Welcome back to our journey through Psalm 119. I'm so excited to be your tour guide! When you're traveling - whether on vacation or just out & about in your own town - do you find yourself seeing certain sights and thinking "Wow!"? Maybe you had the opportunity to travel to the Grand Canyon or to see the Rocky Mountains, or maybe you have a beautiful view from your own front porch or watched the birds in your back yard, and found yourself having a "wow" moment. I'm wondering what "wow" moments you have had so far on this journey.
As I think back over the entire Psalm, I'm finding myself amazed at how many different words the psalmist has used to refer to the Word of God. I find myself praying along with the psalmist, "revive me according to your word," and "teach me Thy statutes," and "establish Thy word to Thy servant as that which produces reverence for Thee." What about you? What are your "wow" moments? What has amazed you so far? Are you praying along with the psalmist? Are there questions you've jotted down....things you don't quite understand?
Today we move from looking at the whole Psalm to a closer look at each individual stanza, beginning today with the aleph stanza, verses 1-8. Why not take a moment now to read those verses? Here are a few questions to guide your study today:
What words did the psalmist use to refer to God's Word? Why do you think he used so many different words? Are there perhaps subtle differences in Hebrew that may not be so apparent in English? This might be a good time to do some word study (more about that a little later) to see if we can find out more about each of these words.
The first verse of this stanza says, "How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord." What does that mean? What does it mean to be blessed? And what does it mean to be blameless? Is he talking about perfection, about never making a mistake, about keeping the law perfectly?
Another opportunity for word study. (Remember that I'm studying from the NASB; your translation may use a different word.)
Another thing to think about today. Did you notice a shift of emphasis in this stanza? Look at the first four verses where the psalmist uses the pronouns those, they, we. Then in verse 4, he shifts to personal pronouns my, I, me. He begins with a general statement and then personalizes it. How would you personalize this stanza?
One more thing to think about today. Look at the last verse (verse 8) of the stanza: "I shall keep your statutes; do not forsake me utterly." What does that mean? Does God forsake us? Think about that. Perhaps this is another good opportunity for some research!
If you have been in a panic ever since I mentioned word studies, you can stop worrying! Here's step-by-step instruction! You may have some word study books in your personal library. If so, I'm assuming you know how to use them. If you don't, you can find some good FREE resources on-line. One of these resources is http://www.blueletterbible.org/. If you have another on-line source that you prefer, feel free to use that.
Here's what to do: Let's start with the word "blameless" in verse 1. Go to the website. Enter the reference (Psalm 119:1) along with the Bible version that you are using (remember that in your version, "blameless" may have been translated differently). Click on the search button. The next screen will show some letters next to the reference. Click on "C" for concordance. Click on the Strong's number (in this case 8549) which will link you to the original word in Hebrew and will give you a brief definition as well as a list of every place that particular word is used in the Old Testament. You might want to check some of the other references. This can help you have a greater understanding of what the word means, who are some of the people described as blameless.
That's the basic procedure for doing word study. The benefit of doing that research is to gain a better understanding of what the word meant in the original language (since the Bible was not written in American English!) and some insight into what the writer meant when he, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, chose that particular word. Follow this same procedure for other words and phrases that you want to know more about or understand better as we go through this Psalm.
Study well, dear friend, and I'll meet you back here on Thursday to share our insights about the aleph stanza and then move ahead to beth.
"Be dligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the Word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB)
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