An overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Psalm 119:1-8, “God’s Truth,” schedule for Sunday, June 8, 2025. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRODUCTION

— In John Ker’s: The Psalms in History, he tells of John Ruskin, a British writer and lecturer of the 19th century, who wrote:

“It is strange that of all the pieces of the Bible which my mother taught me, that which cost me most to learn, and which was to my child’s mind most repulsive, the 119th Psalm, has now become, of all, the most precious to me …”. (p. 144)

— OR: Pass out pieces of paper and ask each group member to  write an acrostic using the word “BIBLE.” A simple example:

Blessed 

Is the 

Brother who

Learns to do

Every word of scripture!

You/your group can write and share your acrostics for BIBLE.

— OR you could share a famous acrostic, like the old Nat King Cole acrostic song, “LOVE”:

“L is for the way you look at me

O is for the only one I see

V is very, very extraordinary

E is even more than even more than anyone that you adore can”

Whichever way you introduce the lesson, then you can say: “This morning we’re going to look at one of the most famous acrostics in all history: Psalm 119, and most importantly, how these verses challenge us to apply God’s word our lives.

CONTEXT

We’re continuing our study in the Book of Psalms this week. Last time we saw that the Psalms were songs or poems that were set to music, to be sung with a lyre, a stringed instrument like a harp or guitar. 

There are several different types of Psalms:

— Wisdom Psalms (like Psalm 1 last week, which encourage us to choose God’s way)

— Praise and Thanksgiving Psalms

— Messianic Psalms, which prophecy the coming Savior.

— Lament Psalms, when the writer expresses repentance for sin

— Imprecatory Psalms, when he calls for God to avenge an enemy,

And more.  This week we study Psalm 119, which like Psalm 1 might be considered a wisdom Psalm. 

3 IMPORTANT THINGS ABOUT PSALM 119:

A. Your members might recognize it as the LONGEST chapter in the Bible, with 176 verses. 

B. One of the ways it became the longest chapter in the Bible, is that it is an ACROSTIC. (like the examples we referred to in the introduction.)  

In this case, rather than spelling out a word, Psalm 119 is divided into 22 sections, one section for each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each section’s verses begin with the corresponding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. For example, The first 8 verses all begin with Hebrew letter Aleph. The second 8 verses all begin with the Hebrew letter Beth, the third 3 verses all begin with the Hebrew letter Gimel, and so on for all 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. (Many of your members can see the letter posted just above the verses in your Bible.)  So 22 letters, times 8 verses each, = 176 verses!

C. But perhaps the most important characteristic of Psalm 119 is that it is all about GOD’S WORD. It’s a meditation on the blessings of God’s word. As it does so, it uses a number of different terms to describe God’s word: “Law,” “Commandments,” “Word,” “Testimonies,” “precepts,” “statutes,” “testimony,” “judgments,” “promise,” and “way/ways.”

It is my personal belief that each set of 8 verses has a certain “theme” that it focuses on, and one of our challenges is to find that “theme” for each set. We’ll look at that a bit more as we come to our particular set of scriptures for this week, :1-16.

OUTLINE

I. God’s Word and Our Need For Grace (:1-8)

II. God’s Word and Its Use in our Life  (:9-16)

TEXT:  Psalm 119:1-16

(Notice our lesson for today covers the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, “Aleph” and “Beth,” 8 verses for each letter. So in the Hebrew text, the first 8 verses all begin with the letter Aleph, and :9-16, the second 8 verses, all begin with the Hebrew letter Beth)

I. The Law (God’s Word) and Our Need For Grace (:1-8)

Aleph

:1 “How blessed are those whose way is [a]blameless,
Who walk in the law of the Lord.

2 How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,
Who seek Him with all their heart.

3 They also do no unrighteousness;
They walk in His ways.

4 You have [b]ordained Your precepts,
[c]That we should keep them diligently.

5 Oh that my ways may be established
To keep Your statutes!

6 Then I shall not be ashamed
When I look [d]upon all Your commandments.

7 I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.

8 I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not forsake me utterly!

One thing we did not get to last week in our general introduction to Psalms last week was the NATURE OF HEBREW POETRY. The Hebrews did not use “rhymes” to make poetry; instead their poetry consisted of what is called “Parallelism,” the use of one line after another which either says virtually the same thing in a slightly different way (“synonymous parallelism”) OR contrasts it by saying the opposite thing (“antithetical parallelism”) 

The reason I bring this up, is that we see an example of this “Parallelism” right off here in :1:

“How blessed are those whose way is blameless,

Who walk in the Law of the LORD.”

See: “way is blameless” and “walk in the Law of the LORD” are basically saying the same thing in two slightly different ways. This was poetry to the Hebrews, like rhyming is to us. We’ll see examples of this parallelism throughout Psalm 119, as well as in other Psalms we study. 

But as we get into the text of :1-8, we see two major themes: our duty to God’s word, and how it reveals our need for grace. 

A. Our Duty to God’s Word

AN ACTIVITY you might use as you approach Psalm 119, would be to hand out to your class a printed copy of :1-8. Then have them circle on the page, every synonym for “the Bible.”

(Answers should include:

— “Law of the Lord” in :1,

— “testimonies” in :2

— “ways” in :3

— “precepts” in :4

— “statutes” in :5

— “commandments” in :6

— “judgments” in :7

— and “statutes” again in :8)

So point out that right here in this first section of Psalm 119, :1-8, there are SEVEN different terms used as synonyms for the word of God. You might point out that there are a couple of other words used in the Psalm in addition to these, including “word/words” (:9) ; “promise” and “ordinances,” (:13) for a total of TEN different synonyms for scripture used throughout Psalm 119.

This just emphasizes how much this Psalm is all about God’s word. In all but about 6 of the 176 verses of Psalm 119, some synonym for the Bible is used.

So this section (like all of Psalm 119’s 22 sections) is all about God’s word, or Law. It shows the kind of commitment we should have towards God’s word. 

You could either point out all the words/phrases that describe how committed we are to be to God’s word, 

OR AGAIN: you might have your group circle (or to vary it, underline) all the instances that describe our commitment to the Word:

(Answers should include:

:1 “WALK in the Law of the Lord”

:2 “OBSERVE His testimonies”

:3 “WALK in His ways”

:4 “KEEP (Your precepts) DILIGENTLY”

:5 “KEEP Your statutes”

:6 “LOOK upon Your commandments”

:7 “LEARN Your righteous judgments”

:8 “KEEP Your statutes”

These verses repeatedly set the standard that we have an absolute duty to diligently obey the word of God. God’s words are not “suggestions”! We are to look upon them, learn them, “walk” in them, KEEP — KEEP — KEEP (that word is used THREE TIMES!) them “diligently”! 

ILLUSTRATION:

On March 22, 1843, P.T. Barnum the famous entertainer and circus founder, replied to a letter his friend Moses Kimball had sent him: “Your advice in your letter was very very good and thankfully received—but won’t be strictly followed.” (Robert Wilson, Barnum: An American Life, p. 69)

Barnum was being humorous when he said that to his friend, but it is not humorous that unfortunately, too many people have basically that same attitude towards the Bible: they might consider it interesting, and perhaps very good “advice,” but they do NOT strictly follow it! 

What Psalm 119 shows us here, repeatedly and very emphatically, is that we are to “strictly follow” God’s word: “we are to look at it, learn it; walk in it, and “Keep it diligently”! That is the kind of commitment we are to have towards God’s word.

The problem comes, in that we all fall short of that. Which leads us to our next sub-point:

B. Our Need For Grace Revealed By God’s Word!

So we are to be totally committed to diligently keep all of God’s word. But who can live up to that standard we see in these verses?

Take just even the FIRST verse here: “How blessed are those whose way is blameless.”

You might ask your group: “Ok, so who among us can claim this blessing? Who here can say that your way is blameless?”

You might review each of these verses in the same way:

— Who can say your way is “blameless”? (:1)

— Who can say you “seek Him with ALL your heart”? (:2)

— Who can say you “do NO unrighteousness”? (:3)

— Who can say (like :6) that you are not ashamed when you look upon God’s commandments?

Of course, the answer is, NONE of us can! We all fall short of this standard.

And of course, this is exactly the repeated testimony of scripture, that we all fall short of our perfect duty to God’s word.

— Psalm 130:3, “If You, LORD, should mark iniquity, O LORD, who could stand?” (Of course the implied answer is, NONE of us!)

— This is what Psalm 14:1b-3 teaches (and Paul quotes in Romans 3): There is no one who does good. (:2)  The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who [b]understand, Who seek after God. (:3) They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.”

— Following Paul’s quote of Psalm 14 he adds in :23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

When you look at what the Bible actually teaches in detail, it becomes obvious that none of us can achieve the righteousness necessary to be saved. THIS IS WHY WE NEED JESUS.

And the Bible teaches us that this is actually the purpose of the Law: it shows us God’s holy standard — and it also reveals to us how far short we fall of it, making clear to us our need for Christ!

This is just what Paul said in Galatians:

— 3:22 “But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”

— 3:24 “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

One of the things we will see about the Psalms, is that many of them are “Messianic,” prophesying and pointing to the coming Savior. Psalm 119 is not considered by many as a “Messianic Psalm,” per se. But it does point to Jesus in a very real way, by pointing us to our absolute NEED for Him. 

Look at what the author writes in :5. He recognizes that he does NOT live up to his duty to God’s word. He says: “Oh that my ways may be established to keep Your statutes” – with the expression “OH!” he’s mourning over his shortcomings, because he knows he is NOT keeping them all at the present time!  

He SEES the standard; he knows he does NOT live up to it

Then he tries to recommit himself to God’s word: “I shall keep Your statutes!” — but then in an attitude of despair he adds: “Do not forsake me utterly.” He’s just asking God for mercy. He knows he falls short.

And of course all of this is pre-Christ; it gives us an example of the despair of one under the Law, seeking to justify himself by obedience to every single command; we should be SO grateful for the grace we have under Christ – while keeping the same fervor to diligently keep His commandments we see in Psalm 119)

ILLUSTRATION

You could use the life of someone like Martin Luther, or John Bunyan:

— In July 1505, Martin Luther was on horseback, returning to college when lightning almost struck and killed him. But it did knock him from his horse, and he cried out: “I will become a monk!” And so he did — but that whole process of trying to become right with God through the works of the church left him continually unsatisfied, and he knew he was not saved. One day he had gone to Rome, where he was climbing the “Scala Sancta,” the holy stairs there where supposedly Pilate stood to judge Christ, and which they thought gave you a lot of “credit” with God. But suddenly the verse “the righteous shall live by his FAITH” struck him. Salvation was of faith, not all these works. Luther got up from the stairs, justified by faith in Christ. But before he put his faith in Christ, he first had to see that all his works could not save him. THIS is the function that Psalm 119:1-8 performs for us here; it shows us that we cannot possibly live up to the duty we owe to God’s word. We must have a  Savior!

— John Bunyan has a similar testimony. He grew up learning to curse and swear and lived an ungodly life — until a disreputable woman in town rebuked him for being an ungodly person. He thought, if SHE condemn me, how bad must I be? So he determined to try to be the best, most godly person he could: to steal no more, swear no more, go to church, etc. He said he tried to “please God as well as any man in England.” But like Martin Luther, he knew he fell short, and all that was not enough. Finally God showed Bunyan the cross of Jesus, and as he described in his famous novel “Pilgrim’s Progress”:  

“I saw in my dream, that just as CHRISTIAN came up to the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble; and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more.” (John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress)

Luther couldn’t be saved by his works; Bunyan couldn’t be saved by his works — and you & I cannot be either. “By the works of the Law, no flesh will be justified in His sight.” (Romans 3:20) THAT is what Psalm 119:1-8 helps us see: we owe a great duty to the word of God, that none of us is able to live up to — that’s why we need a Savior! It points us all to Jesus.

II.  Our Use of the Word of God (:9-16)

Beth

:9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.

10 With all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.

11 Your word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.

12 Blessed are You, O Lord;
Teach me Your statutes.

13 With my lips I have told of
All the ordinances of Your mouth.

14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
[e]As much as in all riches.

15 I will meditate on Your precepts
And [f]regard Your ways.

16 I shall [g]delight in Your statutes;
I shall not forget Your word.”

In this second (letter “Beth”) section of Psalm 119, we find among other things a series of responsibilities, of ways we are to specifically apply and USE the word of God in our lives.

Again, as you did in :1-8, you could just teach through this section, OR you could post these verses, or ask your group to look in their Bible, and have them call out different ways they see here that we should relate to God’s word in our lives.  Either way you teach it, you should include:

— :9 Letting God’s word direct the way we live our life.

“How can a young man (or an old man, or a woman, or anyone!) keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.” We are to live the way God shows us to live, in His word.

This brings up an important point, right off the bat in this second section: God’s word is NOT just for reading/studying/learning, and so on. All that is good, but only to the end that it is APPLIED to our lives. We are to LIVE the way it directs us. “KEEP” your life according to His word.

ILLUSTRATION:

In the fall of 1885, newly married Woodrow Wilson moved to Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania to teach at a women’s college there.

“His only lecture course was in ancient history; but before teaching the early civilizations, Wilson offered the young women four general lectures on the discipline of history. He urged his students not to “learn history” but to “learn from history” in such a way that it would impact their lives. (A. Scott Berg, Wilson, p. 103)

This is exactly how we should be with the word of God: don’t just “learn the Bible,” but learn FROM the Bible, and apply it daily to your life.

— :10 shows us we are to SEEK God in His word. Notice how the parallelism works here:

“with all my heart I have sought you.” That’s good, but how do we DO that; how do we seek God? 

The next parallel phrase answers that: “do not let me wander from Your commandments.” This shows us that one important way of seeking God is by keeping His commands. (Vice-versa, a good way to NOT seek God, is NOT to worry about keeping His commandments!) So if you/someone in your class is at an important time in their life, when you are seeking God, be sure to be as obedient to His as you can. Seek Him by keeping His commandments.

— :11 is one of the most famous in Psalm 119: “Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” The Hebrew word translated “treasured” (or “hidden”) is the same one used when Moses mother “hid” him for 3 months after he was born; or how Rahab “hid” the spies in Jericho. It means to cover up like a hidden treasure. Psalm 119:11 has been quoted for generations as a “scripture memory verse,” and I do believe it IS that. But it also implies something more than “just memorizing,” as a person could memorize something, but not really treasure it. But memorizing a verse because you treasure it, and love it, and want it to be a part of your life, is certainly at the heart of what this verse means.

DISCUSSION/APPLICATION:

You could ask your group here:

??? Can anyone share a verse that became so important to you/so needed by you, that you memorized it???

(I’ve shared before how in this season of medical retirement because of Cheryl’s stroke, and moving, and buying and selling homes, all that’s been going on, I’ve memorized Psalm 37:1-11, which reminds me to “commit my way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it …”. I’ve treasured these verses, and they’ve been part of my daily bread every day for the last 5-6 months.)

You/your group can share scriptures that you’ve “hidden in your heart,” and why.

Again I’ll challenge you: DO NOT RELEGATE SCRIPTURE MEMORY TO A “KIDS ONLY” ACTIVITY. Hiding God’s word in our hearts is spiritual warfare for adults. If they haven’t been doing it, challenge your members to pick a verse/section to begin memorizing. (Maybe you can even suggest one, or bring a list of a few you recommend they choose from – or better, encourage them to pick a verse/chapter/Psalm that applies to some area of their life that they really need right now. Encourage them to live out what Psalm 119:11 teaches: hide God’s word in your heart!

— :12 “Blessed are You, O LORD; teach me your statutes.”

We should put ourselves in a position to learn God’s word: through Bible reading, Bible studies (like Sunday School and others) and so on.

— :13 Another responsibility we have is to SHARE God’s word with others: “With my lips I have told of all the ordinances of Your mouth.”  

As I’ve mentioned before, my wife Cheryl is so good at just sharing some little “tidbit” of what she read in her morning Bible reading with people. She did that just this week with one of the therapists at rehab. They were talking back & forth as they did the exercise, and Cheryl told her how this reminded her of something she’d read that morning in her quiet time. She is always doing this with people. 

A application for us and all our members is: are WE sharing something of God’s word with others? You might challenge your group with the question: “When is the last time that I MYSELF ‘told of some ordinance of God’s mouth?” When’s the last time you shared His word with someone — especially outside of a church setting? Many of us are good about talking about God’s word in church — but are we doing it outside? If we are truly feeding on it daily, loving it, memorizing and meditating on it, then we WILL be sharing it with others. It will just be a part of the “overflow” of our lives — just like it is Cheryl’s, and this Psalmist’s. 

— :14 “I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches.”

This could literally be translated, “against” all riches, or “over” all riches. In other words, God’s word is more valuable to him that riches 

This is challenging, right? How many people can truly say that?  How much we love money – and what will we do for it.  How much attention we give it. Do we give that kind of attention, and passion, and diligence, and concern, and care – to God’s word? Are we willing to do for God’s word, what we will do for money? 

DISCUSSION QUESTION:

??? What are some things that we are willing to do for money, that we should be as willing to do for God’s word???

(Some answers could include:

— We will get up very early to make money — sometimes even 4:00 or 5:00 a.m., whatever it takes. Are we that willing to get up early to seek God in His word?

— Many of us are very diligent when it comes to money. Are we that diligent with God’s word?  

You/your group can share your own answers. But the point is, we should treasure God’s word, more than we do money, or worldly riches. 

— Then :15-16 close this “Beth” section with what seems to be a whole “flurry” of activity towards God’s word, all of which show us how important His word was to him:

“I will meditate on Your precepts, and regard Your ways. :16 I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word.”

— Remember Christian “meditation” is NOT like the world’s version of it. It is not “emptying our minds” like in east Asian Transcendental Meditation, rather it is FILLING our mind with God’s word. This Hebrew word mean to “mutter,” like person who is mouthing verses they’ve memorized, reviewing and thinking about the scripture. 

— He also says I will “regard” Your ways. The Hebrew word “nabat” means “look at, regard, consider.” We are to be “looking at” God’s word, certainly. But it also means more than that. It means to “regard” it, to “consider” it. Are we “considering” His word, and especially how it applies to our life?

— Then he says I will “delight” in Your statues.” We talked about this word “delight” last week with Psalm 1. Remember it said “His DELIGHT is in the Law of the Lord.” “Delight” is not just a “duty.” 

You might consider asking your group: 

??? What is the difference between a “delight” and a “duty”???

(Answers might include things like: a “duty” is something you “have” to do; a “delight” is something you WANT/DESIRE to do!

Now, there is a place for “duty” and discipline in regard to God’s word. But our goal is for it to be our “delight.” 

C.S. Lewis used an illustration which I think can be helpful here. He said when young schoolboys learn Greek or Latin, it is a “duty.” But hopefully, if they have done their duty well, they will learn as adults to love an appreciate reading the classic Latin & Greek poets for their own pleasure. It has grown from a “duty,” into a “delight.” 

We can be the same way in regard to God’s word. YES there is a place for “discipline and duty,” for making ourselves get up each morning to read scripture, for disciplining ourselves to memorize it. But the goal is that at some point, it becomes more than just a discipline; it becomes our “delight.” That was John Ruskin’s testimony wasn’t it, that we shared in the introduction. It was a “duty” his mother gave him; but it became most precious: his delight! That’s where we should all hope to be some day: that we are “delighting” in God’s word.

— Then he closes with his solemn commitment: “I will not forget Your word.” It’s too great; it’s too important. We can’t forget God’s word. 

Remember in our OT study in II Kings 2:28, when Hilkiah the priest reported: “I have found the book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” So ironic: they had lost the treasure of God’s word, in the very place it should have been revered and taught. Let us determine that it not happen to us!

Psalm 119 is a reminder to us, in its acrostic form, from “Aleph to Tau,” from “A to Z”, in other words, it shows us in so many ways, just how important God’s word is. It truly is “our daily bread”!

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