{Disclaimer: these are my rough teaching notes I use in my Mishkan Katan weekly broadcasts. There will be "typos". Proceed at your own risk, lol.You can find all my Mishkan Katan video teachings on my YouTube channel: genahood2818 . Look on the playlist called Messianic LAMB TV Network.}
Boker Tov! Welcome back to Mishkan Katan, where we have been studying the book of Psalms for the past 51 sessions. So, yes, that is over a year we have been studying together this marvelous book. We have today’s session and next week’s, and then I think we will be finished with Psalm 119.
Well, we resume this morning in verse 121, if you’ll go ahead and turn there. This section has a heading of the Hebrew letter ayin.
Ayin sounds a little like the English word, wine, and that English word may have been taken from the Hebrew word for wine, which is “y’ayin”. Pretty similar, no? Well, let me draw an ayin for you. It is the 16th letter. The sages say that the letter ayin represents a pauper, a poor person. Since this letter follows samech, which stands for “support”, the implication is that it is a hallmark and duty of righteousness for a godly person to help the poor. What is true poverty? The Talmud, in Nedarim 4a, teaches us that true poverty is poverty of the mind and soul. If a man has wisdom, he has everything, and if a man lacks wisdom, he has nothing.
The name of this letter is the same as the Hebrew word for “eye”. The implication is that a person who uses his eyes to read Torah can then become relieved of his intellectual and spiritual poverty. A person who is given by the Lord spiritual discernment, can learn the meanings of Torah, which lie below the surface meaning. In Hebrew that is called learning the “sod” of the text. Additionally, the numerical value of ayin is the number 70, which is also the numerical value of the Hebrew word, sod. You can see why the two are associated with each other. As we look at this section, pun intended, you will see references to the eyes as well as references to understanding knowledge and their relationship with righteousness. The sod section goes through verse 128. Let’s begin by reading it together.
ΧΆ (‘Ayin)
121 I have done what is just and right;
don’t abandon me to my oppressors.
122 Guarantee your servant’s well-being;
don’t let the arrogant oppress me.
123 My eyes fail from watching for your salvation
and for [the fulfillment of] your righteous promise.
124 Deal with your servant in accordance with your grace,
and teach me your laws.
125 I am your servant; give me understanding,
so that I can know your instruction.
126 The time has come for Adonai to act,
because they are breaking your Torah.
127 Therefore I love your mitzvot
more than gold, more than fine gold.
128 Thus I direct my steps by [your] precepts;
every false way I hate.
As we begin to look at these verses, there is no doubt that David was Israel’s greatest king. He endeavored to rule with justice and righteousness. In his last words to his son, Solomon, he admonished him, by saying, “he who rules over man must be just, ruling in the fear of God.“ (2 Samuel 23:3). Indeed, this should be the aim and the goal of any person who has authority over another, whether it be in the family in the workplace or in the ecclesia, the congregation. The opposite of this righteous approach is to lead or govern in a way that generates the most perceived favor from the ones over which one has authority. This almost always ends badly. Often times, those who serve beneath the one in authority have differing ideas about how things should go. Sometimes those ideas are righteous; and sometimes they are not. The leader, who is tossed about by every whim of those whom he or she leads, is ultimately perceived as indecisive, uncaring, or a vacillator. At best, he or she gets little accomplished, because the ultimate goal is to please others. While leaders should certainly take into account, the wishes, desires, and excellent ideas of those with whom here she is associated, the mission the direction and the practices of the leader should be to execute justice and to lead with righteousness, that is to do all in prayer for submission to the heavenly father and for his glory. Verse 121 mentions that David had willful sinners who were trying to exploit him. I read a leadership book several years ago, that claimed that no matter who you were or no matter how you lead, at least 8% of those you lead would be against you. No matter what. The expression, “You can’t win them all“, is a real thing! Even Yeshua, who is the greatest leader of the world has ever seen, suffered at the hands of those who opposed him. And who indeed exploited Him for their own purposes.
At the beginning of verse 122 we have the Hebrew word “arov”. It means “to co-mingle and intertwine”. Have you ever cosigned on a loan with someone with less financial means than yourself? Or, have you ever had someone do that for you? I remember that with my first car loan, my father cosigned with me. I appreciated that so much, at the time. Here’s the thing that most of you know. If I had defaulted on that loan, my father would have been held responsible, because he cosigned with me. The man who guarantees the physical safety of the financial obligations of another is intertwining himself with the fortunes of his friend. What the psalmist is saying here in verse 122 is this: he is asking Hashem to be a cosigner for his good. Again, at the end of this verse, the psalmist is pleading with the Lord that some of that protection will be that he not be exploited or oppressed by sinful people.
In verse 123 David uses the expression of his eyes pining for God‘s salvation. This is similar to verse 82 of this psalm where we read that he used this expression to say that his eyes were pining for God‘s promise. They essentially mean the same thing. During the years of Israel’s exile, those years from 70, common era to 1948, common era, this age is particularly Sforno, and Alshich interpreted this as a plea for not only personal redemption, but also for the salvation of God himself to his people Israel. Their view was that His name and His glory are incomplete as long as the nation of Israel wandered and languished in exile.
Verse 124 appeals to God’s kindness because the psalmist realized that we can neither have enough merit or good deeds to save ourselves. We should be so thankful that God does not deal with us according to our own merits. If he did, we would all be bound for hell. Exodus 15 verse 13 says “you guided in your kindness this people that you redeemed. In court, of course this is talking about how God guided His people out of the land of Egypt, that mixed multitude of people that came to be known as the Hebrews. And he still guides in kindness His chosen ones today. God’s statues are mentioned at the end of verse 124 as are the testimonies in verse 125. The same things continue to crop up in psalm 119. The psalmist repeats himself you might say, but that is because it takes supernatural intervention for us to be able to understand the depths of God‘s word.
In verses 122 124 and 125, David refers to himself as God‘s servant. He is asking for these things so that he may serve his God even better.
Verse 126 begins by pointing out that God, although patient and long-suffering, although not swift to lash out or punish, certainly will not hold back his fury forever. There will come a moment when he will act against those who have disregarded his Torah. When that moment arrives, when that day arrives, the objects of God’s wrath will be powerless in the face of his fury. I believe it was the Christian writer, Jonathan Edwards, who wrote a sermon called “sinners in the hands of an angry God”. It is indeed a fearful thing to fall under God’s wrath. (Hebrews 10:31)
This refers to a type of God’s anger that is not corrective. In my husband‘s weekly, in-home Bible study this past Wednesday night, we were studying John 15 and talking about how God prunes, his fruitful trees. Pruning is not an action that results from God‘s wrath. Pruning is a corrective and helpful action on the part of God toward his beloved. Pruning is done to enrich and improve ultimately the life and walk of the believer in Yeshua, the follower of God. While pruning may feel like wrath, it isn’t. The wrath of God is a whole ‘nuther ball game.
There is an alternative interpretation of this verse, by Rashi and Radak. They said, “it is always the right time to serve the Lord God, but it is not always time to take action on His behalf.” In other words, there are times when we are led by the Holy Spirit to take action on His behalf and times when we are to wait and let Him take action. Sometimes, His purposes are best served by our inaction and restraint. The preceding verse mentions praying for understanding, and that includes our seeking His will in order to know when to act on His behalf. Hillel taught, as recorded in Berachot 63a of the Talmud, that if the tzaddik sees that the Torah is beloved in our generation, then we should be bold in spreading and teaching it. However, if it is not beloved in our times, then we should not seek to force its teachings on the people, upon the masses. This was a general rule, of course. The Torah should still be disseminated, although with greater restraint and with greater discretion.
This reminded me of a story shared with me a few days ago by one of my friends. She was relating that when she was at a secular university, there were “street preachers” who would place themselves in strategic locations where many of the students would walk. On two occasions, she was individually “yelled at”, as she phrased it, by one of the preachers, and was told she was “going to hell”. Supposedly, this was due to how she was dressed. She responded that she was a follower of Jesus and that she was bound for heaven. The whole incident made me think about how ill-advised it is to beat people up with the gospel. I heard my pastor share another story years ago about a prominent evangelist, who was preaching in England. As he preached his sermon, and he was a simple man, periodically throughout the sermon he would say this: “ you don’t think God love you, but he do”. At the end of that sermon, the invitation was given, and people absolutely flooded the aisles to go forward and meet this God and dedicate their lives to him. So, there are times when one approach is called for, and there are times when a completely different approach is best utilized.
Verses 127 and 128 begin with an ayin, of course, since this is the ayin section of the psalm. But, specifically, they begin with the Hebrew expression, “al-kane”. Literally, the expression means “upon thus”, or “because of this” or … as it is actually translated in the scripture I read earlier, “ therefore”.
Verses like verse 127 always hit home to me, because we live in such a materialistic age. Recently, it hit me kind of different. I had a birthday a few days ago. My precious husband wanted to buy me a piece of jewelry. I had told him in the past about the current practice among orthodox Jews that on the high holidays, they buy their wives pieces of Jewelry, to which he responded “It’s a good thing I’m not Jewish!” That nonsense aside, he indicated that he wanted to buy me a piece of jewelry for my birthday. I told him that I really didn’t need anything, to which he replied, “That’s OK. You can spend $10.” Well, to make a long story short, he bought me a beautiful ring; and, I love it so much that I’ve been admiring it ever since. He really treated me like a queen. So, when I read verse 127, I was convicted. I thought to myself, “I’ve been admiring this ring… But have I been admiring the word of God that much?” It’s a different kind of admiration for sure, but we should all love the scriptures more than any of our material possessions. We will not be able to take with us into the next Life, any of our material possessions. That is for certain. We can, however, take with us the treasures which we mined from the word of God.
Right, we find ourselves now at the end of the ayin section, and ready to move on to the peh section. The name of this letter is the same as the Hebrew word for “mouth.” This is because the letter has an opening on the side, which resembles an open mouth. Here, et me draw one for you….Reminds me a little bit of a Pac-Man symbol.
Since the ayin (which represents the eyes) follows the peh, representing the mouth, the sages say that one should not attempt to teach before he or she has studied and seen the truth with his or her own eyes. The letter peh, 17th in the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 80, although when it occurs at the end of a word, that becomes 800. Peh can be pronounced as either peh or feh, depending on whether or not the letter contains a dot within it, called a dagesh. The presence of the dagesh changes the pronunciation.
Let’s read the peh section, verses 129-136. This is from the CJB translation.
Χ¤ (Peh)
129 Your instruction is a wonder;
this is why I follow it.
130 Your words are a doorway that lets in light,
giving understanding to the thoughtless.
131 My mouth is wide open, as I pant
with longing for your mitzvot.
132 Turn to me, and show me your favor;
in keeping with [your] judgment for those who love your name.
133 Guide my footsteps by your word;
don’t let any kind of sin rule me.
134 Redeem me from human oppression,
and I will observe your precepts.
135 Make your face shine on your servant,
and teach me your laws.
136 Rivers of tears flow down from my eyes,
because they don’t observe your Torah.
One of the commentaries I study suggested that verse 129 is saying that God’s commandments are beyond total human comprehension. I’ll give you an example of that. Most of you know that many of the commandments concern cleanliness. In the case of the first Hebrews, they followed these commandments without fully understanding things like microbiology, germ theory, cross-contamination, etc. They just knew that Hashem commanded it, and so they did it. As the centuries have passed, we have learned about the invisible world of microbes, and have learned a lot about how they behave, what they respond to, and so forth. Science has again and again proven the Torah true, the prophets true, the historical references true. If there is ever a question about whether science or the Bible is correct, bet on the Bible. Same for history. Historians doubted the existence of a people group called the Hittites … until more recent archeological discoveries verified their existence over 2000 years later.
Let me cite an ever more enigmatic example. You may remember that the most inscrutable, inexplicable commandments are called “statutes” or, in the Hebrew, chokim. Here is one of the most hard to understand. Its name in Hebrew is Shiluach HaKen. One of the key things to know, up front, before I tell you about the nature of this chok is that it is one with a promise attached. In fact, there are only two mitzvot, commandments, with this promise attached. The promise I am referring to is the promise of long life. The other commandment is the one that commands us to honor our fathers and mothers.
Ok, so the Shiluach HaKen is found in Deuteronomy 22:6-7. Here are those two verses:
If a bird’s nest chances before you on the road, on any tree or on the ground, and [it contains] fledglings or eggs, if the mother is sitting upon the fledglings or upon the eggs, you shall not take the mother [from] upon the young. You shall send away the mother, and [then] you may take the young for yourself, in order that it should be good for you, and you should lengthen your days.
Can you fully understand this chok, or understand why such a precious promise of long life and prosperity is attached to it? I mean, if you were God, and you were handing out the promise of long life, I can kind of understand why that would be attached to honoring one’s father and mother. I get that. But, this chok? I just don’t get it.
In the first place, if a human approaches a mother bird sitting on a nest, in most cases, she is going to fly away anyhow. It is very rare you could, even with the best of human reflexes, get close enough to a bird to grab it off its nest.
Years ago, we had a pair of mourning doves make a nest in the wreath on our front door. They are quite peculiar birds. Most will fly away before you the human can get anywhere close. Not the mourning dove. It “plays possum”. It sits still as a statue, unmoving, trying to make you “unsee” it, or to pretend it is not there. But, again, that species is an exception.
So, if you want to steal kosher bird eggs for food (this only applies to kosher birds, of course), or to steal very young birds out of a nest, you have to be compassionate and shoo the mama away so that she does not witness what in her eyes would be a tremendous theft or desecration.
The righteous person is not to take the mother bird, as she can return and later lay more eggs. The chok does not apply to any father birds that are sitting on the nest. Only to the females.
It’s hard to understand.
So, back to the main point in verse 129 - - God’s testimonies are wonders and are to be cherished, whether we fully understand them or not. As the old saying goes, “Ours is not to wonder why; ours is but to ‘do or die’.”
On to verse 130, which assures us that no matter a person’s intellectual level, he or she can benefit from studying God’s Word. Some will need more leading than others, and here I’m thinking of those with significantly diminished mental capacity. But, even they can possess, simple, innocent faith, and be taught the principles of Scripture to some extent. They can be comforted by it, have their lives enriched because of it. As Psalm 19:8 promises, “The testimony of God is trustworthy, making wise the simple.” Honestly, how greater a blessing is this state of mind than to be a person with superior intellectual gifts, who yet poisons his or her mind with vain, false philosophies, which then corrupt the soul.
Verse 131 compares “feasting” on the Word of God to a starving person who has not had a meal in days, who opens his mouth as widely as possible and just gulps down all the food he can get. Moses, in Deut. 32:2, compared the Torah to the rain falling on parched land. The land opens its mouth wide to receive it and be nourished.
Verse 132 promises that those who love God’s Name will receive His favor to understand the treasures of God’s Word. We need supernatural favor to understand, to have our hearts enlightened. We can’t achieve this on our own. Those of you listening who likewise teach the Scriptures to others surely have experienced this.
Verse 133 reminds us that the more we immerse ourselves into the Word of God, the better equipped we will be to resist evil impulses in our lives. There are so many “lesser things”, to put it mildly, afoot in this evil world. There are so many of these which beckon us, which entice us to spend our time filling our minds and hearts with them. As most of you know, what we dwell on shapes us, influences us, and even predisposes us to behave in certain ways. That is why it is so important to fill our minds and spirits with holy “food”.
Verse 134 could be translated “Save me from the evil impulses.” We all need to pray this, multiple times, daily! The Ruach HaKodesh lives inside the heart of the follower of Yeshua, and He is our Helper. I think that Helper is too weak a word, though. He is the One who gives us the power to battle evil impulses, if we allow Him to reign in our lives.
Verse 135 - - in other places in Scripture, the image of God’s face shining upon us is found. For example, it is present in what is often called The Aaronic Blessing (Numbers 6:25). “May God shine His face upon you and be gracious to you.” Those of my local congregation hear this from our senior pastor every week. We learn from Solomon’s words in Proverbs 16:15 that “In the shining light of the king’s face is life, and his favor is like a cloud bringing the spring rain.” So, God shining face, or His face shining upon us, alludes to favor and grace.
And now, verse 136, the last one in this peh section. It is a section represented by “mouth”, but ends with eyes. The sages say that the heart and the eyes are the two entry points of sin. The sins of the heart are atoned for with remorse, often bitter remorse and great agony of spirit. The sins of the eyes are atoned for by shedding tears. That is, tears are cleansing, and the eyes shed them to represent cleansing the soul from sinful impurity.
The last section we will study today is represented by the Tsadi. It looks like this, and is pronounced with a ts sound. This letter, because it appears to be kneeling, symbolized the righteous person fully submitting to God. The reasoning that accompanies tsadi and the previous two letters is this: ayin represents the eyes. Peh represents the mouth, and tsadi represents righteous submission. The sages say that the person who guards his eyes and mouth and submits his soul to God is walking in righteousness.
Let’s read these verses, 137 through 144.
Χ¦ (Tzadeh)
137 You are righteous, Adonai;
and your rulings are upright.
138 You have commanded your instructions
in righteousness and great faithfulness.
139 My zeal is destroying me,
because my foes have forgotten your words.
140 Your word is refined to complete purity,
and your servant loves it.
141 I may be small and despised,
but I do not forget your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is eternal righteousness,
and your Torah is truth.
143 Trouble and distress have overtaken me,
but your mitzvot are my delight.
144 Your instruction is righteous forever;
give me understanding, and I will live.
The section begins by not talking our our sanctification or our righteous walks, but instead by highlighting the righteousness of God Himself.
One of the most perplexing aspects of Hashem’s character is that the righteous often suffer while the wicked often prosper. Regardless, we, as people of faith, humbly accept this Divine scheme of things by reminding ourselves of the righteousness and therefore the goodness of God, our present circumstances notwithstanding.
I learned, while writing this lesson for our time together this week, of a friend whose late-30s son was savagely murdered. Even though we discussed what I just said about the righteousness and goodness of God, how hard it is to walk through those awful, horrific circumstances of loss! She told me that she wants his service to focus on faith and the importance of it. Her faith is great, to be sure. Please pray for my friend and her family. Her name is Ann.
Verse 138 extends that thought to be, “since our God is righteous, so must we be, in our daily lives, interactions, thoughts, etc.” Deuteronomy 16:19 and 20 records Moses telling God’s words to the new nation of Israel: “You shall not twist judgment nor shall you recognize favorites, neither shall you accept bribes … Righteousness, only righteousness, shall you pursue, so that you may live and inherit the land which Hashem, Your God, gives you.” An outworking of God’s righteousness is His faithful. That is, because He is righteous, He is faithful to keep His promises. Again, we are commanded to do likewise.
Chazah Zion, a rabbinic commentary, points out that a person must be totally honest before God in order to have faith. Indeed, when leading a person to faith in Yeshua HaMashiach, the first step to to get the person to see that they are sinners, and that they are totally incapable of redeeming themselves by their own merits. This takes humility and honesty. Many do not get past this first step. They had rather beat their heads against the wall, figuratively, continuing to strive in their own strength to achieve enough goodness to please God, a futile approach. However, it is an approach that feeds the prideful soul. That is why it is so popular, and sinister. Once the relationship with God has begun, the follower of Yeshua who is honest and sincere knows that he will do anything to keep his word and honor his commitments because God will certainly keep His promises. The dishonest, insincere, faithless person distrusts God as much or more than he distrusts himself.
Verse 140 reminds me of Psalm 19:8. Both verses remind us of the purity of God’s word. There is no impurity in it, no imperfection in it. It is entirely free from flaw or error. Psalm 19:8 says, “The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.” How are things purified? By repeated cleanings or refining processes. A smith, such as a silversmith, will repeat the refining process again and again in order to achieve the ultimate standard of purity. In s similar fashion, the pure word of God produces enlightenment and purity, because truths are often repeated. You may think Psalm 119 is repetitious, as certain themes occur over and over again. However, the Midrash Shocher Tov has this to say about that, using a parable of a king. There was a certain king who had a silver dish. He gave it to his silversmith with the order to purify it. The silversmith refined the dish in the furnace, and took it to the king. The king told him to purify it a second and then a third time. In a similar fashion, God repeats key content in the Scriptures, in a sense refining and purifying the Scriptures. Psalm 12:7 reminds us that “The words of HaShem are pure words, like silver refined in the finite set smelting earth, clarified sevenfold.”
Verse 141 is a reminder that youth (in chronological years) or being “young” in one’s walk with Yeshua, is not to be disparaged. The sages point out that, as recorded in 1 Samuel 17:14, David was the youngest of Jesse’s 8 sons. And, that when Samuel came to the family home in search of a king, the family did not even call David in from the fields because they thought it so very unlikely he would be chosen. David grew up thinking that, because he was the youngest, he was a “nobody”. These early years of degradation forged in him a trait indispensable to a great king - - the trait of humility. Deuteronomy 17:20 exalts this trait when it says “so that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers”, referring to the heart of the king. David never lost that trait either.
So, let’s not downgrade, overlook or discriminate against a person because of his or her age, whether young or old or any age in between. Age is only a limiting factor if people let it be one.
Verse 142 conveys the concept of everlasting, when it says “Your righteousness is an eternal righteousness.” The psalmist notes that the righteous person takes the long view. He or she labors for things (such as righteousness) which will last forever. Implicit in God’s righteousness are His promises, which are also everlasting. There are some who relegate the promises of God to the nation of Israel to the “ancient history” category, in a negative, dismissive way. But, God’s promises will all be fulfilled. Furthermore, they will never fail or be abrogated. The Church, so to speak, has not “replaced” Israel, or made null or void God’s promises to Israel. There are many today who speak negatively of the Jewish people and of the nation of Israel. That is a grave mistake. We who follow Yeshua have been grafted into spiritual Israel. There has been no legitimate replacement. God’s promises still stand. People who disparage this way still expect God to keep His promises to them, even as they claim He has cast aside His promises to Israel. Well, a God who only keeps some of His promises would be a God not worth His word at all. The one, true God will keep all of His promises. Of this you can be sure.
Verses 143 and 144 end this section of Psalm 119, the tsade section. Sages, such as Malbim, differentiate between the two words “distress” (trouble in the CJB) and “anguish” (distress in the CJB). The first word connotes an upset condition due to outside forces/enemies making threats or causing trouble. The second word is more intense, and connotes mental an emotional suffering, more of an inward look. There is a difference in the degree between the two words, with the second one being more intense than the first.
The commentators take the word “live” at the end of verse 144 to indicate a legacy, in other words, “so that my name will continue to live on.” In this context, the verse that comes to mind is Isaiah 59:21, a precious promise of God to the righteous and their offspring. “My words which I have put into your mouth shall not depart from your mouth nor from the mouth of your children, nor from the mouth of your children’s children, says God/Hashem, henceforth and forever.” What a precious promise! That’s one that every godly parent holds on to.
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