Psalm 119:49-56; Acts 2:41-47

Psalm 119:49-56
Let's not lose track of what we are doing here in Psalm 119. In each section we are looking at an advantage or blessing that God's Word has for us. In these verses, we see that God's Word brings comfort in times of trouble. v. 50, 52  In v. 53, the psalmist says he becomes furious with the wicked, because they reject God's instructions. I can identify with that! It's easy to feel defensive or frustrated or even angry when people criticize or ridicule our faith. However, I think this is a mistake. We should not let unbelievers steal our joy! Our friend Jon Stark brought this out last night at church regarding Christmas. We all have to admit that Christmas in America is pretty much over the top. And we see people who have no clue what Christmas is about celebrating in ungodly ways. Sometimes all this hullabaloo makes us cranky, but this is wrong. As believers, we of all people, should be rejoicing and praising God and worshiping Him.

Getting back to theme of comfort in this section, remember that sometimes the nights are long. Let's follow the psalmist's example from v. 55, "I reflect at night on who you are, O Lord; therefore, I obey your instructions." The days may be difficult, and the nights may be long, but God wants us to remember His promises, to trust Him, and allow Him to comfort us.

Acts 2:41-47
v. 41 tells us that many new believers were added to the church--3,000 in one day as a matter of fact! You might think this would totally overwhelm the apostles, but we see a sense of harmony as these new believers devote themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing meals, and to prayer.Maybe their actions show us a way to have harmony in modern churches. If we devote ourselves to the teaching of the Word, to fellowship with one another, to sharing meals together, and to prayer, maybe we wouldn't be so vulnerable to petty differences. It's something to think about.

In the next paragraph, Luke reports that the apostles performed signs and wonders. You must remember here that these people didn't have the completed Word of God as we do today, and the miracles were meant to show that the apostles were teaching God's truth. Again in this section we see the emphasis on unity and sharing and worshiping together. "And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved." v. 47