Christian Photographers Community

Psalm 119 - Qoph

By this time our student is showing a growing maturity relative to the Word.  He's begun to see that it impacts every facet of life, and he realizes that it contains all the promises of God to His people - and therefore to him. He's learned that faith like that can be the basis of prayer.  The stanza before us today reflects that kind of relationship to the Word even in the midst of difficulty. 

What can he do about crises?  He's learned that he can cry out to the Lord to teach him some aspect of the Word, some wisdom from it that relates to his particular trouble.  He can say, "I cry out with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord!  I will keep Your statutes.  I cry out to You; save me, and I will keep Your testimonies." In other words, he's saying, "Lord, show me some portion of Your Word that deals with this problem - and I'll obey it!"

He says he rises early - "before the dawning of the morning" - to seek God's help, to pray, and to search diligently through the Word for the promises he needs.  He says, "I hope in Your Word!"  In fact.  He says that even through the "night watches I . . . meditate on Your Word."  He wakens during the night and finds himself thinking about various appropriate passages from the Word.

In his time of urgent prayer he says, "Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness; O Lord, revive me according to Your justice.  They draw near who follow after wickedness; they are far from Your law."  He's saying he needs an answer quickly, because the wicked draw near. But praise God, he has previously learned a precious truth -  "You are near, O Lord, and all Your commandments are truth.  Concerning Your testimonies, I have known of old that You have founded them forever!"  Due to much experience with the Word of God and with the God of the Word, he knows that God hears him and will point him to just the right portion of His Word.  His help is coming!

What about you?  Have you related both to the Word of God and to the God of the Word closely enough and long enough to be certain that - somewhere in that Word - there are principles that cover every situation in which you might find yourself?  In fact, is that where you just naturally turn in trouble?  Your help is, after all, in God, and that help will be according to His Word.  Oh be a student of it!