ALEPH

- biblehub.com

"Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart! They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways. You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commandments. I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments. I will keep Your statutes; Oh, do not forsake me utterly!" Psalm 119:1-8 (NKJ)

A few things that you might find interesting...

ALEPH is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and the study of ALEPH is fascinating due to its rich meaning and usage in Jewish teaching and as God Himself has used it in reference to Himself (our "Alpha"). As I learned in my Christian high school studies it's also the letter heading the first section of eight verses of Psalm 119. I also learned that Psalm 119 in itself is an amazing work given its format...

"The Book of Psalms contains several acrostic poems. Notably, Psalm 119 is the most extensive acrostic in the Bible. It is divided into 22 sections, each corresponding to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each section contains eight verses, and every verse within a section begins with the same Hebrew letter. This structure emphasizes the perfection and completeness of God's law. For example, the first section begins with the Hebrew letter Aleph: "Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD" (Psalm 119:1)." - biblehub.com

...But beyond its format, Psalm 119 is rich in connective tissue between the heart of the writer (generally considered to be unknown) and the words, laws, commandments, precepts and ordinances of God. I learned these things as a mid-teen, but I didn't LEARN Psalm 119 until years later. It was then that a strong biblical mentor of mine demanded that I read the entirety of Psalm 119 out loud (all 176 verses) in front of him and insert myself into them in my heart and mind as I was reading them out to Father God's listening ear. 

"BETH

How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes. With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. Psalm 119:9-16 (NKJ)

As I mentioned before, I had done cursory readings of that Psalm in studies before, but I was unprepared for the awe and solemn sense of commitment, responsibility and respect for God that washed over me as I actually declared the words of that Psalm out loud to El Elion (The Most High God). The words in essence became a fearsome confession, or profession rather, as I put myself in a position of responsibility before Him - because I knew that I was being called to live those verses out before Him and at the same time was ever so aware of my own weaknesses and shortcomings. From that point on the Holy Spirit would use that occasion to provide a much more pointed awareness of my own thoughts and actions against the responsibility that I had owned from the occasion of that particular reading - a reading that became a statement, in its entirety, and one that I made before my massively powerful and awesome Creator. It became something like a large pair of holy shoes that I now had to fill with my feet that seemed far too small.

"GIMEL

Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word. Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law. I am a stranger in the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me. My soul breaks with longing for Your judgments at all times. You rebuke the proud—the cursed, who stray from Your commandments. Remove from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept Your testimonies. Princes also sit and speak against me, but Your servant meditates on Your statutes. Your testimonies also are my delight

And my counselors." Psalm 119:17-24

IF I had not also known the grace that My God, Himself, made available to me through Christ because HE knew my weaknesses as well, I would have likely melted irretrievably into a puddle on the spot because the words bore into me, alive, as I read them and they carried with them a weight of responsibility that has not left me decades later. If you don't understand my response to the exercise that I was required to perform, you will if you repeat the exercise under the same conditions and allow yourself to feel the weight of every performative statement that follows the letter "I" as you declare them to our God. If you find yourself lacking as I did, it then becomes a mission of seeking spiritual improvement in order to be found living a sacrificial life - fulfilling those statements as best one can in order to offer a pleasing aroma to our God. The exercise if repeated by anyone should be done with a consciousness of Father God's attendance and the ultimate respect for ALL that He is. Our salvation through Christ is secure, but beyond that, if we truly love our God with all of our being as He requires ... do we not live to please Him as we become aware of His loves and desires?

I won't quote the rest of Psalm 119 here. There's not room - it's long!  But I encourage you to indulge yourself and to consider placing yourself in it as you read it - giving credence to all that you know of what is contained within all of God's commandments, laws, precepts, and ordinances as you read - things important to The Most High.

That same mentor taught me many other things also, but among those that is ever so important is the preparation of our hearts and minds before we approach to talk to God - to enthrone Him first! Our hearts and minds are so easily cluttered with the cares of this life and if we're not careful we might approach Him carelessly, forgetting to set those cares aside for a moment and forgetting the awesome power, majesty, and holiness of whom we intend to speak to - thereby potentially dragging an offense into the audience we desire to have with the Sovereign God who reigns over all of creation. He is far greater than anything we face in life and is the answer to everything. He's the reason that we have life and we were created to have life in order to worship Him. It works well to picture one's self at the entrance to His throne room. To enthrone Him in our hearts and minds with praise as we begin to approach Him is to begin to address Him properly and in so doing, also serve to remind ourselves of who it is that we approach in our prayerful address. This was done in preparation of that particular reading also as I sought Him in the prayerful request of His presence.

- Just a reminder that there's sometimes far more than a cursory reading of scripture may reveal and a little information and personal experience that I thought you might find interesting and hopefully useful in your own walk with The Master.

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8 (NKJ)

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it."  Deuteronomy 10:12-14 (NKJ)