The 22 Day Challenge

Behavioral scientists have suggested that it takes 21 days to create a habit. I don’t know about that but I do know that in three weeks time much can be set in motion for the Lord.

At the beginning of January I took Psalm 119 as my Scripture for the year. You may know that it is the longest chapter in the Bible with 176 verses all concentrated on the Word of God. Little did I realize how the Holy Spirit would use this portion of the Bible to affect me. This rich chapter is full of truth that is so applicable to everyday life!

If you glance at the chapter you will notice that it is divided into 22 sections of 8 verses each. At the head of each section is a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. I believe there are a couple of reasons for this unique acrostic method…

• It is a memory device. The Hebrew people committed much of the Old Testament to memory. I fear that while we have many copies of Scripture available to us today we do not memorize much of it. The committing of Scripture to memory is vital to victorious Christian living. In fact one of the opening verses of the psalm says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (119:11). Did you know that John Ruskin, William Wilberforce, Henry Martyn, and David Livingstone had all committed Psalm 119 to memory? Perhaps we can at least memorize some portion of it!
• It is a message. Even the method is intentional. Just as Christ, the Living Word, is the “Alpha and Omega” (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet), so the written Word of God is the A-Z of God’s truth for man. It is complete and all-sufficient. Everything you need in this life and for eternity can be found in the pages of the Bible!

Matthew Henry’s father had all of his children to memorize and quote a different verse of Psalm 119 each day, going through the entire psalm twice each year. He said, “If you will learn to love Psalm 119 you will learn to love all of Holy Scripture.” It worked! Matthew Henry became a lover and teacher of God’s Word.

When I finished going through the 22 sections I decided to go back through it again…and again. Like a diamond mine it keeps revealing priceless treasures to me! My son has been going through it with me and I would like to invite you to join us. 

We are beginning a new Enjoying the Journey podcast series entitled All You Need, and over the next few weeks we will be walking through Psalm 119 together. I would like to ask you to go a step further. Would you be willing to take a 22 day challenge and set aside 22 days to read, meditate, and pray your way through this great Psalm? I think you will be amazed at how much the Lord has to say about His Word and your life. It really is All you Need.

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3).