the term “with my whole heart.” 

God’s Word is better than gold and silver (Psalm 119:72, 19:10).  We are to love His Word and rejoice in It (Psalm 119:127,162).  Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and money.” The Psalmist wrote, “With my whole heart I seek You” (Psalm 119:10).  “Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17). 

What things of the world are attempting to divide your attention from God’s Word?  The Psalmist asked, “Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!  Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in Your ways” (Psalm 119:36-37).   Journal what the Spirit is teaching you below.

Week 4, Day 5:

Pray: Dear Lord, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:1-2a)  “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God” (Psalm 42:11).  

Hear: Let’s bring the last two days into focus by answering the following questions.  Please note:  In parenthesis beside some of the questions I have provided verse references.  I tried to double check for typos and to be thorough, but I’m confident I may have missed some.  So, use your notes and the text of Psalm 119 to answer the questions and refer to my references as I guide if you get stuck. 

  1. Read through your list of “I action” statements.  Do general themes emerge as you read them?  Can you group them into broad categories?  For example, “He loves the Word,” “He keeps the Word,” etc.  I had thirteen categories that I felt all of his actions in this Psalm could be grouped into, but you may have more or less (and, yes, I color coded mine, but you don’t have to).  Write your categories in the space below. 
  2. Is the Word of God meant to be merely read or is it also to be actively obeyed?  How do you know from your study of Psalm 119? (8, 22, 33, 34, 44, 55, 56, 57, 59, 60, 69, 100, 101, 106, 112, 121, 129, 145, 166, 167, 168)
  3. Is keeping the Word a passive action?  (10, 31, 45, 94)
  4. Read verses 34, 44, 60, 69, and 112 and write how the Psalmist approaches keeping the Lord’s commandments?
  5. Verse 112 says, “I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end” what does “incline my heart” mean?  Use a Hebrew word concordance book or app to look up the word “incline” (Strong’s # H5186) and write what you learn below.
  6. Do we have a choice whether we obey the Word or not? (30, 108, 112, 173)
  7. Does the Psalmist trust the Word?  Does he believe what It says? (42, 66, 128)
  8. To my count the Psalmist says eight times in Psalm 119 that he meditates on God’s Word or that God’s word is his meditation.  What does “meditate” mean? (15, 23, 27, 48, 78, 97, 99, 148) Use a Hebrew word concordance book or app to look up the words “meditate” and “meditation” and write what you learn below. Meditation: H7881 and Meditate: H7878
  9. Is all of this done begrudgingly?  How does the Psalmist feel about the Word of God?  (14, 16, 20, 24, 35, 40, 47, 48, 70, 81, 82, 97, 113, 119, 123, 131, 161, 163, 167, 174)
  10. How does he regard the Word in comparison to worldly wealth? (14, 127, 162, you may also want to refer back to verse 72 and his prayers in verses 36-37)
  11. Remember he is in a season of severe affliction, yet how does he approach God in this season? (7, 62, 108, 164, 171, 172)
  12. What does the Psalmist place his hope in? (43, 74, 81, 114, 166)
  13. Does the Psalmist keep quiet about the Word? (13, 46)
  14. Did you notice how the Psalmist feels about the ungodliness being carried out by the wicked?  Read each of these verses and write what you learn below: 53, 104, 113, 128, 136, 139, 158, 163
  15. What does he say over and over that he does not and will not do? (16, 51, 61, 83, 87, 93, 102, 109, 110, 141, 153, 157, 176)

Do: Jesus said, “What do you think?  If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go in search of the one that went astray?  And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more that over the ninety-nine that never went astray.  So it is not the will of My Father Who is in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish (Matthew 18:12-14).  Write Psalm 119:176 in the space below; and pray and consider it in light of everything you have learned this week in the Psalmist’s requests and in his actions

Finally, take comfort from the Word (Psalm 119:52) and close your study today by Reading 1 John 5:1-5.