Aleph – verses 1-8
Introduction: This Psalm is divided into 22 parts according to the number of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The 8 verses in each section begin with the Hebrew letter that it represents. In the “German version it has the appropriate inscription, ‘The Christian’s golden A B C of the praise, love, power, and use of the Word of God.’ ” Franz Delitzsch, 1871.
1. The plan for the blessed way of life – vs. 1-4
a. Seek God with ________ _______ _________.
b. Obey God’s Word __________________.
2. A passion for the blessed way of life – vs. 5-6
a. My _________ need to be submitted to God’s ___________.
b. Another way of expressing this is to ____________ God’s Word.
When God’s way is our passion what will we be spared? _________
3. A pledge to the blessed way of life – vs.7-8a
a. A commitment to ______________ in response to God’s Word
b. A commitment to ________________ God’s Word
c. A commitment to ________________ God’s Word
4. A plea for the blessed way of life – vs.8b.
Why do you think the psalmist closes this section with the prayer,
“O forsake me not utterly?”
Observation: The Psalmist refers to God’s Word in these first 8 verses by employing 7 different synonyms. Can you find them?
Selected Quote:
“In Matthew Henry’s “Account of the Life and Death of his father, Philip Henry,” he says: “Once, pressing the study of the Scriptures, he advised us to take a verse of this Psalm every morning to meditate upon, and so go over the Psalm twice in the year; and that, saith he, will bring you to be in love with all the rest of the Scriptures.” He often said, “All grace grows as love to the word of God grows.” From the Treasure of David, by C. H. Spurgeon
“Alphabetical Arrangement. There may be something more than fancy in the remark, that Christ’s name, “the Alpha and Omega” — equivalent to declaring him all that which every letter of the alphabet could express — may have had a reference to the peculiarity of this Psalm, — a Psalm in which (with the exception of Ps 119:84,122, exceptions that make the rule more marked) every verse speaks of God’s revelation of himself to man. Andrew A. Bonar, 1859.”
From the Treasure of David, by C. H. Spurgeon
