Psalm 119 stands alone in the entire book by being both the longest and the only psalm that was probably written originally to be read instead of sung. We don’t know who the author is, but it’s possible he was a priest (verse 23 mentions speaking before kings, and his job may have been to teach God’s law. When verse 57 talks about ‘portion’, that is another indication that he might be a Levite. Based on his words, it appears that he was persecuted by men of authority who ridiculed his believes and encouraged him to give up his faith. But He strengthened himself, as we all should, by meditating on the Word of God.
The
psalm is written in an acrostic arrangement using the Hebrew alphabet. Each
paragraph has eight verses and each verse begins with the same letter of the
alphabet if we were able to read it in the original language.
The
author uses eight Hebrew terms repeatedly through the psalm, using at least six
of them in each paragraph. The different Hebrew words are translated as: law,
statutes, precepts, commands/commandments, laws/ordinances, decrees, word/law,
and word/promise.
Tomorrow
we read the second eleven paragraphs. While the text might feel repetitive, see
if you can get a feel for the struggles the author dealt with.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment