TODAY'S THEME VERSE: "Your Word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you."  Psalm 119:89-91

HARD SAYING FOR THE WEEK:

Read Nahum 1:2-3. Explain how a loving God could be jealous and avenging. How could he be filled with wrath? What about Exodus 34:6 where God describes Himself to Moses as a God who is full of compassion and lovingkindness? This gross contradiction surely disproves that the Bible is full of lies and can't be trusted, right? What do you think?

Can the fact that God is loving and God is just sit together side-by-side? I think the Bible is proof of that. Any attempt to try to explain away either of these two attributes of God distorts the truth of what God says about who He is. A Paradox is something (person, condition, act) with seemingly contradictory qualities or phases.

I believe that the Bible is full of paradoxes which doesn't make it wrong but a mystery in some cases. Isa. 55:8-9 talk about God's ways and thoughts not being ours and being higher than ours. I believe He knows exactly what's going on. Because we're finite, and have small minds compared to His, we cannot know what He knows and will not begin to comprehend all He does. Does that mean that truth is not still truth? NO!!

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

1. Open your Bibles to Psalm 119. Tell me as many things as you can about the uniqueness of this psalm. What so special about this chapter of the Bible?

- The longest chapter in the Bible (176 vv.)

- The verses are divided into 22 sections which coincide with the # of letters in the Hebrew alphabet.

- Each of the verses in this psalm (song, poem) begins with the Hebrew letter of the section of which it is a part (use Hebrew text as example) AN ACROSTIC PSALM

- With the exception of one, possibly two verses (v. 122, 132) there seems to be a direct reference made to God's Word

BIBLE STUDY

2. Break up into groups of two. For the remainder of the time this morning I want you to work on the sections of this psalm you are assigned as a group and answer the following questions for each verse in those sections:

      a. What words does the psalmist use to describe the law of the LORD? How many       times are each of the following words used?

      Law, Testimonies, Precepts, Statutes, Commandments (commands), Ordinances, Word, Promises, Way, Judgments,       Faithfulness, Righteousness, Other __________

      b. What benefits are listed about knowing, following, reading, etc. the law of the       LORD?

      c. After reading these sections, what's one thing your group appreciates more about God's word? How might knowing these things you've learned help you trust       the Bible more?