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Wednesday 03/05/25
Thru the Bible: Psalm Book V: Chapters 117-119a
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Cracking open the Methodical & Inspired Psalm 119
Psalm 117:1-2,
“(1) Praise the LORD, all nations! Glorify Him, all peoples! (2) For great is His faithful love to us; the LORD’s faithfulness endures forever. Hallelujah!”
Psalm 118:1-29,
“(1) Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever.
(2) Let Israel say, “His faithful love endures forever.”
(3) Let the house of Aaron say, “His faithful love endures forever.”
(4) Let those who fear the LORD say, “His faithful love endures forever.”
(5) I called to the LORD in distress; the LORD answered me and put me in a spacious place.
(6) The LORD is for me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
(7) With the LORD for me as my helper, I will look in triumph on those who hate me.
(8) It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
(9) It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in nobles.
(10) All the nations surrounded me; in the name of the LORD I destroyed them. (11) They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me; in the name of the LORD I destroyed them.
(12) They surrounded me like bees; they were extinguished like a fire among thorns; in the name of the LORD I destroyed them.
(13) You pushed me hard to make me fall, but the LORD helped me. (14) The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.
(15) There are shouts of joy and victory in the tents of the righteous:
“The LORD’s right hand strikes with power!
(16) The LORD’s right hand is raised!
The LORD’s right hand strikes with power!”
(17) I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done.
(18) The LORD disciplined me severely but did not give me over to death.
(19) Open the gates of righteousness for me; I will enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. (20) This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous will enter through it.
(21) I will give thanks to You because You have answered me and have become my salvation. (22) The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. (23) This came from the LORD; it is wonderful in our eyes.
(24) This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
(25) LORD, save us! LORD, please grant us success!
(26) Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
(27) The LORD is God and has given us light. Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
(28) You are my God, and I will give You thanks. You are my God; I will exalt You.
(29) Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever.”
You remember 3 weeks ago when we covered Psalm 107 how structured a Psalm we discovered it to be? Well Psalm 119 takes structure to a whole new level!
As I’m certain you know, Psalm119 is structured as an alphabetic acrostic.
Hebrew has 22 letters in their alphabet. This Psalm therefore divided into 22 sections.
Each of these 22 sections correspond to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, from ‘Aleph’ to ‘Tav’ (which loosely corresponds to A-Z in English).
Below is a simple chart of the Hebrew alphabet:
Each section or division has 8 lines and every line in each section begins with the letter of that section.
To illustrate – when we begin reading Psalm 119, verses 1-8 are the first alphabetical division of the Psalm with ‘A’ or ‘Aleph’ being the letter of that first section.
All 8 lines of this section therefore begin with an ‘Aleph’.
The same holds true with ‘Beth’, ‘Vet’, ‘Gimel’ all the way through to ‘Tav’.
Gratefully and conveniently for us, when verses were initially assigned to this Psalm they wisely maintained this structure. So the ‘A’ division of versus is 1-8, ‘B’ is verses 9-16 and so on.
As to the content of this Psalm, its primary theme is the value, importance and impact of God’s law. Expressed continually throughout is the personal desire of the psalmist to conduct his life in accordance with God’s word.
We will address more regarding this later.
But what about the ‘why’ behind this structure?
Well it is anyone’s guess, and guesses abound, but upon reading other people’s take on this Psalm I came across one suggested by Joel LeMon, the Associate Professor of Old Testament at Candler School of Theology, Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.
He suggested that this may have been a means of teaching Hebrew children their alphabet as well as the importance of the Word of God at the same time.
Given the importance placed upon knowing scriptures which the Hebrew people had, it kinda makes sense.
You see, just like today, Hebrew children had to practice and memorize their alphabet. Middle Eastern archeology has uncovered countless clay tables upon which are scribed the Hebrew Alphabet.
Also we know that Hebrew children were taught the law from a very early age.
So having a Psalm which made use of the alphabet in sequence, to impress upon young minds the value and importance of knowing and living by the law would be very practical and stood to accomplish much.
In addition to this, I know that the early Jewish people attributed deep spiritual significance to the letters of their alphabet which carry profound meaning beyond just their phonetic value.
Even the shapes (referred to as pictographs) often contributed to these interpretations.
If this was the initial intention of God, the scriptures are silent regarding it so far as I know, but that does not mean it isn’t true.
In any case, the letters and their initial shapes have served as a tool unlocking deeper truths about God. Each letter in the Hebrew alphabet is a symbol with many inner meanings, spanning from literal to spiritual.
I will illustrate with ‘A’ here now, but we will seek to apply this to the whole of Psalm 119 as we progress through it.
Generally accepted is the idea that the ‘Aleph’ signifies the ideas of “beginning” and “oneness”. So it encompasses the concepts of “unity”, “first principles” and “starting points”. A secondary consideration of this notion is the idea of “strength”.
As such it is not unusual that some Jewish scholars spiritually interpret the ‘Aleph’ as a symbol of God’s pre-existence and power expressed most eminently in His power to create something out of nothing.
To illustrate this, I would point out to you that the Hebrew word for God was “El” which is used for the names Eloheem (Plural of El), El Shaddai, El Gebor…etc. The constant in all of these is the “El” which in Hebrew is spelled with the letters ‘Aleph’ and ‘Lamed’ meaning power and strength. The ancient pictograph for ‘Aleph’ looks like an ox head while that of ‘Lamed’ is a shepherd’s staff representing authority among other things. So it is that to the Hebrew, God IS power and strength and authority.
Now the Hebrew word for Father is “av” or ‘Aleph’ ‘beth’. This is interesting for several reasons.
As we just covered, ‘Aleph’ symbolizes strength and the starting point while ‘Beth’ symbolizes house. So father means the strength, leader and origin of the home.
This is also interesting for an entirely different reason.
You may know that it is claimed that the word “Alphabet” arose in the 16th century from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet which are ‘Alpha’ and ‘Beta’.
It is a matter of some interest to me therefore that the English word Alphabet phonetically sounds more like the first letter of the Greek alphabet taken together with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
This also illustrates why you cannot place too much emphasis on the influence of the pictographic meaning of a word. The word for “father” in Hebrew also corresponds to the series of letters from beginning to end in any language.
Now let’s apply this pictographic information to a scripture and we don’t have to look far.
Genesis 1:1, begins with the word “Bereshit” which translates to “In the beginning“.
Since “Bereshit” starts with the ‘Aleph’, the very first letter and word of the entire Bible immediately establishes the concept of God as the ultimate origin of creation.
So you see, you have the actual words and then running underneath them there is the possibility of a deeper meaning which may even help guide the understanding.
Now let me be very clear here. While the study of the pictographic script of ancient Hebrew can be very interesting and even offer greater insights into the etymology of the Biblical words, it IS NEVER TO BE USED ALONE as an exegetical tool.
First and foremost in interpreting scripture is the plain meaning of the text in its given context.
Other primary considerations are the author, the initially intended audience, the time period and the location.
Then what type of writing it is – is the text a historical narrative, a prophecy, wisdom literature or poetic?
Only AFTER all of these have played their roles in laying down a clear interpretational pathway should any thought be given to the impact, if any, that these letters and their ancient pictographs might have on the understanding of the text.
If it enhances it and does not introduce anything which contradicts the immediate passage as well as that of the overall counsel of scripture THEN it can be tucked away in the heart as a way of better grasping what the passage is saying.
Now Psalm 119 is also a poem. A LONG poem, containing 176 verses.
It starts off with a double blessing in verses 1 & 2 in that they both begin with the words “Happy (or blessed) are those who”…etc.
This same blessing appears numerous times in the Bible both as an encouragement to God’s people to walk in God’s ways as well as a warning to the ungodly to change their ways.
It is used quite a lot in Psalms and Proverbs and even forms the basis for Matthew’s account of Jesus’ teachings called the ‘beatitudes’ found in Matthew 5.
A type of overview of the entire Psalm is seen in these initial verses.
It describes the blessed state of the person who “obeys the law of God” or “walks in the law” contingent on your translation.
The psalmist has a heart which obviously ponders this thought often and by composing a psalm intended to be read, he is clearly attempting to influence others to reflect on this as well.
Having started this Psalm with the statement, “How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, who obey the law of the Lord”, the Psalmist takes the next 175 verses in escalating fashion through the alphabet to answer this question and illustrate how to do it.
So as we close out tonight we will tackle the first division within Psalm 119 which is dedicated to the ‘Aleph’.
Now Teri remembered that years ago we had done a simple, fun summer exercise which she had instigated. She had taken it upon herself to give the information associated with each letter of the Hebrew alphabet in connection with the verses they are associated with in Psalm 119 and then asked everyone to read those 8 verses and pick out a phrase or truth which most spoke to them. What you have in your hands is a trifold which does just that with a few examples of the verses some people picked out of each division.
I think this is a great little exercise and guide to the Psalm so I am encouraging you to use it as a way of engaging with the verses in Psalm 119 as we progress through it.
So let’s turn to Psalm 119 verses 1-8.
Now remember that while it is not apparent in the English translation of these verses that each verse begins with ‘A’, it honestly does so in the Hebrew.
A o r ‘Aleph’
‘Aleph’ signifies the ideas of “beginning” and “oneness”. So it encompasses the concepts of “unity”, “first principles” and “starting points”. A secondary consideration of this notion is the idea of “strength”. Spiritually it symbolizes the eternal pre-existence of God and His power expressed most eminently in His creating all things out of nothing.
Let’s consider how this very long and structured Psalm begins in these verses. What is their focus and what are they saying?
“(1) How happy are those whose way is blameless, who live according to the law of the LORD! (2) Happy are those who keep His decrees and seek Him with all their heart.”
So in these first verses ‘Aleph’ is expressed through the power and first principles of God seen and conveyed in His word which is set forth as that for which we were created. Our happiness is said to be found in our “unity” or agreement with God’s law and it being the primary focus of our hearts.
Verses 3 & 4 build on this.
“(3) They do nothing wrong; they follow His ways.
(4) You have commanded that Your precepts be diligently kept.”
Right and wrong are based upon Who God is, upon His very character and person. This begins a way of thinking which is frequently expressed throughout this Psalm. Either the blessed state of those who or the moral obligation all to follow after God’s ways. Following or obeying are encouraged consistently throughout Psalm 119. It paints a picture of an ongoing relationship which we as God’s creations have with Him as our Creator.
Then the psalmist makes a statement of contemplation…
“(5) If only my ways were committed to keeping Your statutes! (6) Then I would not be ashamed when I think about all Your commands.”
We know that God WANTED to meet with Israel and speak to them directly. It was the idea behind the reason God told Pharaoh to let them go. They were to go into the wilderness to worship Him.
To worship means to humble beseech and pay homage to or show respect to. God appeared on the mountain to generate just that response which would have been lived out by seeking Him first and modeling their lives after His ways.
However, we know Israel would not draw near God, but rather drew back. So God, at their request, gave Israel a written law. A code book so to speak which would illustrate what godliness looked like if lived out. It is said that God gave them the 10 commandments, but that the rest of the law offers 613 ways in which these commandments are lived out.
The desire of God in giving the law was to bring them back to the mountain so to speak. To tutor them to surrender to Christ when He came. It was given for life – which is to know God in intimate union, but due to the weakness of our fallen flesh, it only sets forth a standard to which we cannot attain. This brings condemnation – which is what the psalmist is getting at here.
If only it were constantly in my heart to keep you statutes, I would not be ashamed in Your presence or when I think on Your word.
“(7) I will praise You with a sincere heart when I learn Your righteous judgments.
(8) I will keep Your statutes; never abandon me.”
He closes out with a commitment. Not an obligation, though it CAN be, it is more of a heart cry. Every time I learn of your righteous judgments or just regulations I CHOOSE to praise you and to do it with sincerity!
I will not look upon Your ways grudgingly or chafe in response to Your laws because I know they represent YOU. I want my response to YOu to be one of honor and sincerity. When I hear, I will obey!
What I ask as Your humble servant is that you never abandon me!
Blessings!
Tri
