Put Down Your Phone, Write Out a PsalmNäide

Life on Earth is tough (the Bible tells me so)

Human reality isn’t for the faint of heart. And this psalmist in particular has it rough:

• his soul is consumed with longing for God’s ordinances at all times (20).
• princes plot against him (23).
• his soul clings to dust and he needs revival (25).
• his soul “melts from sorrow” (28).

There are external, circumstantial pressures coming against him from all sides. And the desire for the things of God is almost as agonizing.

The spiritual life, as characterized in the passage we're focused on today, isn’t some barefoot walk on a beach. It’s not even a flower-picking picnic in sunshine. At least not the default state. It is a rollercoaster. It has adrenaline. There are terrors, real and perceived. Without help from God and from others, there’s no sense or hope for survival.

In each high-stakes human experience, the word of God and meditation on it are the way through. The written precepts and words, in and of themselves, do not revive. An active, compassionate Person restores the soul.

Hear these cries from David and how they depend on a living God:

• “Revive me according to your word” (25).
• “Make me understand the way of your precepts” (27).

The agency, will, and activity of God in these circumstances bring the situation resolution, pulling one from the jaws of despair back into the confines of hope.

To experience a peaceful way, even in the midst of hardship and trouble, these first thirty or so verses make clear that active even desperate and physical acts of turning to scripture to seek God makes the difference. For, he clearly guides, instructs, corrects, and directs.

Meditating on these verses by slowly writing them down will bring refreshing. May you be filled and encouraged as you take time to transcribe them!

Action steps

• Take time to write out Psalm 119:20 - 30 verse by verse.
• Get a journal or some paper and a pen.
• Put your phone in a drawer or another room.
• Get a physical Bible (so you won't get distracted by anything else).
• Reflect on what God is highlighting for you.