{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 are heading into the home stretch of our Psalm 119 study. We left off last week with verse 140, which is where we will pick up this morning. 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.
Let’s face it. If you are a parent, you know that there are times when all you can do is to hold on to the promises of God. I have “been there” and in some respects am still there. Prayer is a mama’s greatest weapon, in the spiritual battle for the souls of your children. Keep praying, mamas. Here are some additional verses to encourage you:
Isaiah 29:22-24
Isaiah 44:3-5
Isaiah 54:13
Isaiah 58:11-14
Isaiah 59:21
Isaiah 60:2; 65:23
Deut. 31:31
Joel 2
Proverbs 14:26
Jeremiah 32:17
I am not going to delve into these this morning, because that would be a severe diversion. But, you can read them on your own and gain encouragement from them.
There’s just one more bit of wisdom I want to share with you about wayward children. When our children are young, we mamas and papas grow accustomed to being the number one influencer in their lives. As they grow older, we tend to want to retain that role. We want to be the fixer. We want to be the one that God uses to make it right.
Something we have to realize is that the father in his loving care often chooses other godly people to be a positive influence or a mover and a shaker in their lives. As parents, we must find the humility to allow that to happen. A principle of observed is that the more we the parents push, the less effective, our influence is. We have to be wise and judicious in our words and always loving in our interactions. That does not mean that we have to affirm sin in their lives. We should never do that. However, we must at the same time that we are standing firm on the Word of God, we must love them with all our hearts, and let them know that.
Ok, let’s move on to our next set of verses.
Verses 145 through 152 are represented by the letter kuf or khuf, depending on whether there is a dot (called a dagesh) in the middle of the word. As you have learned in my previous teachings, each Hebrew letter is designated to have a meaning by the sages of the Oral Law, the Talmud. Kuf was determined by them to represent sanctity, whereas the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet, raysh, is said to represent the wicked. The letter kuf has two openings in it, which are said to represent the opportunity for the wicked to turn back, to repent, to return and to find an opening for forgiveness.
Appropriately, the first verse in this set of verses features the psalmist seeking the Lord. Let’s read this set of verses, from the CJB.
ק (Kuf)
145 Wholeheartedly I am calling on you;
answer me, Adonai; I will keep your laws.
146 I am calling on you; save me;
and I will observe your instruction.
147 I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I put my hope in your word.
148 My eyes are open before the night watches,
so that I can meditate on your promise.
149 In your grace, hear my voice;
Adonai, in keeping with your justice, revive me.
150 The pursuers of carnality are getting close;
they are distancing themselves from your Torah.
151 You are close by, Adonai;
and all your mitzvot are truth.
152 Long ago I learned from your instruction
that you established it forever.
We see in verse 148 a reference to the “watches” of the night. It is hard for us to relate to this in the modern Western world. In the ancient world, there would be soldiers guarding a city, around the clock, 24 hours a day. The hours of darkness would be divided into either three or four “watches”, depending on how a municipality decided to do it. The roughly 12-hour period would be divided into either 3 watches, 4-hours each, or 4 watches, 3 hours each. The sages of the Talmud say that if you go with the 3-watches division, David would have awakened to pray at the end of the first third of the night, and if going with the 4-watches division that he would awake at the midpoint, at midnight. There are several references throughout the psalms to David awakening very early to pray and to study Torah.
Verse 150 points out that carnal people, that is, people who claim to follow God but instead walk according to their fleshly desires, do so by distancing themselves from God’s Word. This is a great truth. When those who are indeed righteous, similarly, neglect study of the Word of God, they can often fall into sin. Habitual Sinners tend to band together in their mutual hatred for the ways of God, and Malbim, a sage I often mention, interprets this verse as The pursuers of evil gather together. However, there is no real unity in the society of the wicked. Each one selfishly is out for his own gain. Therefore, when a comrade becomes useless to that end, he or she is abandoned by the group.
Verse 151. One of the chief accusations of the wicked is that God is not involved in the affairs of mankind. This belief system is called agnosticism. The psalmist counters this by asserting that God is near, intimately involved in human affairs. There are times He conceals His presence, but He is ever waiting and watching for the repentant soul to turn to him, no matter how estranged that person may be.
Verse 152 contains that pesky word, “forever”, the word some followers of Yeshua want to ignore or attempt to explain away. We will see it again in verse 160. I was having a conversation with one of my college roommates about this this past weekend. We had been to a college roommate reunion on the campus of the college from which we graduated. There were five young women in our college dorm room that year. One of them is now in heaven, but the other four of us got together to reminisce and catch up. The last evening we were there, the roommate who rode with me to the neighboring state was sitting with me by the river as we were chatting.
No one person can keep all of the 613 commandments written in Torah. That does not even touch the commandments in the New Testament, which do not replace the Torah commandments but instead build off of them. Why is this? That no one person can keep them all? Well, if you are a man, some of them apply exclusively to women. If you are a woman, some of them apply exclusively to men. 45% of them apply exclusively to the Temple, and another 140 allude to the Temple indirectly. This begs the question: “why don’t we study the Temple more?” But, I digress. The think is….at the moment there IS no Temple. So, that’s 45% of the 613 that are “on hold”. Several of the 613 can only be kept by priests. It is also true that some of the 613 Commandments cannot be practiced by westerners, because they must be fulfilled in the land of Israel. So, when you take into consideration all these factors, there are only around 200 give or take that can be “kept” today.
God expects each generation of His followers to be faithful to His word and to keep His commandments to the best of their ability. Remember that Yeshua said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”
We find ourselves at the next set of verses, the Raysh verses. In Aramaic, the sister language of Hebrew, the word reish means “head”. The rabbi Akiva says that this indicates the attitude of the wicked that he is his own “boss”, that he heads up his own life and constructs his own way, putting himself ahead (if you’ll pardon the pun) of everyone, including God.
Here is what a raysh looks like. When you see it following a kuf, the raysh has its spine or its back to the letter representing sanctity. This represents the wicked turning away from Torah, from God, from truth and righteousness. Let’s read verses 153 through 160.
153 Look at my distress, and rescue me,
for I do not forget your Torah.
154 Plead my cause, and redeem me;
in keeping with your promise, revive me.
155 Salvation is far away from the wicked,
because they don’t seek your laws.
156 Great is your compassion, Adonai;
in keeping with your rulings, revive me.
157 Although my persecutors and foes are many,
I have not turned away from your instruction.
158 I look at traitors with disgust,
because they don’t keep your word.
159 See how I love your precepts, Adonai;
in keeping with your grace, revive me.
160 The main thing about your word is that it’s true;
and all your just rulings last forever.
In verse 157 some of the sages and commentaries interpret the terms in Hebrew that are translated as the word “many” here to be instead “the greatest men”. If that is the better translation and interpretation, then this would mean that those who pursued and tormented David were people like Saul, the sons of Orpah from the book of Ruth, who were the powerful giants of David’s day, including Goliath, as well as former friends and countryman such as Doeg and Achitophel, both of whom we have studied in our study of the psalms. Also in this verse, the commentators say that David’s “not swerving” from God’s testimonies means that he did not seek revenge on his enemies. Leviticus 19:18 is a verse which forbids us to take revenge on our enemies. “You shall not revenge, nor shall you bear ay grudge against the children of your people.” On the contrary, Exodus 23:5 tells us how we are to react. ‘If you see the donkey of the man who hates you falling under its burden and you would refrain from unloading it, then you should surely help and unload it with him.” This correlates to the commandment that Yeshua gave in the New Testament with the examples about “turning the other cheek,” “going the extra mile”, and giving your enemy your cloak.
The commentators say that the “traitors” spoken of in verse 158 are those who say they are pious people, and pose as such, but in reality they are merely ‘posers’ who do not keep the Word of God. Therefore, when the psalmist argues with them, he does not argue from his own personal opinion. He rebukes them with the Word of God. Verses 159 and 160 reassured David that he was “seen” by His Heavenly Father and that God will always judge in both truth and righteousness.
Although I like the sentiment of the CJB in the beginning of verse 160, the ArtScroll translation phrases it as follows: “your very first utterance is truth.” The ArtScroll commentary says this: “It is customary for a liturgical poet to weave the initials of his ame into the stanzas of his work. God did the same. His name is emet, truth, and He fitted this Name into the beginning of His word, The Torah. It’s first three words are “bereshit bara Elohim”, “In the beginning God created”. The final letters of these first 3 Hebrew words are aleph, mem and tav, which spell “emet”. Furthermore, of these three letters, two of them are the aleph and the tav, which in Greek are “the alpha and the omega”. Sound familiar? The aleph is the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet and the Tav is the last letter. Turn in your Bible to the book of Revelation, and let’s start in 1:8.
8 “I am the ‘A’ and the ‘Z,’” says Adonai,
God of heaven’s armies,
the One who is, who was and who is coming.
Now, to 21:5-6.
5 Then the One sitting on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new!” Also he said, “Write, ‘These words are true and trustworthy!’” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the ‘A’ and the ‘Z,’ the Beginning and the End. To anyone who is thirsty I myself will give water free of charge from the Fountain of Life.
And, finally, to 22:12-13.
12 “Pay attention!” [says Yeshua,] “I am coming soon, and my rewards are with me to give to each person according to what he has done. 13 I am the ‘A’ and the ‘Z,’ the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
So, we see in the very first verse of the Torah that He also has placed his A-to-Z signature, His Alpha and Omega name as well. How beautiful is that!
On to the Shin section of verses. The shin is a Hebrew letter that always has a dagesh, although it’s not called a dagesh. It is called most frequently just a “dot”. The key to pronouncing the letter is the location of the dot. Here is what a shin looks like. Sort of like the English letter W. The shin has the dot above the right-hand branch of the letter. When the dot is above the left-most branch of the letter, the letter is pronounced “seen”. The Talmud, in Shabbat 104a, says the letter sheen represents falsehood, although the notable rabbi Akiva says it represents “tooth”, referring to Psalm 3:8, which says that “You have broken the teeth of the wicked.” In this section of verses we will see David speaking of the false princes who pursued him and how he abhors falsehood. Let’s read this section, verses 161 through 168.
161 Princes persecute me for no reason,
but my heart stands in awe of your words.
162 I take joy in your promise,
like someone who finds much booty.
163 I hate falsehood, I detest it;
but I love your Torah.
164 I praise you seven times a day
because of your righteous rulings.
165 Those who love your Torah have great peace;
nothing makes them stumble.
166 I hope for your deliverance, Adonai;
I obey your mitzvot.
167 My soul observes your instruction,
and I love it so much!
168 I observe your precepts and instruction,
for all my ways lie open before you.
I truly think David was using the term “princes” here in a general sense. But the fact remains that some of his sons were quite troublesome. Prince Absolom, for example, David’s third son, tried to take the throne from his father.
Adonijah, David’s fourth son, similarly tried to usurp the throne of his father. And then there was his firstborn son, Amnon, who, through deception, raped his half sister, Tamar. So, although David had at least 20 children - - we know this from the Scriptures - - some of those “princes” were a passel of trouble. This occurred in fulfillment of the prophecy recorded in 2 Samuel 12:11-12, where David was told that God would raise up evil against him out of his own household. That surely did come to pass.
The verse, 161, indicates that, even in spite of all that family drama, the only thing David truly feared was transgressing God’s uttered words. Verse 162 affirms he rejoiced over them.
In verse 164 the number seven is used. What is not commonly known is that this number represents completion in the Scriptures, and it was used to convey “many times”. Recall when Peter asked Yeshua how many times he should forgive his brother. “Seven times”, asked Peter? Even that answer conveyed “many times, much more than seven.” Yeshua’s answer was essentially “many times, times 70”.
The Talmud interprets this verse as referring to the seven special blessings included in the Shema, which is recited twice a day, three in the Shacharit morning service and four in the Ma’ariv evening service. Other sages believe this refers to the Amidah prayer on Shabbat. When Amidah is prayed on Shabbat, it consists of seven benedictions.
About verse 165, the ArtScroll Tehillim commentary says this: “those who love your Torah will never fall nor stumble because the path of life is smooth and straight. They live with inner peace, tranquility and contentment because they are satisfied with their divinely ordained portion in the world. Their needs are so small and so easily satisfied that they need not worry that an unforeseen reversal might deprive them of their livelihood. These humble people savor the most delightful of all blessings: peace of mind!” Of course, conversely, there is no peace for the wicked. (Isaiah 48:22).
David ends this section with the truth that all his ways are known by the Almighty. He precedes that with a confession that he has kept God’s ways, then saying the equivalent of “And, you know this, because you know all my ways.” He knows all of ours too; there is no hiding anything from Him.
We now find ourselves at the Tav section of Psalm 119. As the saying goes, “all good things must come to an end.” In Shabbat 104a, a section of the Talmud, the sages tell us that the letter “tav” represents truth. As Tav is the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet, so the reality of truth is the final, ultimate purpose of all worthwhile pursuits and actions. In this final series of 8 verses, David expresses his longing to draw near to God through the inspired songs God gave to him. Let’s read together, beginning in verse 169.
169 Let my cry come before you, Adonai;
in keeping with your word, give me understanding.
170 Let my prayer come before you;
in keeping with your promise, rescue me.
171 Let my lips speak praise,
because you teach me your laws.
172 Let my tongue sing of your promise,
because all your mitzvot are righteous.
173 Let your hand be ready to help me,
because I choose your precepts.
174 I long for your deliverance, Adonai;
and your Torah is my delight.
175 Let me live, and I will praise you;
let your rulings help me.
176 I strayed like a lost sheep; seek out your servant;
for I do not forget your mitzvot.
The word translated as “cry” in verse 169 is translated elsewhere as “prayerful songs”. The sage Sforno defines the Hebrew word “ree-NAH” as an introduction to the main body of the prayer. This section would extol God’s attributes and recount His faithfulness in the past. This brings the individual closer to God so that petitions can then be presented to Him. There should definitely be this adoration section to our prayers. But, we are assured also in the book of Hebrews (4:16) that we can “come boldly before His throne of grace”. In verse 170 we see those petitions, those supplications mentioned.
In verse 171, the CJB uses the verb “speak” - - speak your praise. But, the ArtScroll translation uses a stronger verb, “overflow” - - let my lips overflow with praise when You teach me your statutes. Radak, the sage, paints a picture of lips that resemble a fountain, which constantly over with sparkling, fresh water. We have previously learned that the statutes were hard to understand. When God teaches them to the seeking soul, when He reveals their mysteries, it is a cause for praising him, for sure.
One of those chokim is the Red Heifer Offering. I have shared here previously that it was this statute, this chok, the teaching which brought me into the Messianic movement. I certainly do praise God for how He has allowed me to go deeper into the Torah. Such a blessing!
The analogy of a lost sheep is used in verse 176. The commentary points out that if a sheep is lost, it behooves the Shepherd to find it quickly. The longer a sheep is lost the less the chances of finding it, or finding it well and whole.The longer the sheep is away, the less able it is to recognize the voice and the distinctive causes of its Shepherd. Furthermore, the sheep grows accustomed to its freedom, making it less likely to respond positively to human authority. With this in mind, we see David saying God, even if I have gone astray, I am like a sheep only recently lost. I’ve not been lost so long that I have forgotten either your voice or your commandments. Rabbi Nachman of Breslaw says that David here is yearning to have Hashim as his master and protector and begging Hashim not to give up on him, but to seek him out, as a devoted Shepherd seeks out a lost sheep.
This age is point out that the master of the universe is the Shepherd, and it is he who seeks out his servants who have gone astray in order to gather them back into the fold. It is certainly not the sheep who seeks out the Shepherd! In first Samuel 13 verse 14 we read “God has sought out for himself a man after his own heart.” David is lightening himself to an innocent lamb who follows it master and requesting that the master seek and gather him into the sheep fold again. This statement here in verse 176 is an appropriate way to end this song. If you remember, the song began 176 versus earlier with this verse: “Praiseworthy are those whose way is innocent and who walk with the Torah of Hashem”. Now, David is concluding the Psalm by saying that he has tried to do this very thing, and that, although at times he has failed or gone astray, he again declares that he is a forlorn sheep, whose greatest wish is to be returned to the master’s flock.
I wonder if Yeshua was thinking of the end of psalm 119 when he likened himself and the gospels to being the good Shepherd? We find his statements in John chapter 10. If you will turn there, we will read verses 1-17, as we close this morning.
10 “Yes, indeed! I tell you, the person who doesn’t enter the sheep-pen through the door, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 But the one who goes in through the gate is the sheep’s own shepherd. 3 This is the one the gate-keeper admits, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep, each one by name, and leads them out. 4 After taking out all that are his own, he goes on ahead of them; and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. 5 They never follow a stranger but will run away from him, because strangers’ voices are unfamiliar to them.”
6 Yeshua used this indirect manner of speaking with them, but they didn’t understand what he was talking to them about. 7 So Yeshua said to them again, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All those who have come before me have been thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the gate; if someone enters through me, he will be safe and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, life in its fullest measure.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, since he isn’t a shepherd and the sheep aren’t his own, sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf drags them off and scatters them. 13 The hired worker behaves like this because that’s all he is, a hired worker; so it doesn’t matter to him what happens to the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; I know my own, and my own know me — 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father — and I lay down my life on behalf of the sheep. 16 Also I have other sheep which are not from this pen; I need to bring them, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
17 “This is why the Father loves me: because I lay down my life — in order to take it up again! 18 No one takes it away from me; on the contrary, I lay it down of my own free will. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This is what my Father commanded me to do.”
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