“The stability of nature witnesses to the steadfastness of the Word which sustains it.” So begins Alexander Maclaren’s commentary on the Lamed section of Psalm 119. Stability; steadfastness. The word is settled; the earth is established. In times of … Continue reading
There are only three verses that contain questions in all of Psalm 119. The first, verse nine, is purely rhetorical–the psalmist asks the question in order to give the answer. The questions of verses 82 and 84 are quite different. … Continue reading
The opening of this passage is identical to a line from the book of Job: “Your hands have made me and fashioned me, an intricate unity; yet you would destroy me.” (Job 10:8) This is not necessarily a direct quote; … Continue reading
There are two familiar themes in the Teth section: affliction, and the goodness of God. Every verse in the section addresses one or the other, or both. Five verses in the section begin with the Hebrew word for “good.” (In … Continue reading
As noted earlier, there is a tight connection between the Zayin and Heth sections. Verses 56 and 57 each address the themes of both inheritance and obedience. “God is mine!” exults the psalmist; and the man who has God as … Continue reading
We should take special notice of the way this section begins: “Remember.” Besides the fact that the word begins the section, there are two things that really make it stand out here. The first is that this is the only … Continue reading
You may notice a tighter connection between verses here than what you’ve come to expect from Psalm 119–there’s more of a natural flow from one verse to the next. That’s because in the original Hebrew, each of these verses begins … Continue reading
The He passage has at least two noteworthy characteristics. The first is that here we have a list of virtually every term that the psalmist uses for God’s word: Your statutes Your law Your commandments Your testimonies Your way Your … Continue reading
The Daleth passage has a tighter structure than many of the other sections of Psalm 119, though that structure may not be immediately obvious. Three of the verses (25, 28, 31) have the psalmist speaking from great affliction; two of … Continue reading
“Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from your law.” What a great and necessary prayer for us all! The truth is that it would be possible to memorize every verse of this psalm without being greatly enlightened … Continue reading