Psalm 119 Ntes by Nate Wilsn INTRODUCTION Fantastic example f Hebrew acrstic petry. 22 stanzas crrespnding t the 22 letters f the Hebrew alphabet. Each stanza has 8 verses which all begin with the same letter. Each verse has tw parallel statements. Psalmist unknwn, but maybe in an ppressive envirnment which is trying his faith. 1 Happy the perfect f way, the nes wh walk in the Trah f Jehvah (Webster/KJV) Blessed are the undefiled in the way, wh walk in the law f the LORD. (ASV) Blessed are they that are perfect in the way, Wh walk in the law f Jehvah. (NASB) Hw blessed are thse whse way is blameless, Wh walk in the law f the LORD. (LXX)! "#$%&'() (#"##) *+ (Brentn) Alleluia. Blessed are the blameless in the way, wh walk in the law f the Lrd. (NIV) Blessed are they whse ways are blameless, wh walk accrding t the law f the LORD. Relatinship t Beatitudes Blessed are Ashar vs. barak accrding t Thelgical Wrdbk f the Old Testament: Ashar is related t happy Ashar has t d with being in an enviable psitin due t having dne the right things. Baruch is a parallel, but ashar is used t describe men, never t describe Gd. Yu want t be happy/blessed? Here s what t d! Trah/law is instructin particularly frm the Pentateuch. It is the guidelines ur Gd gave fr his cvenant relatinship. Jewish cmmentatrs write that trah literally means teaching/directin and indicates the legal system - the whle will f Gd imparted t man fr guidance. Inability t keep the law perfectly - need fr Jesus. 2,-. Happy are thse guarding His testimnies, with all the heart they seek Him. (ASV) Blessed are they that keep his testimnies, (KJV, Web + and ) That seek him with the whle heart. (NASB) Hw blessed are thse wh bserve His testimnies, Wh seek Him with all their heart. (LXX) "/((#0#1(213 145167"#89%+:";1<==#51)# (Brentn) Blessed are they that search ut his testimnies: they will diligently seek him with the whle heart. (NIV) Blessed are they wh keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. Keep/bserve frm natzar-t guard as in a military watch Seek - darash - indicates repeated mtin - t keep cming back t Testimny: frm that which is rund r repeated,: indicating cnstancy. In cvenant cntext, it is the things which bear witness t the enduring quality f Gd s cvenant: the tabernacle (Ex.38:21), the ark, and its cntents - esp the Decalgue (Ex.25:21-22). In the NT, the wrd testimny/witness is cnnected with backing up the truth f the Gspel thrugh the lives f Christians. Jewish cmmentatrs write that testimny indicates the rules f cnduct which attest t the divine will. Albert Barnes, 19 th Century Cmmentatr: Every law f Gd is His slemn testimny f what is right and gd. Hebrew parallelism: Keeping the testimnies is equated with seeking Him! 3,,>? Als they dn t d injustice, they walk in His ways. (Webster/KJV) They als d n iniquity: they walk in his ways. (ASV) Yea, they d n unrighteusness; They walk in his ways.
(NASB) They als d n unrighteusness; They walk in His ways. (LXX)5@3"@;) (#1A#B# +#"#1C2$%C2516"'(4D=# (Brentn) Fr they that wrk iniquity have nt walked in his ways. (NIV) X They d nthing wrng; they walk in his ways, Owlah = injustice/unrighteusness/wrng - ppsite f Gd s character (Deut. 32:4 Ascribe greatness t ur Gd the Rck withut injustice ) ppsite f righteus. Includes partiality in judgment (Lev. 19:15), dishnest trade dealings (Deut. 25:16), rbbery (Ezek. 33:15), murder (II Sam 3:34), ppressin (Hab 2:12), vicius wrds (Jb 6:30). Man may put it away (Jb 11:14), nt be envius f thse wh d it (Ps. 37:1), renunce it (Jb.34:32), and seek Gd s deliverance (Ps 43:1). This desn t mean that they never ever sin, but that it is their habitual, characteristic practice t avid injustice. (I Jhn 3:9) Derek = way - has t d with setting ft n smething - thus a rad r path, and metaphrically a persn s behavir. Jehvah s ways are written in the Bible - His character traits and repeated actins. This is nt as explicit in terms f d s and dn t s but is mre relatinal - patterning urselves after the nature f ur Gd. This extends well beynd the Pentateuch, because we see Gd s actins thrughut histry and even persnally in the tenure f His Sn n earth. What wuld Jesus d? is a gd questin t ask t find the way f Gd, but it must nt be what we wuld IMAGINE Him ding, but what we see that He actually did in the Bible. Better What DID/DOES Jesus d? than What WOULD Jesus d? These ways are nt smething we walk ut as far t the edge f as we can r that we stay ff f and happen t step int n ccasin, but are where we habitually and characteristically walk. This means aviding ways that we knw will lead us away frm Gd s ways (There are tw ways I can drive hme: ne ges by the cmmunity pl, the ther desn t. I chse the ne that desn t because I knw that is a path that can lead my mind dwn the path away frm Gd.) We are always watching Gd, taking ur cues frm Him, and mimicking His ways. ILLUSTRATION: My tw-year-ld daughter mimicking everything her lder sister des. 4 E>- Yu Yurself cmmanded yur precepts t keep diligently. (Webster/KJV) Thu hast cmmanded us t keep thy precepts diligently. (ASV) Thu hast cmmanded us thy precepts, That we shuld bserve them diligently. (NASB) Thu hast rdained Thy precepts, That we shuld keep them diligently. (LXX)=F"#(1(+!132"#12=G/=D=G)% (Brentn) Thu hast cmmanded us diligently t keep thy precepts. (NIV) Yu have laid dwn precepts that are t be fully beyed. Cmmanded - based n the authrity f Gd. This is the great difference between Christianity and the secular Humanism which rules American culture in the 21 st century. We dn t d things because we judge them t be beneficial t us (Humanism), but because we believe in a Gd wh hlds ultimate authrity ver us. We must believe this abut Gd r we will miss the bat and nt be His peple. Paqad = precept - frm the rt meaning f a visit - when the bss shws up and tells yu what t d. A particularized rule, Thing appinted, r a Charge - a respnsibility that Gd gives His peple. (Illustratin: when the Pizza Inn wner shwed up unexpectedly after playing glf and tld me hw many pepperni s t put n a pizza.) This wrd nly ccurs in the Psalms, clearly referring back t the cmmands f Gd, but since the wrd desn t ccur in the Trah assciated with any particular laws, it s hard t nail dwn any real specific meaning. It culd refer t ccasins where Gd clarified a law, such as in Lev. 24 when the half-egyptian sn f Selemuth blasphemed Gd s name and they inquired f Gd what t d, and Gd laid dwn the law he that blasphemeth the name f Jehvah, he shall surely be put t death - even if he is a sjurner r when the daughters f Zelphahad came t Mses abut their family s dilemma f having n sns t inherit the prperty. In that case, Gd lays dwn the law that if a man dies and has n sn, then yu shall transfer his inheritance t his daughter. Thse might be instances f a paqad/precept. If that is the case, then Jesus did much t expand this categry f Gd s wrd by 2
visiting the earth and teaching many, many precepts with authrity which are recrded in the Gspels. Shamar-keep: nt just lck away in a safe, but actively guard and watch ver, tend, preserve, bserve. Very intense sentence with intensive subject, piel verb, and the added mad This is surprising. Yu wuld expect this kind f passin fr keeping the law t be expressed f the great fundamental laws, but in all prbability, these precepts are nt the basic 10 cmmandments, but rather the mre incidental laws. Even the little details f the wrd f Gd shuld be zealusly kept! Again, it s nt up t us t judge what is imprtant and what is nt; everything the Bible teaches us t d carries the weight f Gd s authritative cmmand, and He expects bedience! 5 EH.H Oh that my ways culd be made t stand t keep Yur statutes. (Webster/KJV) O that my ways were directed t keep thy statutes! (ASV) Oh that my ways were established T bserve thy statutes! (NASB) Oh that my ways may be established T keep Thy statutes! (LXX)IG(#1(D#D(+=#$%+ 16G/=D13%J 1= (Brentn) O that my ways were directed t keep thine rdinances. (NIV) Oh, that my ways were steadfast in beying yur decrees! a statute NIV = rdinance, It cmes frm the rt = t engrave; an imprtant law was engraved int stne fr all t see and remember. A statute engraved in stne had a permanent nature t it. ILLUSTRATION: NO TRESSPASSING sign. Laws gverning the priests and temple wrship: The sin-ffering (Num. 1),Sns f Aarn (Ex. 29:9), Levitical cities f refuge (Num. 35:29), priestly linen clthing (Ex. 28:43), priest s ceremnial washing (Ex. 30:21), Levites wrking in temple (Lev. 24:9), priest s meal-fferings (Lev. 6:22), priest s duty t blw trumpets befre war (Num. 10:8), priest s duty t keep the lamps burning (Lev. 24:3), priest eating the shewbread (Lev. 24:9), ffering sacrifices at altar (Lev. 17:7), and prhibitin f priests drinking alchl while n temple duty (Lev. 10:9). Feast days and Sabbaths: First-fruits (Lev. 23:4), Pentecst (Lev. 23:21), Passver (Ex. 12:14), Unleavened Bread (Ex. 12:17), Feast f Bths (Lev. 23:41), Day f Atnement (Lev. 16:29-34), Feast f Trumpets (Num. 10:8) Cleanliness-laws fr laity: Washing with lye (water mixed with ashes) after tuching a dead bdy (Num. 19:10-21), the prhibitin against eating fat and bld in Lev. 3:17, purifying bty wn in war (Num. 31:21), and the prhibitin against crss-breeding (Lev. 19:19). Statutes applied nt nly t the Jews in Israel, but als t the sjurners (Num. 9:14) and the strangers (Num. 15), s it wasn t ethnically-bund, nr was it bund nly t peple wh wrshipped Jehvah it applied t peple f ther religins frm ther races wh were passing thrugh the land. In the Trah, cuntless exhrtatins are given t keep Gd s statutes alng with the cmmandments and rdinances. Blessings are prmised t thse wh bey these statutes, and curses are given fr disbedience. Yikn - lit. be made t stand be established. Same verbal here as in the previus verse t keep. The Psalmist states utright his need fr utside help t keep Gd s decrees. Be established is a passive verb; it indicates a third party hlding him up s that he can stand up and keep standing. (Jer. 10:23ff I knw O Lrd that a man s way is nt in himself; nr is it in a man wh walks t direct his steps. Crrect me, O Lrd ) This is what Gd des. Nt nly has He has set dwn statutes fr His peple t shw them hw t be happiest, nt nly has He sent his Sn Jesus t fulfill all thse laws and save His peple frm the damnatin they wuld receive fr nt fllwing all the laws perfectly, but He als sends His Spirit t live in the hearts f the peple He is saving t enable them t bey His laws t a great extent and enjy the blessings in this life that cme frm beying thse laws. What a wnderful Gd! If yur heard eches this cry - Oh that I may be established then be encuraged that Gd has placed that desire in yur heart and His Spirit is at wrk in yu t establish yu! 3
6 -K L Then I shall nt be shamed while lking ver all yur cmmandments. (Webster/KJV) Then shall I nt be ashamed, when I have respect t all thy cmmandments. (ASV) Then shall I nt be put t shame, When I have respect unt all thy cmmandments. (NASB) Then I shall nt be ashamed When I lk upn all Thy cmmandments. (LXX)1)1(5 A"'=M#D0"#1& ("'NO'(#"'P'=2132"#12= (Brentn) Then shall I nt be ashamed, when I have respect t all thy cmmandments. (NIV) Then I wuld nt be put t shame when I cnsider all yur cmmands. When I cnsider all lit. in Lking ver all - the wrd when assumes that he lks at Gd s cmmands regularly - the verbal has mre t d with gazing at smething than paying hmage t it as the KJV cnntes, but it includes the respect that cmes with paying attentin t smething imprtant. (James 1:25 But he wh lks intently at the perfect law - the law f liberty - and abides by it, nt having becme a frgetful hearer, but an effectual der, that man shall be blessed in what he des. ) Nte als the little wrd all. He is nt just lking at part f Gd s wrd, but the whle thing. We shuld be reading the whle Bible regularly just like the Psalmist. Matzt - cmmands: general term fr a law f Gd in the sphere f religius life. Everything that Gd has cmmanded t be dne like the ten COMMANDments. The prblem is that when we start lking intently at all f Gd s cmmands, tw things will happen t us if we are hnest: First we will be cnvicted that we have vilated His cmmands and secnd we will despair f ever being able t bey all f thse cmmands in the future. ILLUSTRATION: Hw d yu feel when yu drive past a pliceman? Smetimes I feel that there are s many laws, that a plice fficer wanted t, he culd prbably find smething wrng with me n matter hw hard I tried t bey all the traffic laws. What makes it wrse is if I knw I ve been driving ver the speed limit. That s why the Gspel is such Gd News! There is a way ut f that guilt and shame! When Gd frgives ur past vilatins f His law and helps us t increasingly bey His law, we can lk upn the law withut fear f judgment fr what we have dne in the past and withut fear f failure as we face a set f standards that are humanly impssible t fully bey. Gd deals with bth f these issues - guilt, and anxiety. 7 E-K> I will praise Yu with an upright heart when I learn (have learned?) yur righteus judgments. (Webster/KJV) I will praise thee with uprightness f heart, when I shall have learned thy righteus judgments. (ASV/NASB) I shall (ASV sub will ) give thanks (ASV + un- )t Thee with uprightness f heart, When I learn Thy righteus judgments. (LXX)"/ @<= +=Q4(Q"#(5D411%+2"#1& ( DO# (13+ 11R2%=4#2= (Brentn) I will give thee thanks with uprightness f heart, when I have learnt the judgments f thy righteusness. (NIV) I will praise yu with an upright heart as I learn yur righteus laws. Mishpat - judgment: Decisins cncerning right and wrng which give expressin t and put in executin the righteusness f Gd (Keil & Delitzsch). Judgments generally regulate man s relatinship with his neighbr (Sncin). Because ur cuntry s funders did nt want t cncentrate pwer in any ne bdy f men, they separated ur gvernment int three branches, the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. But Gd has all three pwers cncentrated in Him. James 4:11 says that Gd is bth lawgiver and judge, and the ne wh is able t save and t destry! Have yu ever had that experience f reading a passage f Scripture and just being verwhelmed with hw gd it is and just can t help praising Gd? The mre yu learn abut Gd and His wrd, the mre it makes yu want t praise Him! Lamad - learn. This assumes that yu are taking steps t keep learning. Yu will never reach a plateau where yu wn t need t learn any mre frm the Scriptures - nt even if yu have an 4
M.Div! I have had a delightful time chewing n these 8 verses fr days n end, and I can t exhaust their glriusness and freshness! 8,. L,EH Yur statutes I keep; Dn t frsake me until much. (Webster/KJV) I will keep (ASV sub bserve ) thy statutes: O frsake me nt utterly. (NASB) I shall keep Thy statutes; D nt frsake me utterly! (LXX)13%J 1=G/!7 < ("@1+'92S!2=G)% (Brentn) I will keep thine rdinances: O frsake me nt greatly. (NIV) I will bey yur decrees; d nt utterly frsake me. Here, statutes may be summarizing all f Gd s wrd as previusly mentined in this stanza. Cnfidence t make the prmise t keep Gd s statutes is based upn the prayer that Gd wuld nt leave him. Dn t leave me t d this in my wn strength! (parallel in v.10 - d nt let me err ) Cmparisn f Synnyms fr the Bible: 1 v.1 Trah law, instructin 2 v.2 ad testimny, witness 3 v.3 derek way, rad 4 v.4 paqad precept (authritative visit, thing appinted, persnally charged) 5 v.5, 8 chuq statute, engraved rule (decree, rdinance) 6 v.6 mitzt cmmands, authrity 7 v.7 mishpat judgment, legal justice 8 v.9, 16 devar wrd, thing v.11 amar wrd, saying, cmmunicatin Syntactical-Lgical Flw f Aleph sectin OBJECTIVE TRUTH (3 rd Persn) ----------------------------- PERSONAL COMMAND (2 nd Persn) ----------------------------- APPLICATION (1 st Persn) Happy the perfect f way wh: Walks in the Trah f Jehvah Guards His testimnies Seeks Him with all the heart Des n injustice Walks in His ways ---------------------- Yu Yurself cmmanded Yur precepts t keep diligently ---------------------- 1. SELF-EXAMINATION: Wuld that my ways culd be made t stand t keep Yur statutes; then I shuld nt be shamed while lking at all Yur cmmandments 2. LEARNING: I will praise Yu with an upright heart when I have learned yur righteus judgments. 3. PRAYERFUL KEEPING: I will keep yur statutes - dn t frsake me! 5