The Short and the Long of It

[1]"Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. [2]For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord."

-Psalm 117

It's the shortest chapter in the Bible-only two verses-but it says exactly what it needs to. It's short, sweet, and gives credit to the One who is worthy. I think it's a bit ironic that it falls only two chapters before the longest chapter in the Bible. This chapter seems to me some sort of a shout-out: "Everyone, praise the one, true, living God! Come know Him! He loves you more than you can fathom! His faithfulness is perfect and it never ends!" It portrays exactly what His people need to be doing: proclaiming His name to the nations and sharing His greatness to those who need to know Him; and it's exactly the message the lost need to hear.

Psalm 119 is filled with verses on how, as God's children, we should love his law and meditate on it. It portrays His child seeking out knowledge and understanding, so that he might know His maker even better and understand how to live in a way that glorifies Him. In Spanish, there are two verbs that mean "to know." "Saber" means to have knowledge of and "conocer" means to know personally. It's not enough for us to simply know about God or think we've figured out who He might be, as if He's far-off or vague. As followers of Christ, it is essential that we strive to know Him personally. [v. 2]"Blessed are those who keep His statutes and seek Him with all their heart." We have to seek after him wholeheartedly if we want to understand Him better. In order to do that, we must develop a love for His word. Instead of just knowing his statutes, or laws, we need to have a true understanding what He means by them and how they apply to us. Throughout chapter 119, there is talk of putting one's hope in His word. [114]"You are my refuge and my shield, I have put my hope in your word." I believe we need to have this perspective:

[129]"Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them. [130]The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. [131]I open my mouth and I pant, longing for your commands."

We need to strive to know Him personally, intimately. In order to do this, we have to look towards His word, the Bible. We must strive not only to know what's in there, but to understand what it means, and apply it. We must develop a thirst for His word-as if we're literally panting after it. We need to put our hope in His word-in Him-because as Psalm 117 explained, His love for us is great and His faithfulness never ends.