Psalm 119:153-176
Dear RTB’ers,
9/11. Twenty-five years. So long ago, and yet, not so long… A day for us to remember and pray.
Today we finish Psalm 119. A very different Psalm than any of the others. Twenty-two stanzas, eight verses each, with at least six of those eight synonyms (precepts, decrees, etc.) in each stanza. Very different, indeed!
The one constant that I have seen in this Psalm is deliverance (naturally, in addition to the author’s main focus on those eight synonyms). We see deliverance again today, in verses 153, 154, 157, 161, 169, and 170. It makes me think again that David must have been the author, but now I’m wondering if it might have been when he was older and wiser, during his time when he was fleeing from Absalom, not during the time that he was fleeing from Saul.
But the other constant for this author is praise – his confidence in who God is and what He has done. The author has praise as a near-closing verse: Let my soul live and praise You, and let Your rules help me. (v. 175) A fitting close to this very long Psalm.
Blessings.
Fred