Psalm 119

9/20/2005

Psalm 119

You are fortunate when you stay the course, when order your conduct and conversation, and walk steadily on the road revealed by God. You are fortunate when you follow His directions, seek Him and crave Him with your whole heart. That’s right—you don’t walk away from His will and direction; you walk straight along the road that He set. You, God, commanded us to obey the right way to live that You have laid out for us; You expect us to obey Your commands diligently.

Oh, that my steps might be steady in Your ways; hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them! Then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with Your counsel. I thank You for speaking straight from Your heart, God; I learn the pattern of Your righteous ways. I’m going to do what You tell me to do, God; please don’t walk off and leave me.

How can a young person live a clean life? By taking heed and keeping watch on themselves according to Your Word, O God, and conforming their life to it. With my whole heart I have sought You, God, inquiring for and of You, and yearning for You; O let me not wander or step aside; either in ignorance or willfully from Your commandments. Be blessed, God; train me in Your ways of wise living. I’ll transfer to my lips all the counsel that comes from Your mouth; I delight far more in what You tell me about living than in gathering a pile of riches. I ponder every morsel of wisdom from You, and I respect the paths of life marked out by Your law. I relish everything You’ve told me of life, and I won’t forget a word of it, O God. Be generous with me and I will live a full life; not for a minute will I take my eyes off of Your road, God. Open my eyes so I can see the wonderful things in Your law. I’m a stranger to these parts; please give me clear directions.

My soul is starved and hungry, ravenous!—insatiable for Your nourishing commands. You rebuke the proud and arrogant, the accursed ones, who err and wander from Your commandments. Don’t let them mock and humiliate me; I’ve been careful to do just what You said, O God. While bad neighbors maliciously gossip about me, I’m absorbed in pondering Your wise counsel. Yes, Your sayings on life are what give me delight; I listen to them as to good neighbors! I’m feeling terrible—I couldn’t feel worse! Please help me get on my feet again. You promised, remember? When I told You my story, God, You responded; train me well in Your deep wisdom. Help me to understand these things inside and out so I can ponder And I can tell others of Your wondrous works, O God. My sad life’s dilapidated, a falling-down barn; build me up again by Your Word. Barricade the road that goes Nowhere; Grace me with Your clear revelation. I choose the True road to Somewhere, I post Your road signs at every curve and corner. I grasp and cling to whatever You tell me; God, please don’t let me down!

I will not merely walk, but I will run the way of Your commandments, when You give me a heart that is willing. God, teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course. Give me insight so I can do what You tell me, O God—so that my whole life is one long obedient response. Guide me down the road of Your commandments; I love to travel on Your road! Incline my heart to Your Words of wisdom, and help me to not covet sensuality, unworthy riches, and temporal satisfactions. Turn my eyes from the things of this world and its temporary treasures, invigorate me in Your ways, O God. Affirm Your promises to me—promises made to all who fear You. Deflect the harsh words of my critics—but what You say is always good, God. See how hungry I am for Your counsel; preserve my life through Your righteous ways!

Let Your love, God, shape my life with salvation, exactly as You promised. Then I’ll be able to stand up to mockery because I trusted Your Word. Please don’t let me ever be deprived of Truth, not ever—Your commandments are what I depend on. Oh, I’ll guard with my life what You’ve revealed to me, O God; guard it now, guard it forever and ever; And I’ll walk freely and at ease, for I have sought, asked and desperately required Your Truth and Your Wisdom. Then I’ll let the world know what I’ve found, and I’ll speak boldly in public, unembarrassed. I cherish Your commandments—oh, how I love them!—relishing every fragment of Your counsel. Remember what You said to me, Your servant, I hang on these words for dear life! 50These words hold me up in bad times; yes, Your promises rejuvenate me and give me Life. The insolent ridicule me without mercy, but I don’t budge from Your revelation, and my interest in You has not declined at all. I watch for Your ancient landmark words, and I know I’m on the right track, O God. But when I see the wicked ignore Your directions, God, I’m beside myself with anger and sadness. I set Your instructions to music and I sing them as I walk this pilgrim way. I meditate on Your name all night, God, treasuring Your revelation, O God. This I have had, as a gift of Your Grace and as my reward, that I have kept Your Words, hearing, receiving, loving and obeying Your Words.

O how You satisfy me God, I promise to do everything You say. I beg You from the bottom of my heart: smile, be gracious to me just as You promised. When I took a long, careful look at Your ways, God, I got my feet back on the trail that You blazed. I was up at once, I didn’t drag my feet, and I was quick to follow Your orders, O God. The cords of the wicked had enclosed and ensnared me— there was no way out—but not for a minute did I forget Your plan for me, God. I get up in the middle of the night to thank You; Your decisions are so right, so True—I can’t wait till morning! I’m a friend and companion of all who fear You, of those committed to living by Your rules.

Your love, God, fills the earth! Train me to live by Your counsel.

Be good to Your servant, God; be as good as Your Word. Train me in good common sense; I’m thoroughly committed to living Your way. Before I learned to answer You, I went astray, but now I keep Your Word, hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it. You are Good, and the source of good; train me in Your Goodness. The godless spread lies about me, but I focus my attention on what You are saying; They’re bland as a bucket of lard, their minds are dull and brutal. When I danced to the tune of Your revelation, My troubles turned out all for the best—they forced me to learn from Your Word. Truth from Your mouth, O God, means more to me than striking it rich with a gold mine.

With Your very own hands, God, You formed me; now breathe Your wisdom over me so I can understand You. When they see me waiting, expecting Your Word, those who fear You will take heart and be glad. I can see now, God, that Your decisions are right; Your testing has taught me what’s true and right. Oh, love me—and right now!—hold me tight! Just the way You promised. Now comfort me so I can live, and really Live; Your revelation is the tune I dance to. Let the pretenders be exposed as frauds; they tried to sell me a bill of goods, But I kept my mind fixed on Your counsel. Let those who fear You turn to me for evidence of Your wise guidance. And let me live whole and Holy, soul and body, so I can always walk with my head held high.

I’m homesick, God—longing for Your salvation; I’m waiting for Your Word of Hope. My eyes grow heavy watching for some sign of Your promise; how long must I wait for Your comfort? There’s smoke in my eyes—they burn and water, but I keep a steady gaze on the instructions that You post. How long do I have to put up with all this? How long till You haul my tormentors into court? The arrogant godless try to throw me off track, ignorant as they are of God and His ways. Everything You command, God, is a sure thing, but they harass me with lies. Help! They’ve pushed and pushed—they never let up—but I haven’t relaxed my grip on Your counsel. In Your great love revive me so I can alertly obey Your every Word.

What You say goes, God, and it stays, as permanent as the heavens. Your Truth never goes out of fashion; it’s all up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up. Your Word and Truth are dependable as ever; that’s what You ordered—You set the earth going. If Your revelation hadn’t delighted me so, I would have given up when the hard times came. But I’ll never forget the advice You gave me; You saved my life with Your wise words. Save me! I’m Yours. I look high and low for Your Words of wisdom. The wicked lie in ambush to destroy me, but I’m only concerned with Your plans for me.

I see the limits to everything human, but the horizons can’t contain Your commands!

Oh, how I love all You’ve revealed; I reverently ponder it all day long. Your commands give me an edge on my enemies; they never become obsolete. I’ve even become smarter than my teachers since I’ve pondered and absorbed Your counsel, God. 100I’ve become wiser than the wise old sages simply by doing what You tell me, God. I watch my step, avoiding the ditches and ruts of evil so I can spend all my time keeping Your Word. I never make detours from the route that You laid out, God; You gave me such good directions. Your Words are choice and tasty; and I prefer them to the best home cooking. With Your instruction, I understand life; that’s why I hate false ways.

By Your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path. I’ve committed myself and I’ll never turn back from living by Your righteous order. Everything’s falling apart on me, God; put me together again with Your Word. Accept my offerings to You, God; teach me Your holy rules. My life is continually in danger, but I don’t forget what You have revealed. The wicked do their best to throw me off track, but I won’t swerve an inch from Your course. I inherited Your book of living; it’s mine forever—what a gift! And how happy it makes me! I concentrate on doing exactly what You say—I always have, I always will.

I hate the two-faced, but I love Your clear-cut revelation. You’re my place of quiet retreat; I wait for Your Word to renew me. Get out of my life, evildoers, so I can keep God’s commands. Uphold me according to Your promise, God, that I might live; and let me not be put to shame in my hope! Stick with me, God, and I’ll be all right; and I’ll give total allegiance to Your definitions of life. Expose all who drift away from Your sayings; their casual idolatry is lethal. You reject earth’s wicked ways as much as rubbish; therefore I lovingly embrace everything You say. I shiver in awe before You; Your decisions leave me speechless with reverence.

I stood up for justice and the right; don’t leave me to the mercy of my oppressors. Take the side of Your servant, good God; don’t let the godless take advantage of me. My eyes fail waiting for You to keep Your promise to set everything right. Let Your love dictate how You deal with me; teach me with Your Word on life. I am Your servant; give me understanding, give me discernment, give me comprehension, that I might know, discern, and be familiar with the character of Your testimonies— help me understand what that means, the inner meaning of Your instructions. It’s time to act, God; they’ve made a shambles of Your revelation! I love what You command, I love it better than gold and gemstones. I honor everything You tell me, I despise every deceitful detour.

Every word You give me, God, is a miracle—how could I help but obey? Break open Your words, let the light shine out, let ordinary people see the meaning. Mouth open and panting, I wanted Your commands more than anything. Turn my way, look kindly on me, O God, as You always do to those who personally love You. Steady my steps with Your Word of promise so that sin does not have dominion over me. Rescue me from the grip of bad men and women so I can live life Your way. Smile on me, Your servant; teach me the right way to live, O God. I cry rivers of tears because nobody’s living by Your Word! You are right and You do right, God; Your decisions are right on target. You rightly instruct us in how to live forever faithfully to You. My rivals nearly did me in, they persistently ignored Your commandments. Your promise has been tested through and through, and I, Your servant, love it dearly. I’m too young to be important, but I don’t forget what You tell me. Your righteousness is eternally right, Your revelation is the only truth. Even though troubles came down hard on me, Your commands always gave me delight. The way You tell me to live is always right; help me understand it so that I can live to the fullest and not die.

I call out at the top of my lungs, “God! Answer! I’ll do whatever You say.” I called to You, “Save me so I can carry out all Your instructions!” I was up before sunrise, crying for help, hoping for a word from You. I stayed awake all night, prayerfully pondering Your promise. In Your love, listen to me; in Your justice, God, keep me alive. 150As those out to get me get closer and closer, they go further and further from the Truth that You reveal; But You’re the closest of all to me, God, and all Your judgments are True. I’ve known all along from the evidence of Your words that You meant them to last forever. Take a good look at my trouble, God, and help me—I haven’t forgotten Your revelation. Take my side and get me out of this; give me back my life, just as You promised. “Salvation” is only gibberish to the wicked because they don’t hunger and long for Your ways. Your mercies, God, run into the billions; following Your guidelines, revive me. My antagonists are too many to count, but I don’t swerve from the directions You gave. I took one look at the quitters and was filled with loathing; They walked away from Your promises so casually! Take note of how I love what You tell me; out of Your life of love, prolong my life. Your words all add up to the sum total: Truth. Your righteous decisions are eternal.

I’ve been slandered unmercifully by the politicians, but my awe at Your words keeps me stable. I’m ecstatic over what You say, like one who strikes it rich. I hate lies—I can’t stand them!—but I love what You’ve revealed. Seven times a day each day I stop and shout praises because of Your righteous decrees. For those who love what You reveal, everything fits—no stumbling around in the dark for them.

I wait expectantly for Your salvation; God, I do what You tell me. My soul guards and keeps all of Your instructions—oh, how much I love them! I follow Your directions, I abide in your Your counsel; and my life is an open book before You, O God. Let my cry come right into Your presence, God; Provide me with the insight that comes only from Your Word. Give my request Your personal attention, and rescue me on the terms of Your promise. Let praise cascade off of my lips; after all, You’ve taught me the Truth about life! And let Your promises ring from my tongue; every order You’ve given is right. Put Your hand out and steady me since I’ve chosen to live by Your counsel, O God. I am homesick, God, for Your salvation; I love it when You show Yourself! Invigorate my soul so that I can praise You well, use Your decrees to put iron in my soul. And should I wander off like a lost sheep—seek me! I will recognize the sound of Your voice.

(combination of 4 translations)