MasterTruth

What's Up with Psalm 119? Part Two

When you come to Psalm 119, the first observation is that it takes a long time to get through the 176 verses. The second obvious point is that it’s all about the Word of God. Only one or two of the verses doesn’t refer to His word, and that’s unique.

Now for some serious Bible student points to make. First, this is written to the Jews. Thus, the words used for The Word are very law oriented (law, judgments, testimonies, commandments, statutes and precepts). By contrast, the descriptors for the Word of God in the New Testament are things like “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” (2 Tim. 2:15); scriptures, truth, word of truth, word of God and prophesy. Here’s a little summary of the New Testament difference Christ made in relation to the law: Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace. (Eph. 2:15)

While not written TO us, Psalm 119 is definitely written FOR us, and we learn the powerful importance God places on His word.

But here’s something else unique about the style of this Psalm (and many of the Psalms). It falls within the poetry books of the Old Testament. In Part One of this blog, we talked about how Psalm 119 is an alphabetic acrostic. Each of the stanzas (and the verses within that stanza) begin with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order (22 letters, 22 stanzas).

But in addition to the alphabetic acrostic style, the Psalms, including this one, weave in prophesy. The whole of Psalm 119 is not prophesy, but prophetic elements interlace in and out of this poetic book and chapter. Because of that, you can wonder as you read the nouns if they are talking about David, the likely author of this Psalm, or are they talking about Jesus? Or both? So let’s look at one stanza with this lens.

Psa 119:161-168  SCHIN. Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.  (162)  I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.  (163)  I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.  (164)  Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.  (165)  Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.  (166)  LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.  (167)  My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.  (168)  I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee.

You can see that the “me” and “I” referred to here easily could apply to David or Jesus. Actually, it can and does waft back and forth between the two in hologram style. But the No. 1 clue that Jesus is here is in that first verse. “Princes have persecuted me without a cause.” Without a cause is a key phrase throughout the Bible that always points to Jesus. How do I know? You simply compare scripture with scripture. Jesus said in John 15:25  But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. What is Jesus referring to from the Old Testament? Take your pick: Psalm 7:4, 35:19, 69:4, 109:3, 119:161.

The puzzlement of the prophesy in Psalms is that the narrative takes you from the present to the prophetic future and back. By our standard English norms, the first-person grammar should apply to the writer in the present. The untrained eye can’t see past that. But once you do, you will see Jesus in passages that aren’t primarily about Jesus, and it will cause you to go back and look at that Psalm in a completely different light. I know. I’m over one year already studying each Psalm, and I see this all over the place!

R&J Shee

What’s Up with Psalm 119, Part One

Most readers of this blog probably know that Psalm 119, the Bible's longest chapter, is all about the Word of God. If you’re studying or teaching it, here are some key facts and insights to consider.

There are 22 stanzas of 8 verses each. The famous preacher F.B. Meyer summarized that the psalm is an elaborate acrostic. In the original, each verse in a given section begins with the same letter, so that the twenty-two sections present the complete Hebrew alphabet. So that’s a bit about the style. Another tidbit is that there are seven words repeated over and over throughout the 176 verses to refer to the word of God. Below I’ve distilled the meanings of each of the seven words.

• Word: Spoken or revealed word
• Law: A revelation or single command—all the way to the whole body of the law (first five books of the Bible)
• Judgments: Regulations
• Testimonies: The biblical witnesses or truth examples
• Commandments: Given orders
• Statutes, Authority of what God wrote
• Precepts: Particular, detailed instructions

You could actually call this Psalm the “full mention” of the Word of God. Full mention is a term we use to describe a passage that stands out as the most comprehensive on any given topic. For example, the full mention of charity would be 1 Cor. 13. It’s good to pick out full-mention passages as a starting point for any topic you want to study further. Some of the most-quoted verses about the Bible come from Psalm 119. Find a favorite verse from this full-mention chapter and look up the cross references to it on any Bible phone app or computer Bible program that contains the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK). The TSK is the most exhaustive list of cross references you can find. I have the Blue Letter Bible app on my phone because it contains TSK cross references.

Now some observations and meditations I had on Psalm 119 after I completed studying it.

• In every stanza, the psalmist incorporates at least six of the seven words for the Word, and in some cases, he uses all seven (word, law, judgments, testimonies, commandments, statutes and precepts). I think the repetition is why some consider the Psalm a little intimidating.
• I find it instructional that there are seven words to denote the Word of God. Seven is the number of perfection or completion.

And here’s a meditation question with an “ah ha” answer. Besides the fact that seven is the number of perfection or completion, why does God use a spate of words to describe His word? To get to that, you have to look at a truth you may have overlooked. The Word is part of the trinity. No, you say. The trinity is the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Well, how about this verse: 1 John 5:7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. Stunning, I know. Jesus and the Word prove to be interchangeable, and that shouldn’t surprise us, because Jesus is the Word pointed out in John 1:1-2, 14 and elsewhere. (Notice 1 John 5:7 capitalizes the W in Word, denoting deity.)

There’s not a single word to encapsulate all that God is in any of His forms. Jesus has several names in the Bible (Christ, Emmanuel, Messiah, Son of God, Lord, the Word etc.). So does God (Jehovah, Abba, Father, the Ancient of Days, etc.). So does the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost, comforter, spirit of truth, spirit of glory, etc.)

Psalm 119 shows us the many nuances of the Word of God in seven terms. But we’re just getting started with the value of Psalm 119. In part 2, we are going to look at the context and prophetic value of Psalm 119. It’s a study angle you likely have never considered before.

R&J Shee