Finally, fourteen sections into memorizing Psalm 119, we’ve reached the verse that you knew well before we even started: “Your word is a lamp to my feet, And a light to my path.” Remember Will Soll’s comment from the Lamed … Continue reading
It’s 1981, and I’m a counselor at a summer camp in upstate New York. We’re at the supper table, which means everyone in the room is trying to talk over the noise of everyone else in the room. The camper … Continue reading
“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
I have not received detailed reports from all of you who are memorizing Psalm 119, but I’m beginning to suspect that this chart offers a fair breakdown of the group. I love moms! There’s a lot of vision there, and … 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