Enemies in Psalm 119

August 31, 2023Posted inPsalms Commentary
Though Psalm 119 is a song of love for the law, the Lord’s servant (as he calls himself) did not write it in the isolation and calm of his study. One of the prominent themes in the psalm is the presence of enemies who seek to turn him aside from the law and hinder him…

Psalm 119: A Very Personal Prayer

August 26, 2023Posted inPsalms Commentary
We think of Psalm 119 as a psalm about the law, and it is that. What we don’t always recognize is that it is more than just an objective celebration of the beauty and value of the law. It is also a psalm about a very personal love for the law. By far the most…

The Law in Psalm 119

August 18, 2023Posted inPsalms Commentary
Everyone who knows anything about the Bible knows that Psalm 119 is a psalm about the law and that it is alphabetic, having twenty-two stanzas of eight verses each, every verse of each of the stanzas beginning with a particular letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Most also know that every verse contains at least one…

Hearing the Acrostic of Psalm 119

February 25, 2022Posted inPsalms Commentary
It’s well known, of course, that Psalm 119 is an acrostic or alphabetic psalm. Such acrostics are, to say the least, very difficult to render in a faithful English translation, but it is possible to illustrate the effect in a few stanzas. This can help us to hear a little of the sound of these…