It seems that in Paul’s day, the majority of people in the church in Thessaloniki were those who had turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God(1 Thessalonians 1:9). So firstly, what did Paul find when he began to preach to these people and secondly, what happened to persuade these worshippers of idols to turn to Jesus?
Firstly, “like many Greco-Roman cities, Thessaloniki was religiously pluralistic. Thessalonians worshipped a plethora of “gods,” such as the city’s patron god, Cabirus, along with the likes of Dionysus, Aphrodite, Zeus and Asclepius, the god of medicine and physicians. Macedonia, like much of the Roman Empire, was a region of strong emperor worship, where Caesar was also considered to be divine. In short, most everyone in Thessaloniki was an idol and emperor worshipper before Paul and his companions arrived there to proclaim the Gospel of Christ.” (https://cutpaste.typepad.com/understanding/2013/10/1st-thessalonians-background-and-circumstances.html)
The answer to the second question is in the letter to the church. Paul writes:
13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. (1Thessalonians 2:13)
A key phrase here is the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. “The phrase is used throughout the New Testament to refer to God’s activity among people and it’s related from a Greek noun that we get the English word ‘energy’… ‘the Word of God’… is acting with energy and power to transform our lives and open our hearts to his truth.” (SU notes, Encounter with God). This is what happened to the Thessalonians.
Now, as you read Psalm 119:97-104 consider this same “energy and power to transform” that the psalmist describes here.
מ Mem
97 Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long.
98 Your commands are always with me
and make me wiser than my enemies.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes.
100 I have more understanding than the elders,
for I obey your precepts.
101 I have kept my feet from every evil path
so that I might obey your word.
102 I have not departed from your laws,
for you yourself have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.
Unlike previous verses, the psalmist is not complaining about his suffering, and not asking God for deliverance or anything at all in fact. Instead, it is a testimony of praise to God and for his transforming Word. Wilcock suggests the the psalmist speaks of “the practical use and value of Scripture… it plainly tells us of… five things … that the word of God does for the people of God.” (# 5)
“First, it delights them.” – how I love your law! (v. 97) – How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!(v. 103)
“Then it accompanies them constantly.” – I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me. (vv. 97b – 98a)
“Thirdly, it equips them.” – Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. I have more insight than all my teachers … I have more understanding than the elders. (vv. 98-100) “The ordinary believer who knows the word is better equipped than clever, learned, or experienced people who do not”.
“Next, the word directs God’s people.” – I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. (v. 104) – I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. (v. 101). “Here as elsewhere, the Bible’s teaching on guidance has far less to do with signs and pointers than with being right with God, and keeping that way.”
“Finally, it puts them in touch with God.” – I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. (v. 102) “The word of God is no mere label to a book; it means God speaking.” (# 5)
The author of Hebrews explained it this way:
12 For whatever God says to us is full of living power: it is sharper than the sharpest dagger, cutting swift and deep into our innermost thoughts and desires with all their parts, exposing us for what we really are. 13 He knows about everyone, everywhere. Everything about us is bare and wide open to the all-seeing eyes of our living God; nothing can be hidden from him to whom we must explain all that we have done. (Hebrews 4:12-13 Living Bible) Have you experienced that “energy and power to transform” in your life today?
Tehilim (Psalms) - "songs of praise". 