Psalm 119 Can Be Your Pathway To Devotion
You probably know Psalm 119 as the longest chapter in the Bible, but you’re missing out if that’s all you know about this motivational Psalm. Through regular study of Psalm 119, students of God’s word will find a pathway to a thriving devotional Life.
A casual reading of the Psalm reveals the repetition of rules and terms. Dig a little deeper, and you discover the Psalmist's desire to keep these rules close to their heart as the guiding light of their life.
With today's preference for instant gratification, the redundancy of Psalm 119 can be taxing for some readers. Why is that? Primarily, because a disconnect spanning thousands of years and cultural norms exists between the intended audience of the Psalms, including Psalm 119, and contemporary readers.
To understand the structure of the Psalms and to grasp the message the Psalmist intended to convey, we need to understand the audience to whom the Psalmist first wrote.
For this reason, this first post in a series on Psalm 119 serves as an introduction to Ancient Near East Culture, Hebrew Poetry, Oral Tradition, and several other facets unique to Psalm 119.
Ancient Near East Culture in Biblical Israel
The people of Old Testament times, including Israel, consisted primarily of agricultural societies whose economies focused on raising crops, livestock, and fishing. Outside of the ruling classes, many people were too busy raising crops, tending livestock, or fishing to learn how to read and write.
Biblical Israel existed in the vast panorama encompassing the Fertile Crescent, often referred to as the birthplace of civilization. This region included nations such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Hittites, Assyria, and Babylon, as well as the smaller cultures of the Levant.
The Levant region, which today encompasses modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories, as well as parts of southeastern Turkey. Interestingly, also recognized as the origin point for three of the world's major faiths:
Judaism– in the 2nd millennium BC or the 6th century BC.
Christianity– separated from Judaism in the first century AD. However, Jesus didn’t consider the Gospel he preached to be the end of Judaism, but rather its fulfillment (Matthew 5:17-20). The Apostle Paul also considered Christianity to be the fulfillment of Judaism.
Islam – earliest records show that Islam developed in Mecca and Medina (Modern Saudi Arabia) in the 7th century AD.
However, in the 7th century AD, Damascus, in the Levant, became the center of the first major Islamic empire, the Umayyad Caliphate, from 661 to 750 CE.
Over time, the Levant region became a focal point of the Islamic faith.
All three faiths trace their origins back to Abraham, considered the father of their respective belief systems. A fact that, in no small part, contributes to much of the conflict in the Middle East today.
Due to their shared origins, the people of the Fertile Crescent shared many cultural practices. Which were differentiated by their experiences with and beliefs in God, the Father — Yahweh —and later, their response to Jesus' Gospel message. One such shared practice among Ancient Near East peoples was oral Tradition.
How Oral Tradition Defined Israel
The transmission of stories, laws, teachings, and prophecies through the spoken word, rote memorization, and community storytelling is the basis of oral tradition—the practice that shaped a nation and its people’s identity in several ways.
In biblical times, writing materials were scarce and expensive; furthermore, a significant portion of the population could neither read nor write, relying on scribes to write or read letters on their behalf.
The result of these widespread conditions was the development of oral tradition. Community leaders, such as government officials, elders, priests, or rabbis, would read the writings of the prophets or the Mosaic law to the people.
Nehemiah 8:5-8 shows the practice of oral tradition,
Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them, and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was read.
We can see in this text how oral tradition could shape the identities and form cohesive beliefs among the people. We know that God’s word never returns void (Isaiah 55:11); for that reason alone, reading His word is powerful.
Oral tradition involved more than hearing; in the above passage, we can see how it led the listeners into corporate worship,
…the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Nehemiah 8:6
The people weren’t left struggling to understand the law; the Levites taught them as a group to ensure they had a clear understanding of the scripture taught.
Biblical Israel also practiced Oral tradition in the home, where parents would share torah readings and family stories with their children. Recounting Israel's history and the prophets is a common practice, especially on Shabbat (the Sabbath) and during the Passover season.
Israel’s oral tradition assured the continuity of Jewish beliefs and identity and helped shape the structure of Hebrew poetry.
A Few Thoughts on Hebrew Poetry
When you read the Psalms, Biblical wisdom literature, and much of the prophets, you’re reading Hebrew poetry. For an in-depth explanation of Hebrew Poetry, read Jean E. Jones–Understanding Hebrew Poetry. For this post, we’ll just touch lightly on the primary differences between Western poetry and Hebrew Poetry.
Parallelism—the key difference between Western and Hebrew poetry is that it uses related lines that restate or contrast meaning rather than sound or rhyme.
Two-line segments known as couplets form larger Stanzas. Creating rhythm by the interaction of emphasized words and the continuity of thought instead of rhyming syllables.
Synonymous Parallelism: The second line restates or complements the first line, strengthening a point.
Example Psalm 119:1, Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.
Antithetic Parallelism: The second line provides an opposing viewpoint to the first line.
Example Psalm 1:5 "But the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous"
Synthetic Parallelism–The second line continues or completes the thought presented in the first line, often with different words or images.
Example Psalm 19:7 "The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple"
Whether or not Hebrew poetry developed as a result of oral tradition is unclear.
We can conclude, however, that Hebrew poetry’s practice of restating or reinforcing ideas and beliefs conveyed in scripture is intentional. Moreover, the practice certainly lends itself to the transmission and retention of concepts communicated through oral tradition.
Psalm 119 is an Acrostic Poem
Have you ever wondered what the Hebrew characters and words א (Aleph) or ב (Beth) at the top of Psalm 119 stanzas mean? I did, so like any good bible student, I googled it.
As it turns out, the characters are letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the words are the names of the letters. What's more, the Letters are part of an Acrostic poem structure.
Each line of a stanza begins with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet, for example, א (Aleph). With Hebrew letters, each carries a meaning that influences the significance of the stanza it’s in.
Since the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, Psalm 119 has 22 sections, each representing a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Every section has eight lines, all of which begin with the same letter.
The acrostic structure of Psalm 119 is a mnemonic memory aid common to the literature of Ancient Israel. Many English translations show the Hebrew character and the name of the letter at the top of each section.
To recap, we’ve learned several things:
Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem, meaning the lines of each of its 22 sections begin with the same Hebrew letter, with each section advancing to the following letter
The Hebrew characters at the beginning of each Section Are the first letters in each of eight lines in a section. These characters point to the theme of each section.
Please join me for the installment of the Pathways to Devotion Series, where we’ll unpack the lessons awaiting us in verses 1-8 of Psalm 119 and the meaning of א (Aleph).
Let me know what you think.
