Psalm 119 - Intro & Part 1

I will share one section at a time of Psalm 119
to emphasize the importance of God's Word until
we go through the whole Psalm.


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PSALM 119  Introduction

ACROSTIC
A literary device by which sets of letters
(such as the first or last letters of a line)
are taken in order to form a word, phrase,
or a regular sequence of letters of the alphabet.
The ancient Hebrews realized the importance of words
and various literary devices such as puns, allusions,
and acrostics.
The best example of an acrostic in the Bible is 
Psalm 119 and Psalm 34,
both based on the Hebrew alphabet of 22 letters,
from Aleph to Tau ("A" to "Z").
This Psalm has 176 verses--
eight verses for each of the 22 Hebrew letters.

In the original Hebrew
(Psalm 119 verses 1-6) begin with ALEPH;
(verses 9-16) begin with BETH;
(verses17-24) begin with GIMEL; and so forth.
Parts of Psalms,9,10,25,37, 111, 112  and 145
and Lamentations 1-4 are also acrostic --
as are the last 22 verses of the book of Proverbs,
which contain a description of a virtuous wife.

(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
(Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

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Examples of Acrostics are:
1. God's
Riches
At
Christ's
Expense

2. Jesus
Others
Yourself

In #1 the first letter of each word spells out Grace.
In #2 the first letter of each word spells out Joy.

Psalm 119 is an Acrostic using the Hebrew
alphabet as earlier stated on this page.

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Part 1

ALEPH
[AH lef]-- the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet,
used as a heading over Psalm 119:1-8.
In the original Hebrew language,
each line of these eight verses
began with the letter aleph.
Also see ACROSTIC.
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
(Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

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Psalm 119:1-8
Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they that keep His testimonies,
and that seek him with the whole heart.
They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect
unto all thy commandments.
I will praise thee with uprightness of heart,
when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
(KJV)

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The way, the law of the Lord, His ways, precepts,
statutes, commandments and righteous judgements are
all synonyms for God's Word, and God's Ways of the
Holy Scriptures found in this section of Psalm 119.
With so many synonyms for God's word found in this
Psalm, in my opinion, no other Psalm or
other chapter in the whole Bible emphasizes
God's Word as strongly as Psalm 119.

Added thought:
It has been correctly pointed out that this Psalm
is talking about the Commandments under the law.
Though that is the primasry reason
when we talk about God's Ways,
God's righteousness, God's judgements etc.
can also be applied to God's Word in general
including the teachings of Jesus Christ
and the instructions the Apostles gave us
in the Epistles. So in that way Psalm 119
does have modern day application for us
Christians under the age of grace.



Sincerely in Christ,
internet Pastor Bill

Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch
http://www.Ezekiel37BibleWatch.faithweb.com

Ezekiel's Prayer Warriors
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