Tag Archives: Psalm 119

T is for Time

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time

Due to lack of time this week, I will not be posting on “T is for Time”.

I had great plans —
— to reflect on the words of the wisest man, Solomon.
“There is a time for everything.” (Eccl. 3:1)
— to ponder the words of King David.
“My times are in Your hands.” (Ps. 31:15)
— to think over the words of Jesus.
“It is not for you to know the times or dates.” (Acts 1:7)
— to consider the words of Paul.
“Make the best use of your time.” (Eph. 5:16)
— to contemplate the words of Jim Croce.
“If I could save time in a bottle.” (Not really)

But I ran out of time.

One of the things I’m most looking forward to on the New Earth is
no clocks, no schedules, no timers buzzing, no deadlines,
no time limits, no delays, no due dates, no cut off point,
no being late, no calendars, no hurry, no push to finish.

We’ll have all the time in the (new) world.

clock

Tsadhe

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Tsadhe is the eighteenth letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Tsadhe (also written as “Tsade” or “Tsadde” or “Tzadi” or “Tzadee”) has the same sound as “tz” as in “nuts”. Every line in Psalm 119:137-144 starts with this letter. Tsadhe looks like this:

Tsade

The left side of the letter “tsadhe” represents a humble and faithful servant bent in submission. On the right is a hand lifted up to God. Put those two things together and you have a righteous person. The word “tsadhe” means “righteous one”. Only the humble are truly righteous.

Let’s review the last few letters we have studied.

  • The letter samech – represents safeguarding and closure
  • The letter ayin — represents sight
  • The letter pe — represents speech

Then, after these three letters, comes the letter צ (tsadhe). This cluster of letters tells a story. A person, who safeguards and protects his eyes from evil things and protects his mouth and speech from saying bad things, will be a tsadhe, a righteous individual.

The Pharisees in Jesus’ day were intent on becoming “tsadik” — disciples of righteousness, by doing “tsadakah” — acts of righteousness. Jesus had a few words to say about that.

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-4)

The highest form of righteous acts are those done in secret. Can you imagine having a trumpeter play “Reveille” every time you put your offering in the plate? That would get annoying.

trumpet

It’s hard to be righteous.
Trying to sustain righteousness on our own doesn’t work.
“All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6)
(“Filthy rags” is most accurately translated as “menstrual cloths”.)
Selah.

Thankfully, we have a Righteous Savior
who not only forgives our filthiness,
but also imputes His righteousness onto us.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
(2 Cor. 5:21)

That’s righteous good news.

tzadi

Next: My favorite word in the Bible that starts with “T”.

Long Song Study, part T

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Every verse in this section of Psalm 119 starts with the Hebrew letter “Tsadhe” (more on that tomorrow). The letter means “righteous” — and that’s definitely the theme of this passage. A form of the word is used six times in eight verses. Let’s dig in!

Verse 137
Righteous are you, O Lord, and right are your rules.
Righteous: upright, moral, virtuous, good, pure, true, just. Righteousness covers a lot of ground, but basically it boils down to perfect perfection, excellent excellence, faultless faultlessness. You get the idea — just keep on piling up the words. David made the connection that a righteous God would have to be the author of righteous laws, otherwise He wouldn’t be righteous. God’s perfect rightness was a great comfort to David, assuring him that God would always deal with him in the same way: uprightly, morally, with virtue and goodness, in purity, truth and justice.

Verse 138
You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness.
Moses is given credit for writing down the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch, or Torah). But David didn’t forget that every word was a result of divine authority, given to Moses by the direction of God. The Bible is not a smorgasbord that we get to pick and choose from according to our personal preferences and tastes.

It is not left to our choice whether we will accept them or not; they are issued by royal command, and are not to be questioned. God’s word is righteous and cannot be impeached; it is faithful and cannot be questioned; it is true from the beginning, and it will be true unto the end. (Spurgeon)

See that little word “all” before faithfulness? Like a balloon that keeps expanding with every breath blown into it, this expression means His faithfulness never explodes. It just keeps filling and filling until it’s as faithful as faithful can be.

Verse 139
My zeal consumes me, because my foes forget your words.
David’s certainty about the perfection of God’s law made him incredulous when he saw others dismiss it with contempt. It ate him up inside to witness his enemies utterly ignoring the commands of God Himself. David wasn’t personally offended, but burned with holy anger that God would be treated in such a way. I get it. It riles me up to observe professing Christians, who have been taught the truth, act like they have forgotten every bit of it.

Verse 140
Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.
Other versions use the words “very pure” and “thoroughly tested”, but I like the sound of “well tried”. Commands are to be obeyed, but promises are to be “well tried”. The Word can stand up to the test. That’s why David loved it so — it had been weighed and measured and NOT found wanting. In fact, “the more we try the promises, the surer we shall find them.” (George Horne)

Verse 141
I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts.
David was the youngest of the eight sons of Jesse. That’s seven older, burly brothers. When Samuel was looking for a king to anoint in Jesse’s house, David wasn’t even considered a possibility by his father. Years later, as King of Israel, perhaps David still suffered from “Youngest Child Syndrome” — the littlest child overshadowed by a crowd of strong personalities. When David showed up on the front lines of the Philistine battle, his older brothers despised him for challenging Goliath. It’s hard to get over things like that. That’s conjecture, of course. Still, David didn’t blame God or use pain from the past as an excuse. Like David, we all have had past experiences that left us feeling insignificant and undervalued. And like David, we need to hold on to the truest, most reliable thing in life — God’s words.

Verse 142
Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true.
David tried hard to establish the theme of righteousness in this passage. Here he started piling up the words: God is right and He is righteously righteous. He is righteous as righteous can be. And it’s not a temporary thing — it’s a forever-and-ever-amen thing. That truth gave David a firm foundation on which to stand.

Verse 143
Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight.
It seems like a contradiction to have trouble and anguish alongside delight.

Only the one who is acquainted with the struggles of the spiritual life will understand the expression before us. Let the reader herein find a balance in which to weigh himself. Does he find, even when he is begirt with sorrow, that it is a delightful thing to do the will of the Lord? (Spurgeon)

Well? Are you begirt (surrounded) with stress and pressure? Can you still delight in the Lord? How does your scale read?

Verse 144
Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.
One more time, just in case you missed it, God’s words are righteous forever. Got it?

And so he rejoices in the sheer trustworthiness of the word of God. That the small, despised nobody, who burns with jealous anger for the honor of God, who endures trouble and anguish, may safely rest on this righteous word. (Christopher Ash)

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Things I know for sure from this passage:

  • When I say God is righteous, I’m not describing what He does, I am describing who He is.
  • God invites me to put His promises to the test.
  • Well tried promises lead to deeper love for the Word.
  • Even when trouble finds me, I can find delight in God’s words.
  • Studying God’s Word and gaining understanding adds life to my days.

Next: Tsadhe

Stanza T

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Instead of counting how many weeks we’ve been at this (this is week 18!), let’s start a countdown. Only five more weeks and the Long Song study will be done! The finish line is in sight. Let’s finish this race!

Psalm 119:137-144

Totally perfect — that’s You, Lord;
     and Your commands are right on, too.

Talk about handing out great rules!
     I trust them with my heart and soul.

Tired out by my own fervor,
     I’m appalled that some blow You off.

Tested and tried and verified,
     Your promises are dearly loved.

Though I am deprived and picked on,
     I call to mind Your wise counsel.

Truth is found in all of Your laws;
     Your goodness never expires.

Trouble comes at me from all sides,
     but I won’t let it steal my joy.

Timeless and flawless are Your words,
     so teach me how to live by them.

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Next: Long Song Study, part T

S is for Said

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God is a talker.
In the first chapter of the Bible, we read the phrase “God said” eleven times.
We literally have the very words that God spoke.
At our fingertips.
In quotations.
Selah. (Hebrew for “stop and think about that for a while.”)

said

God’s people are talkers, too.
The word “said” is found 3, 071 times in the scriptures.
Words are the method of choice to get the gospel out to the nations.

world

For those of us who are not such great talkers, there’s a promise:
“The Holy Spirit will give you the words to say at the moment when you need them.” Luke 12:12

Psalm 119 was David’s long love song about the
extraordinary,
astonishing,
miraculous
record of what God said.

Musicians have been writing songs about the same thing ever since.

Back in 1975, the Heritage Singers recorded an album. The group was made up of men dressed in powder blue leisure suits and women wearing puffy sleeved maxi dresses. Ah, the 70s. Their big hit was titled, “God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It For Me”. Pretty good theology.

Going back farther, in the 1700s, a song was published by an anonymous lyricist identified only as “K”. Pastor John Rippon included it in a compilation of hymns he put together for his church. “K”, whoever you are, thanks for writing such masterful words.

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

What more can He say than to you He has said?
He said it, I believe it.

My favorite word in the Bible that starts with “S” is SAID.

Pe

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Pe is the seventeenth letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Pe (also written as Pey or Pei or Peh) sounds like “p” as in “pay”. Every line in Psalm 119:129-136 starts with this letter. Pe looks like this:

pe

The word “Pe” means “mouth” as in “I open my mouth and pant…” (Ps. 119:131) The definition doesn’t just pertain to a physical mouth, but also extends in meaning to “word,” “expression,” “vocalization,” and “speech”.

Genesis states that God created everything by the words of His mouth (Pe). The fact that the letter “Pe” has an opening on its left side shows us that God is still speaking.

Rabbis point out that “Pe” (mouth) follows the letter “Ayin” (eyes), suggesting the importance of seeing (understanding, having awareness) before opening the mouth. If this order is reversed, the result is mindless chatter. Heard any of that lately?

To put it another way:
Engage the brain before putting the mouth in gear.

On the path to discipleship,
learning how to control our words is paramount.
“The tongue has the power of life and death.”
(Prov. 18:21)

The timing of our words is vitally important.
“A well-spoken word at just the right moment
is like golden apples in settings of silver.”
(Prov. 25:11)

The tone we use when speaking is consequential.
“Gracious words are like a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”
(Prov. 16:24)

Let “Pe” remind us to make good use of our mouths —
to speak
golden-apple,
honey-sweetened
words of life.

pei

Next: My favorite word in the Bible that starts with “S”.

Long Song Study, part S

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bstud

Just when I think David might run out of things to say about God’s law, he comes up with more. In this section of Psalm 119, David used four words that aren’t found anywhere else in scripture. He even displayed his skills by making up a new word.

Verse 129
Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them.
We’ve studied seventeen sections of poetry with one hundred and twenty-nine verses, and still David keeps finding new ways to extol God’s Word. “Wonderful” (pele) is a Hebrew word that means: extraordinary, astonishing, miraculous. This made me do a double-take. The Book that sits on my desk, the Book that I sometimes ignore and sometimes read over quickly, that same Book is a miracle. And it can do miraculous things in me. Of course, David wanted to keep testimonies that filled him with wonder.

Verse 130
The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
Again, David reached down deep for just the right word: unfolding. This is the only place in the whole Bible this word is used and it means “revelation”. I love the idea that when we open the pages of our Bibles, God begins to unfold truth and reveal His thoughts to us. He gives us clarity where there is confusion and illumination where there is fogginess. This isn’t just available to seminary students or Bible scholars, but also to the simple. (Can I get an “amen”?) It doesn’t take great intellect to understand God’s Word because it’s the Spirit’s work to activate our hearts and reveal truth. We can’t use the excuse that we’re not smart enough to understand the Bible. Smartness isn’t required.

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Verse 131
I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments.
David compared himself to an animal that was running, open-mouthed, sucking in air, heart beating hard, muscles exerting themselves at full capacity, running for its life. That’s how hard David went after God’s Word. The word “pant” means “to inhale eagerly, breathless.” In other words, approaching the study of God’s commandments should take our breath away. And did you notice what David was yearning for? God’s commandments! Most of us long for God’s promises more that His laws. David’s longing pushed him to action. As Spurgeon points out, “Longing that is not acted upon is more wishing than longing. Never rest content with mere longings.”

Verse 132
Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name.
In this verse, David began a list of prayer requests. First, he asked God to turn toward him and second, to be gracious to him. David knew that the moment God faced him, mercy would be needed. But he also knew from experience that this was God’s way of doing things. We can come to the Lord every morning for a fresh batch of mercies. “His loving-kindness begins afresh each day.” (Lam. 3:23) It is His way.

Verse 133
Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.
Another request by David — this time for steadiness in his spiritual journey. He wanted to stay firmly grounded in the Word. Many people want their steps directed by something else — their feelings or friends, circumstances or comforts. David reminded God of His promise to direct him because he was aware that small compromises could lead to becoming dominated by sin. Paul warned of the same thing, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” (Romans 6:12) Steady obedience is the key, perhaps something David learned the hard way.

“Oh, how we often stagger along! We do what is right, but we quiver and shake while we are doing it.” (Spurgeon)

Verse 134
Redeem me from man’s oppression, that I may keep your precepts.
Once he addressed his internal battle with sin, David looked at his external struggles and requested help with those, too. Man’s oppression came in many forms, including cruelty, injustice, slander, exploitation, lies. Need I go on? Those kinds of outside pressures wore David down and distracted him from focusing on God’s laws.

Verse 135
Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.
David, the wordsmith, took the word “light” that he used in verse 130 (“The unfolding of your words gives light”) and made up a new word by attaching the word “face”. When God turned His face toward David, he saw God’s favor shining out from it. “Light” and “shine” create a beautiful connection — follow me here. When we “unfold” the word of God and let His truth shine on us, it’s the same thing as the face of God shining His favor on us. When we open our Bibles, we’re as close as we can get to seeing God’s face. *Shiver*

Verse 136
My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.
David cried lots of tears. The word “streams” means “a channel of water” or “an irrigation canal.” You could say David cried a river. To make a point, he used an idiom to express his deep sorrow and anguish. What caused such emotion to rise up in David? He was sick at heart because everywhere he looked, people were blowing off God’s words. Because the people refused to listen, follow or obey, David wept. 
“One of the darkest signs of any age is when the people weep but little for sin.” William Swan Plumer

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Things I know for sure from this passage:

  • I need to seek forgiveness for a flippant attitude toward the extraordinary, astonishing, miraculous gift of God’s Word.
  • If I’m panting after something other than God, it may be an idol.
  • It’s hard to keep a steady walk with God when sin has a hold on part of my life.
  • When I open the pages of scripture, God’s light shines on me.
  • Hardness and pride will keep me from weeping over the brokenness of sin in the world.

Next: Pe

Stanza S

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There are more English words beginning with the letter “s” than any other letter of the alphabet. According to a two second Google search, there are exactly 76,816 “s” word entries in the dictionary. Well then, given the number of words I have to choose from, this should be fun.

Psalm 119:129-136

Sensational are Your commands;
     I want to submit to them all.

Shining light spills out of each page;
     I’m slow, but You get through to me.

Similar to a panting dog,
     I long for a drink from the Word.

Spare me the spanking I deserve,
     but let Your grace reign, like always.

Show me how to walk by Your word
     so sin doesn’t boss me around.

Save me from cruel injustice,
     so I can stay in step with You.

Smile down on Your humble servant;
    I’m ready and willing to learn.

Some days I can’t keep from sobbing,
     when I see open rebellion.

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Next: Long Song Study, part S

R is for Ran

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There is a lot of running in the Old Testament.

Abraham ran. (Gen. 18:7)
Rebekah ran. (Gen. 24:20)
Esau ran. (Gen. 33:4)
Joseph ran. (Gen. 39:12)
Moses ran. (Ex. 4:3)
Aaron ran. (Num. 16:47)
Samuel ran. (1 Sam. 3:5)
David ran. (1 Sam. 17:48)
Elijah ran. (1 Kings 19:3)
Jonah ran. (Jon. 1:3)

In the New Testament, there’s more running.
Mostly to Jesus.
The demon-possessed man ran to Jesus. (Mark 5:6)
People who needed healing ran to Jesus. (Mark 6:55)
Large crowds ran to Jesus. (Mark 9:15)
A rich young man ran to Jesus. (Mark 10:17)
Zacchaeus ran to see Jesus. (Luke 19:4)

Once, Jesus told a story about running.
Only this time, God the Father was the Runner.
“But while he was still a long way off,
his father saw him
and was filled with compassion for him;
he ran to his son,
threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
Luke 15:20

My favorite verse about running is in John’s Gospel. Mary had gone to the tomb of Jesus early in the morning and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. She ran to where Peter and the disciples were hiding out and told them.

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. John 20:3-4

They ran.
(John, the “other disciple”, pointed out who won the race. Really, John?)

peter

We’re supposed to run, too.
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Heb. 12:1
Not stroll, not strut, not saunter — run!
So we can say someday,
“I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith.”
1 Tim.4:7

running

My favorite word in the Bible that starts with “R” is RAN.

Ayin

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Ayin is the sixteenth letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Ayin (also written as Ayen) has no sound of its own, but usually has a vowel associated with it. Every line in Psalm 119:121–128 starts with this letter. Ayin looks like this:

ayin

Like the first letter of the aleph-bet (Aleph), Ayin is a silent letter, so it represents an attitude of humility. The Ayin doesn’t speak, but it “sees” because it is the Hebrew word for “eye” and “to see”.

Rabbis teach that the letter Ayin shows two “eyes” at the top, portraying how Yahweh is able to see both sides of every situation. This letter reminds us that God is watching over us all the time. The eyes of the Lord represent His intimate knowledge about every part of our lives.

“The eyes of the Lord are everywhere,
keeping watch on the wicked and the good.”
(Proverbs 15:3)

In Psalm 119:120-128, David described himself as a servant three times (v. 122, 124, 125). The word servant starts with the silent letter “Ayin”, showing that our service to God and to others should be done without bragging about what we do or drawing attention to ourselves.

Jewish scholars love to find numerical connections in the scriptures. They point out that in Genesis 16, Hagar said, “You are the God who sees me. I have now seen the one who sees me.” The sixteenth letter plays big in the sixteenth chapter of the first book in the Torah.

Because we have two eyes, traditional Hebrews teach that everyone has one evil eye and one good eye, and we choose which one to use to interpret the world around us. Even Jesus used the idea of “good eyes” and “bad eyes” in the Sermon on the Mount.

The eye is the lamp of the whole body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. Matthew 6:22-23

The meaning of this is easily lost on us because He was using an idiom, or a figure of speech, that was relevant in Jewish culture. (Like when we say, “It’s raining cats and dogs,” we don’t mean literal cats and dogs are falling out of the sky.)

In Jesus’ day, to have a “good eye” meant you were generous and open-hearted and to have a “bad eye” meant you were stingy and always chasing after money. Reading this passage in context, it makes sense. Just prior to these verses about eyes, Jesus talked about storing up treasure in heaven. Just after, He taught that we cannot serve both God and money. He wasn’t preaching about eyes! He was teaching about money! He was using an idiom that His audience completely understood. Be generous. Don’t be stingy.

“If we love others sincerely and have a generous spirit, our life will be full of light. If we think only of our own gain, turning a blind eye to the needs of others, our lives will be dark indeed.” (Listening to the Language of the Bible, Lois Tverberg)

The dual nature of our eyes means we need to “keep an eye” on our eyes. On one hand, we can have the eyes of our hearts enlightened by the Spirit. (Eph. 1:18) On the other hand, we have to constantly battle against “the lust of the eyes.” (1 John 2:16)

eyes

Oh be careful, little eyes, what you see.
Oh be careful, little eyes, what you see.
For the Father up above is looking down in love,
So be careful, little eyes, what you see.

ayin (1)

Next: My favorite word in the Bible that starts with “R”.