This is the second post looking at a stanza of Psalm 119. The first looked at the first eight verses called aleph. This second stanza is called beth (apparently pronounced like ‘bet’). In Hebrew these eight verses all begin with the letter beth.
These eight verses, from the NASB®1, interspersed with my comments read as follows:
9. How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.
A fairly well known and oft-quoted verse.
Even though it refers to young men, it can be applied by/to all people - male or female, young or old. But the younger you start, the easier it is!
David may2 have been reflecting on some of his life choices and concluded that living life in accordance with God’s word would have saved a deal of pain, anguish and hurt.
10. With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
Not half-hearted searching and seeking, but with all my heart.
David is asking that his seeking not be in vain - that he will not wander during the search.
This search is not a one-off search, but a continual seeking and finding. The depth of the Almighty God is such that eternity will not be long enough for us to discover all there is to know about God.
Matthew Henry observes, ‘The best are sensible of their aptness to wander; and the more we have found of the pleasure there is in keeping God’s commandments the more afraid we shall be of wandering from them and the more earnest we shall be in prayer to God for his grace to prevent our wanderings.’
11. Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.
Another well known verse. Sounds very Davidic to me.
The word treasured is to hide, to hoard up, to reserve, lay aside and protect. It suggests to me an intentional act. It’s not like someone saying, ‘Oh, I just happened to have this bit of Scripture memorised’, but planned and intended.
Matthew Henry makes some interesting comparisons in this verse. He says, ‘God’s word is a treasure worth laying up, and there is no laying it up safely but in our hearts; if we have it only in our houses and hands, enemies may take it from us; if only in our heads, our memories may fail us:’
12. Blessed are You, O LORD; Teach me Your statutes.
Blessedness is now ascribed to the Lord. It had previously only been spoken over the believer/follower (verses 1 and 2).
In verses 1 and 2 the Hebrew word translated as ‘blessed’ is esher (Strong’s number H835) which means happy. But in this verse it is H1288 barak which, at its core, means to kneel. So the implication is that God is one we would kneel before as an act of adoration.
13. With my lips I have told of All the ordinances of Your mouth.
The first use of ‘ordinances’ as a descriptor.
Speaks of the idea of proclamation - of declaring or speaking God’s word.
Interestingly it is written in the past tense ‘I have told of all the ordinances’ rather than ‘I will continue to tell’ or ‘I intend to tell’.
14. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches.
Another verse in the past tense ’ I have rejoiced’.
And this rejoicing has been in the way (manner, outcome, results) of the Lord’s testimonies. David is reflecting on the results of following the Lord’s teaching and he can conclude that it is joyous.
He values the Lord’s testimonies as much as all riches. And this coming from a man who was king of an expanded and successful nation. Not at Solomon’s level of wealth, but what David had he used more wisely (most of the time).
15. I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways.
This is the first occurrence of the word ‘meditate’ in Psalm 119.
To _meditate+ is to dwell on and ponder over - to reflect on and turn something over in your mind. Clearly you can only meditate on something that you have memorised or where the words are sitting before you.
The idea of ‘regarding the Lord’s ways’ points firstly to understanding and then to obedience. And the best understanding will flow from having meditated on the Lord’s ways or precepts.
In a way meditation can be viewed as not only reflecting and pondering on the word of the Lord, but also its implications for our lives - how we can be obedient to it, or to consider and repent of ways we have been disregarding or disobedient.
So meditation is a positive activity - intentional reflection but with a view to taking action in the light of the truth we see.
16. I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word.
We see a progression across verses 14 to 16 - from part tense, to future. I don’t know if this progression is intended or reflected in the Hebrew, but it exists in the NASB at least.
This gives the idea or impression that studying/meditating/reflecting/delighting in the word of the Lord is something we are to persist in doing. Even if we didn’t do it yesterday but start today and continue tomorrow then we can say ‘I have delighted in Your word’ and ‘I do delight in Your word’, and ‘I will delight in Your word’.
The phrase ‘I shall delight…’ shows intent and purpose. David doesn’t see the word of the Lord as being transitory and of limited value but a permanent marker in his days.
I’ve enjoyed this second stanza of Psalm 119. Whilst most of the verses are standalone, there are some connections and progressions between verses. What strikes me after just 16 days/verses is how all-encompassing Bible reading and meditation was to David, and how he attempts to portray that to us, some 3,000 years later.
This is my first post looking at a stanza of Psalm 119 which I’ve spoken about here and here.
The first staza of Psalm 119 is entitled ‘aleph’ - being the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet where each verse begins with this Hebrew letter1.
The first eight verses, from the NASB®2, interspersed with my comments read as follows:
1. How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the LORD.
uses law.
Being blessed can be read as being happy, though blessed sounds like it has more depth to it. It (to me) also connotes this blessing being granted or bestowed from another rather.
From verse 1 the Psalmist sets up the premise connecting blessedness with legal/moral innocence with the word of the Lord.
2. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart.
uses testimonies.
Ties obedience in with seeking the Lord. Relationship and obedience and inextricably linked.
3. They also do no unrighteousness; They walk in His ways.
uses ways.
Once again moral innocence and obedience are emphasised.
4. You have ordained Your precepts, That we should keep them diligently.
uses precepts.
Diligence - particularly around precepts to morality is not a popular concept today.
5. Oh that my ways may be established To keep Your statutes!
uses statutes.
The phrase ’that my ways may be established’ rather than ’ I will establish my ways’ suggests that some external assistance may be required!
6. Then I shall not be ashamed When I look upon all Your commandments.
uses commandments.
A continuation of thought from the previous verse. Makes meditation on a verse more difficult when ideas flow across verses.
7. I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments.
uses judgments.
First introduction of the idea of thankfulness and gratitude.
8. I shall keep Your statutes; Do not forsake me utterly!
uses statutes.
A recognition of possible consequences and judgement. That’s where Jesus comes in - but we need belief/faith.
So in this first stanza we see seven of the nine or ten different descriptors of God’s word being used. They are essentially interchangeable but I suspect there will be subtleties and nuances that arise as we go.
This year (all nine days of it) I’ve been taking advice that pastor Philip Henry gave to his son Matthew some 300 years ago. Matthew was the author of the well-regarded commentary he called An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, but is more commonly known today as Matthew Henry’s Complete Bible Commentary. I wrote about this particular piece of advice mid last year. The advice is to meditate on a new verse from Psalm 119 each day. Loosely quoting his father, Matthew wrote:
Much of what we do, how we dress, where we go, what we eat and what we celebrate is built around or at least partly dependent upon seasons. A season is a period of time during which certain conditions exist or prevail which facilitate, encourage or discourage particular behaviours. Some seasons are designed to fit within a calendar year whilst other seasons can exist for much longer or shorter periods of time.
It’s three years to the day since my father died. Interestingly our society manages death by calling it something else. Years ago people ‘died’, more recently they are said to have ‘passed away’, but these days they just ‘passed’. Does denial make it easier? Perhaps in the short term; but giving it a different name may only prolong the grieving process.
Even though it is three years since the actual day of my father’s death, he really began declining ten years earlier and a few years after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Over a period of 10 years the disease robbed him of some of his character and personality and presence. He spoke less, engaged less, slept more, shuffled around, fell over a few times and was eventually hospitalised and entered full time nursing care where he remained for three and a half years.
Around three months ago I made the switch from Firefox to Brave for my default browser. Brave seemed to offer more rigorous ad and tracker-blocking functionality, and it told me how many trackers it had blocked, how much hadn’t been downloaded, and how much time had been saved by not downloading ads and trackers.
One of the ‘features’ of brave is the ability to view ads and earn points (‘Brave rewards’) for the privilege. Other features are to ability to display sponsored ads and cryptocurrency tools on the new page tab. I have no interest in these features so turned off all options to display rewards, cryptocurrency ads and ‘sponsored images’. Interestingly it wasn’t obvious just how to switch all of these off.
A few weeks ago I came across a milk crate in our shed as I was tidying things up. Upon closer searching I actually found three milk crates that had been obtained (presumably by the previous owner) and secreted away. Milk crates are funny things. They are super-useful for storing and transporting things in; they often appear in yuppie or hip cafes as seats; they are often branded with their owners name, and it is illegal to hold on to them because they are owned by dairies.
It’s now been a little over two weeks since I installed LineageOS on my Samsung A5 phone.
During that time I’ve installed, removed, replaced and set defaults and permissions for the apps I use. I thought it may be useful for posterity to describe what apps I am using (and why).
First off, I didn’t install the so-called Gapps (Google Apps) package on my phone so I don’t have the Play store directly available. The benefit of that is that i don’t need to let Google know what apps I use, or when, or where, or how! But I do need to be able to install apps aside from the stock apps on my phone. I opted for F-Droid for that. I needed to access that site through my browser then download and install the F-Droid apk file.