Monthly Archives: January 2021

Psalm 119:145-152 ק Qoph Axe, Back of Head

Posted on January 31, 2021 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119 – Qoph Axe, Back of Head,
145 I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord, and I will obey your decrees.
146 I call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes.
147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.
148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.
149 Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, Lord, according to your laws.
150 Those who devise wicked schemes are near, but they are far from your law.
151 Yet you are near, Lord, and all your commands are true.
152 Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.

Right >§§§> Left

Lord, I will obey your decrees; answer me; I call with all my heart.  I will keep your statutes, I call out to you, save me.  I have put my hope in your word; I rise before dawn and cry for help.  Through the watches of the night my eyes stay open that I may meditate on your promises.  Preserve my life, Lord, according to your laws; hear my voice in accordance with your love.  Your law is far from those who devise wicked schemes near me.  All your commands are yet true, Lord, you are near.  You established your statutes to last forever, long ago I learned from them.

–––∞∞∞–––

I write what I “think I know,” because I want God to “know I think.” More importantly I believe God knows what I need to know, and He wants me to know it too.  I wonder if that’s the process of discernment?

I’m guessing seeing beyond what he thinks he knows is why the Psalmist writes too. Maybe that’s the secret of his obscure title Ooph – axe, back of head. The “back of the head” according to a Google search about anatomy is the “occipital lobe that controls sight.  What the Psalmist “sees” are his life experiences but he knows there is a greater truth that can cut away the debris of life and reveal a much greater reality.  The decrees, statutes and promises are the “axe” that can open his mind beyond what he thinks he knows, so he can see their truth; God wants him to know that His love preserves life.  “All your commands are yet true, Lord, you are near.”a

a  Rewrite of September, 2016

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Psalm 119:129-136 פ Pe- Mouth

Posted on January 27, 2021 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119
129 Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them.
130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
131 I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands.
132 Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name.
133 Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.
134 Redeem me from human oppression, that I may obey your precepts.
135 Make your face shine on your servant and teach me your decrees.
136 Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.

>§§§>
The sun comes up
It’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing your song again
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

Bless the Lord O my soul
O my soul
Worship his holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship your holy name

Left to right reading has been suspended today because the words from the Psalmist mouth have surely played a part in my morning’s surprise, the music to go along with the Psalmist’s words. 

My heart agrees with the Psalmist.  I want to obey but honestly when he asks God to “give understanding to the simple” he’s writing to me.  I don’t always understand the light I’ve been given.  The Psalmist spoke the words of my heart when he asked God to have mercy on him and direct his footsteps.  I could easily read verse 134 as redeem me from the oppression of being human, “that I may obey your precepts.”   I’ve worked my way through this very long Psalm to these verses and then this morning the music of the Psalm became real for me. The surprise was awakening with a song in my head.  I lay there, before turning the bedside lamp on, and decided to sing the song outloud [sorry Ken].  I knew the first three lines by heart and filled in the words I couldn’t remember singing “whatever, whatever” to get to the “Let me be singing…” but then I had to finish that last line of the verse with a final “whatever, whatever.”   I thank God for that early morning music because it’s a very “simple” object lesson for me and a reminder of why I sit here every morning, reading and pondering what I almost know “by ”heart.” Almost is a process of growth.

I knew the tune and almost all the lyrics: “The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning, it’s time to sing your song again” but the “whatever’s” reminded me what I really want to be taught is the “unfolding” words of God that fill in the blanks of my heart and song, with truth that eliminates “whatever’s” and will remove the “almost” so I know “by heart” what my mouth speaks [and sings] is what fills my heart.

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Psalm 119:121-128 ע Ayin – Eye

Posted on January 24, 2021 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119
121 I have done what is righteous and just; do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Ensure your servant’s well-being; do not let the arrogant oppress me.
123 My eyes fail, looking for your salvation, looking for your righteous promise.
124 Deal with your servant according to your love and teach me your decrees.
125 I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.
126 It is time for you to act, Lord; your law is being broken.
127 Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold,
128 and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.

Right >§§§> Left

Do not leave me to my oppressors; I have done what is righteous and just. Do not let the arrogant oppress me; ensure your servant’s well-being.  Looking for your righteous promise my eyes fail, looking for your salvation. According to your love, teach me your decrees, deal with your servant.  Give me discernment that I may understand your statutes; I am your servant.  Your law is being broken; it is time for you to act, Lord. More than gold, more than pure gold, I love your commands and I hate every wrong path because I consider all your precepts right.

–––∞∞∞–––

Praying is hard.  Emotions are involved and sometimes they actually become a barrier to praying at all.  Who wants to admit they think the key to God’s behavior might be getting the wording just right to assure Him of your trust at the same time you’re trying to keep any negative thoughts from Him?  That’s the opposite of what the Psalmist’s prayers and this section of Psalm 119 show us.  His no-holds-barred method of praying is right there for us to see.   He’s learned something about true humility; God does not see the Psalmist’s words or emotions as good or bad.  His prayers are his true heart given to God whether they’re words of harsh desperation or high praise.  God has given the Psalmist the courage to reveal everything in his heart to the God whose “eye” is always on him anyway.  ע Ayin is right there for us to “see” too.

At first glance the word “humble” wouldn’t be how I’d describe the prayers of this Psalmist king.  He’s as straightforward with his bold demands of God as he is with his praise.  He adds no timid phrases like “thy will be done” to soften what he asks.  His prayers combine his own desperate physical and emotional needs along with his fervent praise of the God who continues to be his teacher.  God has given the Psalmist the assurance of true humility that recognizes nothing he says can remove God from his heart OR remove his heart from God’s own.

That is the kind of prayer I want to learn.  

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Psalm 119:113-120 Samekh – Prop, Support

Posted on January 20, 2021 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119
113 I hate double-minded people, but I love your law.
114 You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.
115 Away from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commands of my God!
116 Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed.
117 Uphold me, and I will be delivered; I will always have regard for your decrees.
118 You reject all who stray from your decrees, for their delusions come to nothing.
119 All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross; therefore I love your statutes.
120 My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws.

Right >§§§> Left

I love your law but I hate double-minded people.  I have put my hope in your word; you are my refuge and my shield.  May the commands of my God keep me away from you evildoers.  According to your promise, I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed.  Sustain me, my God. I will always have regard for your decrees.  Uphold me and I will be delivered.  Their delusions come to nothing.  You reject all who stray from your decrees.  I love your statutes, all the wicked of the earth you discard like dross.  I stand in awe of your laws, my flesh trembles in fear of you.

–––∞∞∞–––

Props and supports are for the crippled.  Sometimes things have been broken so badly only medical traction can help. “Medical traction is the use of a pulling force to treat muscle and skeleton disorders. Traction is usually applied to the arms and legs, the neck, the backbone, or the pelvis. It is used to treat fractures, dislocations, and long-duration muscle spasms, and to prevent or correct deformities.”

This prayer the Psalmist wrote centuries ago sounds way too familiar to the reality of life at this moment doesn’t it?  I’m looking for the “ס Samekh” he’s revealed that can support and prop us up against double-minded people, evildoers, dashed hopes, delusions and the wicked of the earth…today.  Right now our nation is badly crippled by political violence, racial unrest and a pandemic raging around the world.  In one small word, “ס Samekh,” the revelation of God has shown the Psalmist the law is more than a pair of crutches or a wheelchair.  God’s law is spiritual traction for a broken body.  

The Psalmist has told us the love of God’s law is a force that can pull the muscle of the heart back into order.  He’s recorded what God taught him through the law.  God is a refuge and shield that can correct the skeletal disorders of a body fractured, dislocated and having spasms that will surely lead to permanent deformity.  We are a body in need of spiritual traction.

God’s law is the spiritual traction necessary to sustain us and yet we are unable to set it up for ourself.  Jesus is the “promise” of God [v116] and the fulfillment of His law.   He is God’s “ס Samekh” that will provide the spiritual traction God has prescribed for the complete healing of His body in the midst of double-minded people, evildoers, dashed hopes, delusions and the wicked of the earth.  Amen

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Psalm 119:105-112 נ Nun – Fish, Longevity

Posted on January 17, 2021 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119 Nun – Fish, Longevity
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
106 I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.
107 I have suffered much; preserve my life, Lord, according to your word.
108 Accept, Lord, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws.
109 Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law.
110 The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts.
111 Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.
112 My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.

 Right >§§§> Left

The light on my path for my feet is the lamp of your word.  I will follow your righteous laws. I have taken an oath and confirmed that.  Preserve my life, Lord, is according to your word.  I have suffered much.  Teach me your laws and accept the willing praise of my mouth.  I will not forget your law though I constantly take my life in my hands.  I have not strayed from your precepts but the wicked have set a snare for me.  The joy of my heart and my heritage forever are your statutes.  My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.

—∞∞∞—

For some time now I’ve been separating the Scripture from my own writing using a typographical sign of the fish [ >§§§> ] so  the meaning of “Nun” didn’t seem unusual.  It’s a familiar image many Christians use to associate themselves with Jesus.  The surprise was to find it hidden here in Psalm 119. 

 The fish symbol was a common pagan symbol long before it was chosen as an identifying mark for Christians. Early believers in Jesus Christ chose the
“fish” because it was a sign that would attract less attention than, say the sign of the cross might, because people were familiar with seeing it.  It became a way to safely identify themselves to one another.  The story is told that when strangers met, the Christian could draw a simple arc in the sand with his toe and wait for the other to respond.  If the other was a Christian, he would respond by drawing the lower arc to form the outline of a fish.  

The “fish” is the surprise set-up for these devotional thoughts.  Did God reveal
נ Nun to the Psalmist king as a mark of a greater KING, yet to come, or was it just a poetic accident?  Was that secret little Hebrew heading written as a familiar signal for generations in the future to respond to, and reveal their own identity? 

This Psalmist king knew the law of God.  He knew it made the path he wanted to follow visible to him.  He knew seeing that path was one thing, but deciding to walk it demanded a way to identify truth and people he could trust.  He knew the writings of the prophets.  He knew life was his training ground with a divine purpose; intimacy with God.  I think he knew the significance of נ Nun – Fish was longevity, that his identity with God would last into our future too.

The Psalmist king has become known throughout history as a “man after God’s own heart.”  He knew his own identity was as sketchy and unreliable as any other human being except for his awareness that God’s truth [aka, the law] had saved and changed him.  The Psalmist knew he could trust God to be just and fair even when his own behavior and words were not.   Long before Jesus fulfilled the law, the Psalmist identified himself completely with the fullness of God revealed in His law, it’s precepts and statutes.  The value that has been ascribed to his heart was that he gave the fullness of it to God without reservation; the very best parts as well as well as the very worst parts.   That was the identification mark the Psalmist king made face to face with God trusting it would be recognized and God’s response would be to complete His identity with him.  >§§§>

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Psalm 119:97-104 מ Mem – Waves, Water

Posted on January 13, 2021 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119
97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
98 Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,  for I meditate on your statutes.
100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.
101 I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word.
102 I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.

Right >§§§> Left

All day long I meditate on your law.  Oh, how i love it!  I am made wiser than my enemies because your commands are always with me.  I meditate on your statutes for I have more insight than all my teachers.  I obey your precepts for I have more understanding than the elders.  So that I might obey your word, I have kept my feet from every evil path.  You yourself have taught me.  I have not departed from your laws.  Sweeter than honey to my mouth are how sweet your words are to my taste.  I hate every wrong path therefore I gain understanding from your precepts.

–––––––§–––––––

The Psalmist recognizes there is a purpose for God’s laws, commands, statutes and precepts.  He’s used the Hebrew letter “Mem – waves, water” to reveal it to us as eye-catching waves rising repeatedly from the ocean of truth that is God’s knowledge.  Those waves regularly break the surface of the water as they begin their push toward the shore to deposit their power and become one with it before ebbing back into the vastness of depths that are unseen.  

Waves and water are the imagery the Psalmist chooses to show God’s persistence to raise up His laws, commands, statutes and precepts as a recurring opportunity to release His power upon the shore…His people…and in that moment become one with them. 

The Psalmist has seen God at work repeatedly in his own life.  He recognizes those waves have touched him with wisdom, insight and understanding.  They’ve risen from the depths of God’s knowledge to break upon him with new realities that sustain him over and over.  The imagery is God’s laws, commands, statutes and precepts are “waves”that have broken on him and united him in that moment with the unseen depths of the “water” that created them to enable him to “obey” and keep his “feet from every wrong path.”  

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Psalm 119:89-96 ל Lamedh – to learn, to teach

Posted on January 10, 2021 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119
89 Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures.
91 Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.
92 If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.
94 Save me, for I am yours; I have sought out your precepts.
95 The wicked are waiting to destroy me, but I will ponder your statutes.
96 To all perfection I see a limit, but your commands are boundless.  [NIV]

>§§§>

Learning how to be taught today from left to right:
“In the heavens Lord, your word stands firm and is eternal.  You established the earth and it endures.  Your faithfulness continues through all generations.  All things serve you for your laws endure to this day.  I would have perished in my affliction if your law had not been my delight.  You have preserved my life by them and I will never forget your precepts.  I have sought out you precepts; save me for I am yours.  I will ponder your statutes but the wicked are waiting to destroy me. Your commands are boundless but to all perfection I see a limit.”

∞∞∞

My challenge is trying to read and write about this section of Psalm 119 with fresh thinking.  The Psalmist has focused his belief on the faithfulness of God enduring despite the risk of his own circumstances.  Several things were clear to him.  Endurance came packaged with correction and learning.  His own endurance was dependent on God’s boundless laws, precepts and statutes even when faced with dramatic events that called into question his own security.  The final clarity of truth the Psalmist’s grappled with, were his words that the Lord’s “commands are boundless, but to all perfection I see a limit.”

The circumstances we have seen with our own eyes this last week in the Capital of the United States have shown us how much we need to read and ponder these words of the Psalmist in a contemporary way.  His clarity must become ours.  As limited as perfection may be it never looks like an angry mob causing chaos, destruction and death.  Lamedh is the powerful reminder the Psalmist has given us this week; every person of faith must deliberately make the choice every day to let God’s boundless laws, precepts and statutes teach them to be willing to learn.

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Psalm 119:81-88 כ Kaph – Bend, Open, Allow, Tame

Posted on January 6, 2021 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.
82 My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, “When will you comfort me?”
83 Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.
84 How long must your servant wait?  When will you punish my persecutors?
85 The arrogant dig pits to trap me, contrary to your law.
86 All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.
87 They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
88 In your unfailing love preserve my life, that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.  [NIV]

>§§§>

A different plan for reading backwards, writing & praying today:

I have put my hope in your word, my soul faints with longing for your salvation.  When will you comfort me?  My eyes fail looking for your promise.  I do not forget your decrees though I am like a wineskin in the smoke.  When will you punish my persecutors?  How long must your servant wait?  Contrary to your law, the arrogant dig pits to trap me.  I am being persecuted without cause.  Help me.  Your commands are trustworthy.  I have not forsaken your precepts but they almost wiped me from the earth. The statutes of your mouth in your unfailing love, preserve my life that I may obey them. [Amen]

The most intriguing phrase in this part of Psalm 119 was “I am like a wineskin in the smoke.” The wineskin was vital to carrying the wine from place to place in ancient times but eventually it deteriorated as it was exposed to the smoke from fires of life inside a tent. There are many meanings of that phrase, and Kaph, but John Piper gets credit for an idea I thought worth passing on that relates the phrase to Kaph.  Kaph is the open hand of God that can “tame” and “open” the life of one who will “bend” to His will. The wine is the Gospel.  The fragile “wineskin” of life is what God has given us to carry His Gospel from place to place. That opportunity won’t last forever.

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Psalm 119:73-80 י Yodh – Hand [Bent]

Posted on January 3, 2021 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119 [NIV]
73 Give me understanding to learn your commands and how your hands made me and formed me
74 I have put my hope in your word so those who fear you can rejoice when they see me
75 You have afflicted me in faithfulness I know Lord and your laws are righteous
76 According to your promise to your servant, may your unfailing love be my comfort.
77 Your law is my delight that I may live and your compassion come to me
78 I will meditate on your precepts, may the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause
79 May those who fear you turn to me, those who understand your statutes.
80 May I wholeheartedly follow your decrees, that I may not be put to shame.   

>§§§>

The mention of hands  in v73 was distracting in terms of that small Hebrew subtitle, “Bent.”  Reading each individual section of Psalm 119 backwards and rewriting them without changing their intent [I hope] has made them seem more like a personal prayer to me.  The last two verses today couldn’t possibly have been any more personal so I haven’t changed them.  I hope they’ll be your personal prayer too.

My first thoughts about “bent” evoked the imagery of the gently bent hand of God reaching toward us.   I don’t think that’s what the Psalmist had in mind, as true and welcoming as that is.  “Bent” is something more than a description of the physical hand of God.  Instead I believe the Psalmist has discovered “Bent” is God’s purpose for His laws, precepts, statutes, decrees and commands.   God’s promise was to change His servant’s natural “bent,”* so his inclination would be the determination to do or have all that God was offering him: hope, faithfulness, unfailing love, comfort and compassion.

*Bent: determined to do or have or a natural talent or inclination

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