Our Ticket to Peace in the Darkest Hours

In high school I attended a summer camp for kids to help grow in their relationships with Christ. Our days consisted of small group Bible studies, fellowship, worship and various activities depending on interest level such as sports, arts or further ministry opportunities. The first year I attended, we were split into several crews (each crew of about 10 kids), all representing various sections of Psalm 119.

I was placed in Zayin, or Psalm 119:49-56. We spent time studying and memorizing these sections of Scripture privately and as a group. While some of my memories faded about that week, a few things about these Scriptures remain steady in my heart and mind. The reason they stuck around in my brain? Probably because a year hasn’t gone by when I haven’t applied their truths to my life.

I pray the following truths in these timeless words encourage you.

At camp, I memorized the verses in the New International Version, which go like this:

In the night, Lord, I remember your name, that I may keep your law.
This has been my practice: I obey your precepts.

While I had begun hiding God’s Words in my heart at a young age thanks to my parents and Godparents, I didn’t know Psalm 119:55 until that summer. Once I memorized it, I used it as my ticket to get onto better trains of thought at night. So often the events of the life replay in our minds before bed. Positive and negative images and words start floating into our minds. Before we know it, we’re either blissfully asleep or restlessly trying to forget something. I love Psalm 119:55’s statement: remember the name of the Lord. Scripture is full of God’s many names and the encouragement that running to the name of the Lord brings refuge (Proverbs 18:10) The next time we find ourselves up late thinking about something disturbing, annoying or just aimlessly scrolling, let’s instead turn our minds to God. After all, we were made for him and it is in his name we’ll find our home and refuge.

The last verse of the section, this week’s Scripture memory verse, motivates and encourages me every time I read it. While the English Standard Version is slightly different, the meaning remains. David made a practice of putting God first in his mind and heart. Because of this, obedience to God’s Word was his lifestyle. This lifestyle cultivates several key traits: an inner peace, a desire for more of God’s Word and the ability to sing to God with joy regardless of circumstances. Those three traits reverberate throughout Scripture and are concentrated in Psalm 119. I could probably write an entire book on this section of Scripture (and someone probably has!) but I’ll end this blog with this encouragement: there is an endless supply of blessings to those who keep pursuing the Lord and his precepts.

I pray we keep pursuing him and his words with a passion this week, friends!