Psalms 119:1

PSALM 119

OH HOW I LOVE THY LAW; IT IS MY MEDITATION ALL THE DAY[1]

Delitzsch gives us the inscription above this psalm in his old German Version: "The Christian's golden A-B-C of the praise, love, power and use of the Word of God."[2] He then added, "For here we have set forth in inexhaustible fulness what the Word of God is to a man, and how a man is to behave himself in relation to it."[3]

Psalms 119 is an acrostic to end all acrostics! There are twenty-two strophes (paragraphs), corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the strophes has eight lines (verses), and every one of the lines in each strophe begins with the appropriate Hebrew letter marking that stanza. The first eight lines begin with ALEPH, the second eight with BETH, and so on throughout the 176 lines of the Psalm. Kidner named the following as the nine acrostic psalms of the Psalter: "Psalms 9; Psalms 10; Psalms 25; Psalms 34; Psalms 37; Psalms 111; Psalms 112; Psalms 119; and Psalms 145."[4] The use of this literary device cannot be used as a safe indication of the date of a psalm or of any other Biblical book.

There are widely divergent views regarding date and authorship of this psalm. Leupold placed it in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah;[5] McCullough dated it "Some time after Ezra."[6] Dahood's comment questions such opinions.

Current scholarship tends to assign a later date to the psalm; but the view that the psalm was composed for some Davidic king does not seem improbable. Numerous poetic usages that were rarely employed in the post-Exilic period have been uncovered in the poem; and these strongly favor a pre-Exilic date.[7]

More than a century earlier, Adam Clarke expressed the same opinion.

Although most judicious interpreters assign it to the times of the Babylonian captivity; yet there are so many things in it that are descriptive of David's state, experience and affairs, that I am led to think it might have come from his pen.[8]

Matthew Henry, Charles H. Spurgeon, J. W. Burns, and many other older commentators ascribe the psalm to David.

Regarding the author, Delitzsch has written the following.

The poet is a young man who finds himself in a situation which is clearly described. He is derided, oppressed, persecuted by those who despise the divine word (apostasy is all around him), particularly by a government hostile to true religion (Psalms 119:23,46,161). He is in bonds (Psalms 119:61,83), expecting death (Psalms 119:109) .... In the midst of it, God's Word is his comfort and wisdom. The whole Psalm is a prayer for steadfastness in the midst of an ungodly, degenerate race in the midst of great trouble.[9]

Briggs described the one whom he supposed was the author here as, "A scribe, an early Pharisee of the highest and noblest type."[10]

One of the outstanding features of this psalm is the occurrence of ten synonyms for "law," one of which is repeated in almost every verse of the whole psalm. Leupold listed the synonyms as: "Law, word, saying, commandment, statute, ordinance, precept, testimony, way, and path."[11] Rawlinson listed only nine of these,[12] and Kidner listed only eight.[13] This writer believes that "truth" (Psalms 119:151) should also be added to the list, making eleven in all. The first eight of the synonyms listed by Leupold occur twenty times, or more, in the poem; but the others are used less frequently.

Regarding the meaning of "law," along with all the synonyms, it simply cannot be restricted to the Torah, as Yates thought.[14] Our Lord himself and also the Apostle Paul quoted both the Psalms and the Prophets, referring to them as "law." See John 15:25,1 Corinthians 14:21 as proof of this. The synonyms, as used here, therefore mean, "The Scriptures as a whole."[15]

Christian hymnology owes a lot to this psalm. Isaac Watts' famous hymn, set to music by Beethoven, "How Shall the Young Secure Their Hearts, is based on this psalm."[16] Also, "The Statutes of the Lord," by James MacGranahan, from which hymn we selected a title for the whole chapter, has half a dozen quotations from verses in this psalm. There are also a number of other examples in the average hymnal.

Regarding the classification of this psalm, the only one that really fits is, "Acrostic." As McCullough said, "It is impossible to assign it to any of the familiar categories."[17] The same scholar also noted that, "God is either addressed or referred to in every one of the 176 verses"![18]

Regarding the organization of this lengthy psalm, "There is no progress of thought, and such progress would scarcely have been possible under the iron rule which the author imposed upon himself."[19] Of course, Addis was referring to that requirement of beginning every line with a certain Hebrew letter.

Briggs assigned a title to each of the twenty-two strophes of the psalm;[20] and, although some have been critical of his choices, they are still the best which is available to us. We have not quoted his titles exactly, but have adapted them to conform more exactly to our interpretation. The title for Strophe 22 is our own.

Psalms 119:1-8

STROPHE 1

HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO PERFECTLY OBEY THE LAW

Aleph

"Blessed are they that are perfect in the way,

Who walk in the law of Jehovah.

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,

That seek him with the whole heart.

Yea, they do no unrighteousness;

They walk in his ways.

Thou hast commanded us thy precepts,

That we should observe them diligently.

Oh that my ways were established

To observe thy statutes.

Then shall I not be put to shame,

When I have respect unto all thy commandments.

I will give thanks unto thee with uprightness of heart,

When I learn thy righteous judgments:

I will observe thy statutes:

O forsake me not utterly."

There is a pattern here which is followed throughout, namely, that of stringing together totally unrelated thoughts because of the psalmist's honoring of his acrostic pattern. For example, look at Psalms 119:8.

Also, there are several of the synonyms for "law" used here, as throughout the poem. Briggs supposed that these various synonyms once referred to, "several types of Hebrew law,"[21] but such distinctions seemed to have been lost in the translations. We shall consider them as referring, in each case, to the teachings of the Holy Bible.