Psalm 119 has 176 verses in it, making it, by far, the longest chapter in the Bible. Most people know next to nothing about this chapter except for 119:11, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee and Psalm 119:105, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.          I put those two verses in the King James Version because many would not recognize them in the version they read. It is kind of like the Lord’s Prayer…..we like it the way we learned it.

          But, back to point. Psalm 119. Those 176 verses are divided in groups of eight verses. Remember, the Bible as written originally did not have verses like we have today. The chapter and verse headings were added later for ease of reading. Nothing else was changed. Imagine if that was not the case. Sunday morning. The sermon is from John. I step to the pulpit and say, “Now, go to the Book of John and in the first third of the Book, I would say toward the end of the first third of the Book, maybe the beginning of the second third of the Book and look for a sentence that says “Even His brothers did not believe Him. Raise your hands when you find it. No, Ed, the Gospel of John, not First John. It is the first third, or maybe the second third of the Gospel of John. Is anyone having trouble? Well, yes Carla, you would be having trouble. Let Terry help you. Anyone else…..” and so it would go for ten minutes or so until everyone found the verse. So much easier to just say, “Turn to John chapter seven and verse five.” Even so, Ed would still be in First John and wondering why he couldn’t find it, but that is OK.

          The Psalms, however, are different. The Book of Psalms is the song book for the Jews. Like our songs, they are written in verses. In the language they were written in, Hebrew, they have meter and rhythm and rhyme. The 119th Psalm has twenty two song verses which are each broken down into eight Bible verses. Each song verse begins with a character, or letter, of the Hebrew alphabet, of which in old Hebrew they had twenty two letters. Each verse of the song has eight distinct lines in it, which breaks down into our Scriptural verses. To explain this, let me use our song ‘Amazing Grace.’ Our hymn book has five verses. Imagine singing a song that has twenty two! Anyway, just verse one: Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. That verse has seven different lines of thought in it. If you were breaking it down in the manner that our Bible is written, it would be one song verse with seven divided lines, or verses, in it. All twenty two song verses in Psalm 119 have eight lines in them, which are broken down, in our Bible, into eight Scriptural verses. If you are having trouble with that, it is OK. It is just for explanation purposes and has no real bearing on the this blog.

          This Sunday’s sermon comes out of Psalm 119. Also, the reading for this week comes out of Psalm 119, just two different places in that one Psalm. As I was putting this week’s reading and sermon together, I was struck by something unusual. The reading is Psalm 119:105-112 and the sermon reading is Psalm 119:9-16. In both cases, every Scriptural verse has either the name ‘Lord’ in it or a pronoun referring to the Lord. You or Your or, depending on your version, Thee or Thine or Thou. Of course, the whole Bible points us to the Lord, but where else are there eight verses in a row that specifically mention the Lord? And yet, here was a single chapter in the Bible that has two sections like that. I was considering this on the drive in this morning (in case you wonder what the pastor thinks about in idle moments, it is stuff like this) and I began to wonder if there might be another section of eight verses like this in Psalm 119. So, when I got to my desk, I read the chapter. EVERY VERSE IN PSALM 119 REFERS TO THE LORD OR GOD IN SOME FORM, EITHER NAME OR PRONOUN. In a single song verse, which is eight of our Biblical verses, there are eight to sixteen mentions of the Lord. The Psalmist was completely focused on the Lord. When he mentioned himself, it was to point out how good the Lord had been to him. Another thing that makes this really interesting to me is that there are twenty two song verses, each beginning with a letter from the Hebrew alphabet, starting at the beginning and going through to the end. This is their alphabet song that they used to teach their children their alphabet and, at the same time, fill them with the goodness of God.

          OK. That is interesting, but how does that fit with us today?

          Godly Jews were completely sold out to the Lord. There were, of course, Jews who were greedy and underhanded and far away from God, but the Godly Jew was a true soldier of the Lord. In reading the 119^th Psalm, we see the Psalmist went to the Lord with everything before stepping out and then he stepped boldly. Now, let’s contrast this with Godly Christians in the 21^st century.

          Before you bought that car or truck you now own, did you pray about it and did you buy what God wanted you to have, or what you wanted to have? Does your appearance edify God or are you simply comfortable? Do your actions and language glorify the Father, or do your actions and language just relieve your stress? Did God have one set of expectations for the Old Testament believer and another set of expectations for the New Testament, and modern, believer? Obviously, no. Godliness is Godliness.

          It shows up in our thinking. We had two mass shootings last week, one in Dayton and another in El Paso. Lots of people killed. In addition, there were the regular dozen or so shot and killed in Chicago and other places. It has become a political issue. But one thing everyone would agree on is that this stuff has to stop. Stronger laws, remove all guns, more background checks, increase vigilance on the mentally ill. More police, stop video games, curb movie violence….it just goes on and on.

          Here is a thought; back in the old days when Godly Jews were completely sold out to God and would do whatever He wanted, there was this verse written: 2 Chronicles 7:14, If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Keep in mind, this was written to Godly people giving them instruction on how ton bring their nation back to God. They understood the personal sacrifice required to be His people. What if the president used this verse and said we must all devote ourselves to prayer? People would laugh themselves silly. For one thing, Christians in our world today are not known for their prayer lives. Marching on Washington to protest abortion, flocking to hear preachers promising them health and wealth if they just have faith, sneaking around to have their fun. This is what the world knows about God’s people. A vulgar and foul mouthed president is supported by religious leaders. That is what the world sees. Someone would say, and they would be right, who in government is humble? No, you couldn’t use this verse. You might say we need to bring prayer back to school, but then our kids would be praying to whatever god the teacher specified. You might get worked up over cashiers not saying Merry Christmas and feel good about yourself. You might turn your radio up so that your Christian music can be heard on the street. But those things will not heal our land.

          I consider myself part of God’s people. I need to humble myself before the Lord, just like the writer of Psalm 119. Everything I do needs to be done with God’s will first and foremost on my mind. I need to give it completely over to God. I need to pray without ceasing, as Paul said. I need to seek God out in every way. I need to turn from my wickedness. Me. I have to do that if I want my land to be healed.

          “But,” you ask. “how do we get the nation on board?” We do not. We are responsible for ourselves. We cannot control others. What happens to them is between they and God. We have to do this ourselves.

          My high school had a rifle team and they had shooting matches against other schools. The kids on the team brought their rifles and ammunition to school on the bus. The kids that drove to school all had rifle racks in the back windows of their trucks and during hunting season those racks would have guns in them. In my lifetime, that has ended. If we as Christians will put aside our worldliness and devote ourselves to Godliness, we will see change. Slowly, gradually, but change. No president, no Senator, no member of the House, no local politicians, no law….nothing will ever make a difference. But, God’s people can make a difference.

          We need to be humbled before God. Next we need to pray and seek His face, which means we have to ask for His will, not our own. And then we need to turn from our sin. Actions, language, even thoughts of evil. Knowing we are not perfect, but at least striving for His way. Things will not change on the spot nationally, but our lives will begin to change for the better.

          This isn’t a Democrat thing or a Republican thing or a liberal thing or a conservative thing. It is a Christian thing and is our responsibility.