Thursday: Starting Young

By James Boice

Theme: God as Our Teacher

In this week’s lessons from Psalm 119, we learn from the Word of God how to live a pure life.

Scripture: Psalm 119:9-16

There is a fourth important teaching in this stanza: not only 1) that we must begin to live for God when we are young; 2) that we must hide God's Word in our hearts, that is, that we must memorize it; and 3) that knowing the Bible is the only way to avoid sinning and live a pure life. The psalmist also teaches as a fourth truth that we cannot understand God's Word by ourselves, and therefore we need God himself for our teacher. Verse 12 notes this by coupling a line of praise with a line of petition. 

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Wednesday: Starting Young

By James Boice

Theme: Hiding God’s Word in Our Hearts

In this week’s lessons from Psalm 119, we learn from the Word of God how to live a pure life.

Scripture: Psalm 119:9-16

What can preserve us from ruin? What can empower us to say “No” to temptation? What can enable us to live a holy life in the midst of our most wicked surroundings? Only the Word of God, the Bible, which we must study and hide away in our hearts. Jesus told his disciples, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). He also prayed to the Father on their behalf, saying, “Sanctify them by the truth,” noting that “your word is truth” (John 17:17). 

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Tuesday: Starting Young

By James Boice

Theme: Deciding to Follow God Early

In this week’s lessons from Psalm 119, we learn from the Word of God how to live a pure life.

Scripture: Psalm 119:9-16

The first three verses of this section of Psalm 119 not only tell us that we should begin to live for God early in life—or, in case we are already older, at the earliest possible moment, that is, right now—they also tell us what we should do to actually live for God. It is to hide God's Word in our hearts, which means not just to read it but also to study it and even memorize it.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Monday: Starting Young

By James Boice

Theme: Living according to God’s Word

In this week’s lessons from Psalm 119, we learn from the Word of God how to live a pure life.

Scripture: Psalm 119:9-16

What is the condition of your heart, your home? Apart from the grace of God in your life it will always be occupied by such filthy evil spirits as lust, greed, pride and self-love. If you try to drive these demons out by yourself, they will only return in greater numbers and your latter state will be worse than at the first (Luke 11:24-26). God alone can cleanse the heart, and he does it through the agency of his Word, the Bible. 

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Friday: First Things First

By James Boice

Theme: The Need for Personal Resolution

In this first stanza of Psalm 119, we are told of the importance of loving and obeying God’s Word.

Scripture: Psalm 119:1-8

This first stanza has moved from statements about the Bible as a source of blessing for all persons to a very personal resolution. If the psalm is to be helpful to us, it must become personal in our lives, too. 

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Thursday: First Things First

By James Boice

Theme: Living by the Bible

In this first stanza of Psalm 119, we are told of the importance of loving and obeying God’s Word.

Scripture: Psalm 119:1-8

The reason we are not happy is that we sin, and the main reason we sin as much as we do is that we do not know the Bible well enough. These verses tell us that the happy people are those who “do nothing wrong.” However, if we ask how they have learned not to do wrong, the answer surely is that they have learned to “walk in [God's] ways” and “obey” his precepts. 

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Wednesday: First Things First

By James Boice

Theme: Meditating Day and Night

In this first stanza of Psalm 119, we are told of the importance of loving and obeying God’s Word.

Scripture: Psalm 119:1-8

I stress living by the Bible, because that is what these opening verses emphasize. This is because the blessedness they speak of is for those who “walk” according to God's law and “keep” his statues. In other words, from the beginning we are to understand that this is a practical matter, a way of life and not merely a course of academic study. On the other hand, it is also clear that we cannot live by the Bible unless we know it well. As the first psalm says, it must be our “meditat[ion] day and night" (v. 2). 

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Tuesday: First Things First

By James Boice

Theme: A Psalm on the Word of God

In this first stanza of Psalm 119, we are told of the importance of loving and obeying God’s Word.

Scripture: Psalm 119:1-8

Many writers acknowledge that to be happy is a universal goal of men and women. The only people who do not want to be happy are abnormal. But apart from being instructed by God, human beings do not know how to achieve happiness. They think they will be happy if they can earn enough money, be respected by those with whom they work, acquire enough power to do whatever they like or to be free from all restraints, or discover someone who will love them without conditions. But these pursuits do not ensure happiness, and sin always warps and destroys even the best achievements. 

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Monday: First Things First

By James Boice

Theme: “Giant among the Psalms”

In this first stanza of Psalm 119, we are told of the importance of loving and obeying God’s Word.

Scripture: Psalm 119:1-8

Not long ago we were studying the shortest psalm in the Psalter, which is also the shortest chapter in the Bible. Here, two psalms later, we are dealing with the longest psalm and the longest chapter. Psalm 117 contained two verses and five lines. Psalm 119 contains 176 verses and 315 lines. The first tells us to praise God. This psalm praises God for his Word, the Bible, because God has given us the Bible and it is only through the Bible that we can come to know who God is and how to praise him. 

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Friday: Thanks to Our Good God, Part 2

By James Boice

Theme: Three Great Statements

In this week’s lessons, we see that this psalm reminds us of the need to trust and praise God always.

Scripture: Psalm 118:6, 8, 9, 17, 27-29 

The last three verses are a powerful summary and application of all the psalm has been saying up to this point, and they are the last section I want to draw to your attention. They say, 

The last three verses are a powerful summary and application of all the psalm has been saying up to this point, and they are the last section I want to draw to your attention.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

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