A Light to My Path

Our songs tonight have intentionally focused on the trustworthiness of God’s word and the desire we have to learn more of God through his word. David had an intense love for God’s Word. This is most clearly seen in Psalm 119. When someone says, “open your bibles to Psalm 119” people get usually get a little worried and maybe settle down for a nice long nap, but don’t check out just yet. Or maybe you respond the opposite way and you’re eager to read Psalm 119. However, I don’t want you to be like the group of college students who sat down to read through Psalm 119 aloud during their lunchtime prayer meeting… but when they finally got to the end they were so lost in a cloud of synonyms for God’s word that the only take away was that God thinks the Bible is really important. Tonight we’re going to look at Psalm 119 from the 30,000 foot view - just an introduction/overview of the chapter so that it helps us better understand the chapter when we come to it.

Why? because like I already said, David shows an intense love for God’s Word in this chapter. David is called the Man after God’s own heart, and if we’re going to be people after God’s own heart, perhaps we should know a bit more about what David has to say about God’s word. Tonight we’ll look at the layout of the text so we can better understand it’s key themes and apply those truths to our lives.

But before we dive right in, let’s begin with a word of prayer.

Father, thank you for your word! Thank you for the truths we find therein, and for the opportunity you’ve given us to gather together as a body of believers and study your word. I pray that you will help me speak clearly so that we, as a group can understand what you have for us in Psalm 119. Help us to stay alert and engaged… help me to be engaging and point us back to you. In Jesus name, Amen.

Key Facts

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in our Bibles. Ironically enough, Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter, Psalm 119 is the longest chapter, and Psalm 118 is the center chapter in our bibles. It’s almost as if someone planned it that way!

Actually, this Psalm is so long, it saved someone’s life! Charles Spurgeon tells of George Wishart, a biographer and chaplain in Edinburgh, Scotland, was sentenced to hanging as a martyr for Christ. It was common that martyrs were allowed to select a psalm to be read before their death. George Wishart selected Psalm 119. Before they had even finished 2/3rds of the psalm, George Wishart’s life was spared because the reading delayed his death so long that a messenger arrived with a pardon.

Author

Many of us have introductions in our bibles at the beginning of each psalm. While we don’t have an introduction at the beginning of Psalm 119 in our bibles like we do in other psalms, we believe Psalm 119 was written by King David, and if it wasn’t written by David, it was written by someone so similar to David that the author would have had the same experiences and education as David because it is so similar to his other writings in tone and expression.

Individual verses that form a whole

But this Psalm is different than other psalms in our Bible. This psalm’s layout is more similar to a Proverb than a Psalm. For example, you can open your Bible to any page of Proverbs and read one verse - for example “Proverbs 12:1 “Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: But he that hateth reproof is brutish.” You can meditate on that verse and apply it to your life without having to consider the rest of the context of that passage. As Marriam-Webster’s dictionary says “a proverb is a brief popular saying that expresses wise thought.” It’s short, sweet and can stand on it’s own two feet. It’s like a gold ring, rather than a chain of gold links. Psalm 119 works in a similar fashion. When reading this Psalm, you almost get the impression that David was walking around with a little book in his pocket, and every time he had a thought about God’s Word, he would write it down. Later in life, its as if he took all these sayings, organized them into a whole, and expanded them into Psalm 119.

Now whether or not this is the way in which God worked in David to write Psalm 119, we do see short poetic verses connected by one central theme throughout this psalm.

Form

But, why is it the longest chapter in our Bible? Because it’s an acrostic, or alphabetical, psalm. We have other acrostic psalms in our bible, like Psalm 111, where each verse of the psalm beings with another letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In other words, it’s 22 verses long. But what makes Psalm 119 different, is that it’s an extended acrostic psalm. Rather than each letter having one verse, Psalm 119 is divided into 22 sections, one section for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and there are 8 verses for each letter. In other words, you have 8 verses that start with aleph, 8 verses that start with beth, and so on until you get to the last letter of the Hebrew Bible, taw. 8 verse times 22 letters is 176 verses in this chapter. That’s a lot!

Psalm 119 is known for it’s elegant form and logical presentation of theological matter all squeezed into the form of starting each verse with the same letter of the alphabet. Unlike English poetry where the last word of each line has to rhyme, Hebrew poetry is thought poetry. God, in is infinite wisdom, knew that his word would be translated into hundreds of languages, and because Hebrew poetry is thought poetry we don’t miss out on it’s beauty. As an aside for those of you who aren’t familiar with Hebrew poetry, you have part a and part b of a verse. Part a makes a point, and then part b either adds to that point, contradicts it, or further clarifies the point of part a. So since ideas and thoughts translate into different languages, we can see how part a and part b of a verse work together, therefore the beautify of Hebrew poetry stays in tact. Let’s look at Psalm 119:1-8 and see if you can pick out how each part of the verse works together.

Psalm 119:1–8 KJV 1900

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, And that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: They walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us To keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed To keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, When I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, When I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.

However, since none of us walk around speaking ancient Hebrew on a daily basis, and our alphabet has 26 letters instead of 22 like Hebrew, we do miss out on the beauty of the acrostic here in Psalm 119. So, here’s a paraphrase of Psalm 119:1-8 created by Pastor, theologian and hymn writer Theodore Kubler in 1880 that helps us appreciate the thought that David put into writing this Psalm.

1. All they that are undefiled in the way, walking in the law of the Lord, are blessed.

2. All they that keep his Testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart, are blessed.

3. Also they do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.

4. All thy precepts diligently to keep thou hast commanded us.

5. Ah, Lord! that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!

6. Ashamed I shall never be, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.

7. Always will I praise thee, with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.

8. All they statutes will I keep: O forsake me not utterly.

As you can see, a lot of thought goes into creating a psalm wherein each group of 8 lines starts with the same letter. This kind of limitation adds a lot of extra pressure to an author. Perhaps you’ve taken the letters of a child or spouse’s name before and used each letter to express some description about them. Sometimes that’s easy, like if that person only has 3 or 4 letters in their name, but if they’ve got 15, you might as well give up before you even start! But David does this 176 times!

Why go into that much effort? It’s not like this psalm is something that’s going to be sung in a church service next Sunday morning. Right, because the Psalms are the Hebrew hymns! Well perhaps this was one way for Hebrew children to learn their alphabet. It’s also a memory device to help Hebrew children learn the passage easier, because the message is so important. One author said, “The will and purpose of the Holy Ghost is to make us feel and understand that the doctrine herein contained is not only set down for great clerks which have gone to school for ten or twenty years; but also for the most simple; to the end none should pretend any excuse or ignorance.” In other words, you don’t need a doctorate in biblical theology to understand what this passage is all about, it’s approachable even for the kids in our church. As I said earlier, our KJV bible doesn’t have a description at the start of the psalm like so many other psalms do (for example play it on this instrument, etc.) but the German version of the Bible has the appropriate inscription, “the Christian’s golden A B C of the praise, love, power, and use of the Word of God.”

Early on in our schooling, we learn that A is for Apple, B is for Banana, C is for Cat, etc. but the Hebrew child would learn this fundamental truth. Psalm 119 was intended as a manual for right thinking, especially for instructing the young. The ABC nature of this psalm probably helped them better commit this instruction manual to memory.

It’s also possible that the acrostic nature of the psalm was meant to portray comprehensiveness, like everything from A-Z or in this case, aleph to taw in Hebrew. For example, Psalm 119 seems to represent a comprehensive statement about responding to God and his Word.

Theme

And what is this instruction manual or this fundamental truth of Psalm 119? I’ve alluded to it a few times already, but the main point of these 176 verse is The Word of God. While everything in this psalm is about God’s Word, there are a few ways we can divide that out for easy understanding. For example, you could say that this psalm is made up of 3 things - prayers, praises, and protestations. You could also say that these 176 verses are mainly praises of God’s word, exhortations to reading it seriously, and reverencing it, prayers for its proper influence, and complaints that the wicked despise it.

David looks at God’s word from many different angles through these 176 verses, but he rarely misses the opportunity to mention the Word of the Lord in each verse using one of the many names he has for it. In fact, of these 176 verses, only one or two do not include one of David’s names for God’s Word.

These verses reveal a deep love and desire for God’s word. David had gone far past simply reading God’s word to meditation. One theologian said he feared that “most people read the bible like cows who stand in thick grass and trample under their feet the finest of herbs and flowers.” They miss the sweetest points of God’s word in their haste to move through the pasture. As brother Carriger says, cows “mmmeditate.” David’s chewed and savored God’s word over and over again until he found the sweetest, most glorious truths of God. Charles Spurgeon called Psalm 119 “the holy soul’s soliloquy before an open Bible.” Or in other words, Psalm 119 are the thoughts that should come from a Christian’s mouth whenever he sees God’s word. David’s great delight is God’s word. It thrills him to have God’s truth in his mind and God’s wise counsel in his heart. Throughout the Psalm, we see David saying how much he loves God’s word, asking God to help desire God’s word more, and help him better understand and grow in God’s word. David, the man after God’s own heart, wanted to fill every moment of his life with meditating on God’s word.

Genre

Understanding the genre of a Psalm can also help us better grasp the truths we find there. There are many types of Psalm genres. We have psalms of praise, of lament, of wisdom, messianic Psalms, and Psalms of thanksgiving. Unfortunately, Psalm 119 escapes easy categorization. It has characteristics of a wisdom genre (since wisdom psalms usually start with terms like “blessed”). But it also includes features of a lament psalm showing the speaker pleading with God. Almost all of Psalm 119 is directly addressed to God. This results in Psalm 119 being a combination of several types of Psalm genres, but this combination brings a sense of immediacy we don’t usually connect with God’s Word.

Key Words

David uses 8 Hebrew words and then we see those 8 words translated into 10 different words in our English Bibles, each with it’s own meaning and aspect to communicate about God’s Word. To help us better understand these words, we’ll look at each.

Law

This word is taken from a verb which means to direct, to guide, to aim, or to shoot forwards. In other words, this is God’s rule of conduct. It refers to God’s law in general, whether it be the law of nature (his universal rules), or the Law of Moses (how God’s people should act). God has the right to enact his Law upon us as He is our Sovereign. God’s law is binding for our obedience.

Psalm 119:1 KJV 1900

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lord.

Psalm 119:97 KJV 1900

O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

Testimonies

The next word used is Testimonies. Testimonies carries the idea of bearing witness or testifying. Testimonies are God’s revealed law; the witness and confirmation of his promises made to his people, and earnests of his future salvation. His testimonies have been solemnly declared to the world around us. They are clear and concrete. God’s testimonies contain the witness of God’s will and man’s duty.

Psalm 119:2 KJV 1900

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, And that seek him with the whole heart.

Precepts

Precepts is a word that means to place in trust. It refers to something that has been entrusted to man. Precepts are God’s laws for which man is responsible as an intelligent being. God’s precepts are our duty, and they are to be applied, checked and attended to.

Psalm 119:93 KJV 1900

I will never forget thy precepts: For with them thou hast quickened me.

Statutes

The word Statutes comes from a word that means to engrave or inscribe. In other words, it’s a definite, prescribed, written law. Think of what God did when he wrote the Ten Commandments down on stone tablets. God’s statutes are biding and permanent landmarks for living. Their permanence is expressed by writing them down and preserving them for future generations. This Psalm also gives it an more internal meaning. Statutes here is the moral law of God which is engraved on the fleshy tables of our hearts. Either way, God’s statutes are fixed and determined and are things for which we have an obligation. God’s statutes declare his authority of giving us laws.

Psalm 119:117 KJV 1900

Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: And I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.

Commandments

Commandments comes from the verb to command or ordain. These are God’s clear commands to us and emphasize God’s authority. He is the creator, the Lord. These are his maker’s instructions - not a matter of opinion, but a necessity.

Psalm 119:115 KJV 1900

Depart from me, ye evildoers: For I will keep the commandments of my God.

Judgments or Ordinances

Judgments is derived from a word signifying to govern, judge or determine. It carries with it a judicial decision or legal sanction. God’s judgments proceed from the great judge of the word and bring his judicial sentence to which all men must submit.

Psalm 119:7 KJV 1900

I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, When I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.

Psalm 119:90–91 KJV 1900

(90) Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. (91) They continue this day according to thine ordinances: For all are thy servants.

Word or Saying

Word can refer to the Word of God, the announcement of God’s revealed word, his command, his revealed promise of certain blessings to the righteous, as a rule of conduct. God’s word is revealed by him to us.

Psalm 119:9 KJV 1900

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.

Psalm 119:11 KJV 1900

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee.

Way

Way only occurs twice but refers to the way in which one lives. It’s a characteristic word referring to a plain rule of conduct. God’s way is prescribed by him for us to walk in.

Psalm 119:3 KJV 1900

They also do no iniquity: They walk in his ways.

These descriptions of God’s word occur in nearly all of the 176 verses in Psalm 119. In each verse, David expresses another fresh aspect of God’s wonderful word, it’s beauty and benefits. Psalm 119 is like a great love poem for God’s word. Each aspect of God’s word clearly shows that David loves God’s law because he loves God. For him, exploring God’s word is a constant voyage of discovery. Jonathan Edwards said “I know of no part of the Holy Scriptures where the nature and evidences of true and sincere godliness are so fully and largely insisted on and delineated as in the 119th Psalm.” David spends his time meditating on God’s law, and asking to love it more and to grow in it. He sees God’s law as a “source of life, wisdom, comfort and hope.” David’s observance of God’s law is a way of expressing his dependence on God.

An Outline of the Psalm

Okay, so now we know that Psalm 119 was written by David, is like a giant alphabet where each verse starts with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet and each letter gets eight verses, the big idea of Psalm 119 is God’s word, and that David uses 8 Hebrew words with distinct meanings to refer to God’s word. So how does this help me life out my Christian life on earth? We’ll get there next!

When we look at each group of eight verses, we see what seems to be a different theme or subject for each section. Sometimes, it’s hard to see the forest for the trees… and there’s a lot of trees in this passage! 22 to be exact. Breaking up the Psalm into 22 different sections with its own acrostic can result in us loosing the ultimate purpose of Psalm 119. But we must not loose the that purpose or allow the connection of these 8 verse sections to destroy the overall them.

Someone once said that if you want to know what a passage is about, to always look at the beginning of the passage. So, let’s narrow our focus and look at the “Introduction” to this Psalm, Psalm 119:1-8. It’s been a few minutes since we’ve read it, so let’s read this opening section again.

Psalm 119:1–8 KJV 1900

Perhaps you see the correlation between Psalm 119 and Psalm 1:1-4. You see one who is characterized by blessing and one who is characterized by poor decisions, a life apart from God’s direction. Psalm 1 acts as an introduction to the book of Psalms and shows us what it is like for someone who follows God. We see both in Psalm 119:1-8 and Psalm 1:1-4 the repetition of the word translated blessed (happy) and images of walking a right path.

Psalm 1:1–4 KJV 1900

Blessed is the man That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; And in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Those that love God’s word, and follow after his commandments are characterized by Blessedness. He’s happy, not the kind of happiness that shaken by the circumstances of this life, but is complete and sufficient in the goodness of God. In Psalm 119, we see true religion isn’t cold and dry, it’s full of exultations, praises and exclamation marks. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about God’s law tonight, but we’re not talking about legalism! True religion isn’t ever about a list of rules, it’s about a personal relationship with the Creator of this Universe and His Son who died on the cross for your sin. We all understand the difference between a love letter and a honey-do list. A honey-do list is a long...long list of things that I need to do if I want my spouse to be happy. A love letter is an expression of my spouse’s love for me. If your spouse were to sit down and write a lengthy love letter to you, you’d treasure it, not because of the quality of paper it’s written on, or the type of pen she used, but because you love her!

That’s what we’re talking about tonight. We love to treasure God’s words and live in accordance to his directions, because we love God.

Psalm 119 is divided into two at first emphasizing the blessings that result in living according to God’s directions, and the psalmists assertion to aspire to God’s direction and keep following after God’s word.

Rather than being separate verses squished together by an acrostic telling about the benefits of following God’s word, each 8 verse section communicates a fresh aspect of God’s wonderful law, its beauty and benefits. Psalm 119 is like a great love poem for God and the beauty of His word.

Like Psalm 1, Psalm 119 focuses on two ways of living - following God’s ways, or following the way of wickedness. It goes on to explore what happens when we allow God’s laws to transform us and since we are unable to follow God’s laws completely, we desperately need God’s help to diligently pursue His commandments.

As I said in the beginning, this is a 30,000 foot view of this Psalm. Our focus is how do all the pieces fit together. We’ve seen the point that the big idea of Psalm 119 is that it shows 2 ways of living, and that each section of the psalm is like an ABC manual that shows us how to think correctly. We see 8 verses for the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, 8 for the second, and so on until we cover all 22 letters. now let’s quickly, and I do mean quickly see how each of these sections supports this overarching theme. If you’ve been taking notes and would like me to send this list to you, just let me know. I’m happy to email it to you.

Aleph (1-8) introduces the entire psalm and declares the blessedness of walkling in the way of God’s Word.

Beth (9-16) reveals that God’s Word is pronounced to be the only safeguard against sin through internalizing God’s word and responding to it verbally.

Gimel (17-24) introduces the theme of hostility or opposition with the Psalmist identifying himself as God’s servant and viewing God’s Words as the primary way of navigating the opposition he faces. Therefore, the Christian would cleave to God’s word in spite of the sneers of the world.

Daleth (25-32) expresses a longing for the consolation found in God’s word and reveals the Psalmist’s decision to remain loyal to God’s Word.

He (33-40) shows the David asking God to give him grace so that he can obey God’s word.

Vau (41-48) expresses firm trust and delight in God’s word, and an earnest desire to see its full accomplishment.

Zayin (49-56) describes the blessed comfort derived from God’s word in evil days.

Cheth (57-64) celebrates the joy and communion one has through following God’s Word which draws him near to God.

Teth (65-72) explores what is blessings that are brought about through the experience of affliction, as described in God’s word, in weaning the soul from the world and drawing it nearer to God.

Yodh (73-80) reflects on the Psalmist’s experience of trouble and how others who see it can be drawn to God because of the Psalmist’s affliction.

Kaph (81-88) focuses on David’s longing and desperation asking God to bring about His kingdom and deliver David from his persecutors while emphasizing that he hasn’t stopped following God’s Word even in his suffering.

Lamdeh (89-96) reintroduces the positive tone of trust in the eventual triumph of God’s Word.

Mem (97-104) focuses on two main themes - understanding God’s Word to greater detail and action in following God’s Word. God’s Word is the only treasure-house of true wisdom.

Nun (105-112) focuses on David’s commitment to God’s Word in the face of affliction. God’s Word provides the only beacon-light in the darkness and storms of this world.

Samech (113-120) contrasts David’s love for God’s Word with his hatred of the double-minded.

Ayin (121-128) is a prayer for steadfastness and soundness of heart and mind, amid all the unbelief of a godless world.

Pe (129-136) focuses on the word of God which brings its own light and comfort with it to those who earnestly pray for them, and fills the heart with compassion for those who despise it.

Tzaddi (137-144) focuses on the righteousness of God’s Word and declares that even the youthful soul may stand strong and steadfast, if it has faith in the purity, truth, and righteousness of God’s law.

Qoph (145-152) is an earnest prayer for the grace of faith.

Resh (153-160) focuses on the Psalmist’s plea that God will save him from times of affliction, desolation, and persecution.

Shin (161-168) demonstrates a sense of hope to in God’s salvation.

Taw (169-176) closes the psalm by emphasizing the psalmist’s love for God’s Word and his need for God’s help and the transforming power of God’s Word.

As you can hopefully see, each section of the Psalm is written to support the overarching theme of what happens when we allow God’s laws to transform us and since we are unable to follow God’s laws completely, we desperately need God’s help to diligently pursue His commandments.

Application

Perhaps you’re now sitting there saying “thanks Taylor. That was a lot of information. Now what are we to do with this?” That’s a great question!

This psalm is in some sort a thermometer for the believer who reads it. If you read it and really consider it, you’ll either be comforted or brought to shame.

How well do you love and desire God’s word? David was a man after God’s own heart. If we desire to follow God as closely as David, let alone as closely as Christ, our perfect example, we ought to really explore this Psalm. Let it reveal to you your heart for God.

Here’s three easy takeaways. First, I would challenge you to take a few minutes to read through the Psalm using our time together tonight as a roadmap for your reading. Even a slow reading will only take about 20 minutes. As you read, really search your soul asking God to reveal to you how you think about His Word.

Secondly, we talked a bit about how David spent time mmmeditating on God’s word. Take a verse of this Psalm every morning to meditate on it. If you do this, you’ll go over the Psalm twice in the year. Each verse is what, 12-15 words? That doesn’t seem too difficult, but really allow it to impact your life and change your heart to hunger and thirst for God’s word.

Finally, you can begin memorizing Psalm 119. That may seem like a herculean task, but people have done it for ages - I mean the Hebrew kids could do it… why can’t we? It’s amazing how God uses his word to change your heart when you begin memorizing it. How often you begin to meditate on his word throughout the day. What a wonderful way to crank up that thermometer for your love of God’s Word than by memorizing a passage all about the love one has for God’s Word.

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