Day 272 Nehemiah’s final reforms

I was a bit unfair to Psalm 119 yesterday - it really is a thing of beauty.
Prayer for deliverance 
Psalm 119: 81-88 
Faith in God’s law 
Psalm 119: 89-96 
Love for it 
Psalm 119: 97-112 
Safety in it 
Psalm 119: 113-128 
Desire to obey it 
Psalm 119: 129-136 
Its justice 
Psalm 119: 137-144 
A plea for help 
Psalm 119: 145-176
 True happiness 
Psalm 1 
Tithing and worship re-established 
Nehemiah 13:10-14 
Sabbath keeping violated 
Nehemiah 13:15-22

 Blessed are those who are blameless by following your law ... how can a young man be pure? By following the law ...teach me your decrees, may your unfailing love come to me...you are my portion, Lord...do good to your servant...your hands fashioned and made me...my heart faints with longing for your salvation...your word is eternal, Lord, it stands in the heavens...your word is a lamp for my feet...your statutes are wonderful...you are righteous, Lord and your laws are right...answer me Lord,I call with all my heart...look on my suffering and deliver me...may my cry come before you, Lord...seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands. These are extracts from Psalm 119, and show us that it breathes love and devotion. It is a prayer of the heart, not a dry heaping up of superlatives. Whoever steeps themselves in God’s law, “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither - whatever they do prospers.” (Psalm 1:3) We turn from this beautiful longing for the Law back to the fierce righteousness of Nehemiah - rebuking the slackers and calling to account those who do not keep the sabbath. Here is the law put into practice, and Nehemiah gets the whole city humming.