97 ¶ MEM. O how love I thy law! it is my
meditation all the day.
Self-explanatory!
The Torah IS
Wisdom and gives one an edge against ones enemies, for it is the powerful,
Living Words of God Himself!
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
Actually, the
Hebrew eludes to that David understands more than his teachers and the ancients
because of them, but this is also a fair translation, for it hints that God
gives new insight into the Scriptures to each generation. And, it comes by study
and meditation; it just doesn’t drop in ones lap.
101 ¶ I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.,
102 ¶ I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.
103 ¶ How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.
Need I say more?
The Torah should
guide our every footstep and it gives us enough light to see as far as God
wants us to go, one day, one step at a time.
David has sworn to
keep the Torah no matter what!
Again, David knows
that only the Torah contains the Words of Life. Did not the Talmidim (Disciples)
of Yeshua say this very thing about Him, who is the Living Torah? (John 6:68)
108 ¶ Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.
David does not
keep the Torah because he feels he HAS to, he does it because he WANTS to, and
therefore wants Divine instruction and insight on how to keep it better.
David is 100%
dependant and devoted to the LORD and His Torah.
He admits here
that the Torah is what forewarned him and kept him safe from the pitfalls of
the wicked and their schemes.
The Torah is so
precious to Him that it is the key thing he will pass on to his descendants,
and he has claimed the promises in there for himself and his family.
He is dead set
resolved to keep the Torah no matter what, and this theme has already been
repeated over and over in this Psalm.
Maybe this is where
his son, Solomon, in Ecclesiastes, gets his inspiration; because David and
Solomon both say that anything that is not connected to the Torah in some way
is vain, useless, a waste of time.
The Torah is a
solid rock to hide behind, within, and stand on
in days of trouble.
David proclaims
temptations are useless for the Torah is all He desires and is tempted by, kind
of like James when he says resist the Devil and he will flee. (James 4:7)
117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
David knows it is
his acceptance and adherence to God’s Laws that will protect him. Just like the
laws of physics: tie a rock to a string and throw it and it will only come back
to hit you. The laws of gravity: jump off a building and you fall and kill
yourself.
118 ¶ Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.
119 Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.
David knows the
Torah refines ones soul like pure gold and those who are wicked get scooped off
like impurities from precious metals, even if one does not keep the Chukim.
Just like a child
fearful of a fathers spanking, there is fear and respect and this is what keeps
him on the straight path.
121 ¶ AIN. I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors.
122 Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me.
David wants God to
fight for him because he has ruled and reigned to the best of his ability
through the precepts of Torah.
123 ¶ Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.
Salvation (Yeshua)
can only clearly be seen through the Torah.
124 ¶ Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.
125 I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.
Again, he so
desires to have insight, knowledge, understanding and wisdom in regards to what
the Torah is all about.
126 ¶ It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.
127 ¶ Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.
128 Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.
David wants to
fight for and establish God’s Torah among the common people because he knows,
for the most part, they do not know it or keep it. David is a Superman of sorts,
wanting to fight for “Truth Justice, and the Torah way.”
Q. Why does David
keep the Torah? A. See verse 129.
The Torah is so
simple anyone can understand and apply it.
He thirsts for
Torah as one dying of thirst for water in the desert. When he reads it,
meditates on it, he drinks it up like a tall glass of clear, cold water and it
refreshes his soul, sustains and gives him life!
132 ¶ Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.
He wants God to
relate to him as He did all the Great Patriarchs that were before him.
He is saying make
me walk in Your Torah, not in iniquity, which is Hebrew for Torah-less-ness or
Lawlessness.
He is saying, “God,
you promised if we keep Your Law, Your guidelines for daily living, that You
would be our Deliverer and will protect us.
135 ¶ Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.
Again, He asks God
to show him favor and to teach him all that his finite mind can attain from the
Torah.
What an example
for all of us, we too should be heartbroken and weep for the ones who do not
keep the Torah, oh what favor and blessings they are missing, all because of
ignorance and because of man made and demonically influenced religious doctrine
and false history.
137 ¶ TZADDI. Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.
138 Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.
The Torah comes
from God who is Righteous; therefore, the Torah is Righteous and True.
David will go
crazy without God’s Torah in his life.
Not only is the
Torah Righteous, but Pure too. Since it is the very Words of God, it embodies
all He is.
Though David is
king, he sees himself as the low man on the totem pole and even if he had to
clean the crappers in the palace, he would still keep the Torah.
Hmmm, the Torah is
not only Righteous and Pure, but it IS TRUTH. The very answer Pilate was
seeking from Yeshua! (John 18:38)
In the midst of
the trials of life, it is Torah that makes and keeps him happy and gives him
true pleasure.
He is saying that
since the Principles and Morals behind the events in the Torah are True and
eternal and they give life, he wants to know them inside and out, fully!
145 ¶ KOPH. I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O LORD: I will keep thy statutes.
146 I cried unto thee; save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies.
David wants God to
know how serious he is about His Torah. David knows he can never repay God for
all He has done for him, but he knows the LEAST he can do is do what God has
said and keep His Commandments.
147 ¶ I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.
148 Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.
David wishes he
could go without sleep and devote every spare moment to the Torah… I have
wished that very same thing too!
149 ¶ Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness: O LORD, quicken me according to thy judgment.
150 ¶ They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from thy law.
151 Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.
David knows God
will keep David safe and alive because he is 100% sold out to God and His
Torah. David believes no matter what, Truth (Torah) prevails and the Good guys
always win in the end.
Again, the Torah
is not just until the Messiah comes, but is ETERNAL, FOREVER, and INFINITE!
153 ¶ RESH. Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law.
154 Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.
David is reminding
God that the Torah is a covenant and since he is doing his best to keep it, he
is reminding God to keep His end of it too, which is life, salvation and
deliverance.
Here again David
is connecting Salvation (Yeshua the Messiah) to the Torah. Yeshua is the Living
Manifestation of the Written Torah.
Again, the Torah gives
life!
David here is
saying that he fears God more than his enemies, for he knows just as God
delivered Israel many times in the wilderness from their enemies, he knows and
believes that God will do the same for him.
David says he
hates to see anyone fall especially when it could have been prevented simply by
keeping God’s Torah. He wishes he could get others to see and understand the
benefits of keeping Torah like he does.
“See how madly in love with Your Torah that
I am? In your kindness give me more energy so I can pour over this Document
even more!”
160 ¶ Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.
This is pretty
self-explanatory: God’s Torah is true, every commandment, every story, and it
is eternal… So, why are we not all keeping it?
161 ¶ SCHIN. Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
162 ¶ I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.
When David
wrestles over the Torah and finds something new, it is as if he just won a
battle and is reaping the spoils of the war. To David the Torah is more
valuable and precious than any of the material possessions he may acquire in a
battle.
Here again David
is proclaiming that the Torah is Truth. I guess this answers Pilates question
to Yeshua. (John 18:38)
“TRADITION!”
Tevye’s famous exclamation is oh so very true. I would guesstimate that 90% or
more of Jewish Tradition has its foundation in the Tanak. Other traditions in
Judaism come from the particular culture they find themselves in, or they
derive from the Talmud, the Jewish compendium on Torah Law. There is virtually
nothing done in Judaism that doesn’t have meaning behind it.
Many believe, and
if you ask most Rabbis, they will tell you Jews pray regularly three times a
day, and Muslims, five.
Then the Scripture
of David popped in my head the other day where it says:
Psalms 119:164
Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.
And, I began to
think, “Seven. Why seven?” I know that seven is the number that represents
completion and perfection. But I then noticed that most Orthodox Jews, too,
pray seven times a day.
Daily-Prescribed
Prayers:
1. Shacarit - Morning prayers
2. Mincha – Afternoon / Midday prayers
3. Ma’ariv – Evening prayers
Prayers for Meals:
1. Breakfast
2. Lunch
3. Dinner
Then you have the
final prayer of the day:
1. Bedtime
Shema
This equals out to
7 daily prayers.
I then began to
think, was this accidental or was it done with this in mind? I think it may be
accidental, because the reason Rabbis do not count the prayers over meals is
because to any religious person, they are almost a given. That is why they
emphasize the three daily prayers of Schacharit, Mincha, and Ma’ariv. And they
will tell you that Avraham taught us to pray in the morning, Isaac at noon, and
Jacob at night, and that the 3 prayers correspond to the sacrifices in the
Temple that we can no longer give because the Temple is no longer standing.
Therefore, it is believed that it is the responsibility of every Torah
Observant Jew to pray these three times daily.
Whatever the
reasoning behind our traditional prayers, I think this is a good tradition to
keep. Any tradition that encourages and helps people to communicate and to draw
closer to God is a good tradition.
Rav Sha’ul says,
“Pray without ceasing;” (1Thess. 5:17 ),
meaning, always keep your Neshamah (soul / spirit) in an attitude of constant
prayer. The seven prayers of Judaism back this verse that Rav Sha’ul penned because
as said earlier, seven means completion, fullness and perfection.
The siddur we pray
from, which makes up many of the seven prayers in which we pray daily, is said
by the Rabbis to be our love letter to YHWH in response to His love letter to
us, which is the Torah. Moreover, this could not be considered as vain
repetitions, (as some do), because no one ever gets tired of hearing the same
words, “I love you,” no matter how many times it is said, as long as it is said
with sincerity and devotion. The Rabbis would be the first to say that if you
cannot pray from the siddur in such a manner it is best that you do not pray at
all, because it is like a mechanical, meaningless, blemished sacrifice, which
is abominable to God. In addition, when someone is truly in love they find any
and every excuse to meet with and spend time with their lover. So if we truly
love God as we claim, why wouldn’t we want to pray seven times a day?
In addition, when
we pray it is traditional to face East. Why? Because that is the direction of
where the Temple stood. And we remember the words of Sholomo Ha Melek (King
Solomon).
I Kings 8:30 And hearken thou to the
supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel
We also have a
tradition to wear a Tallit, a prayer shawl, where we cover our selves up during
some of these prayers. I like to think of it as sometimes you meet in public,
like on a group or double date, and sometimes you just want privacy between you
and your beloved.
Yeshua Moshieynu (Our
Messiah) said:
Matt. 6:6 But
thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut
thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly.
Unless you were
very rich, there was no such thing as a closet as we know it, and so “the
closet” became a Jewish idiom for ones Tallit.
Not only is God
like our lover, but He is also our King, and when we pray we sometimes wear a
Tallit, and don Tefillin. I liken this unto getting dressed in the proper
attire to see a king. We also bend our knees and bow every so often during our
prayers from the siddur. Why? Because you bow in humility when you honor or
make any supplication to a king, how much more so the King who is above all
kings!
Sure, during the
course of a day you may, and it is okay to, toss up a quick prayer here and
there very informal like, because not only is God our Creator, Lover, and King,
but He is also our Father. And a Father can be approached at any time, and a
Father such as ours loves to spend time with His children.
Prayer is not
simply a religious thing, but it is more of a relational thing.
I love this verse
and quote it often, if someone is truly Torah Obedient, then nothing will
offend them, because they have the wisdom of the Torah on their side. I see all
too often religious people who call themselves brothers and sisters in the
spirit, getting all bent out of shape when someone tries to give them genuine,
loving, constructive criticism. On the other hand, they may get offended
because they disagree on the color of carpet that should be in the sanctuary!
Some translations say, “Nothing will make them stumble.” Well, same result,
because they have the wisdom of the Torah on their side, they will see pit
falls and stumbling blocks before they reach them. It also says in this Psalm
that the Torah (Word) is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. This is
another reason if we love and keep the Torah we will not falter. If you know
and keep Torah, you will have, as this verse says, “Shalom Gadol” Great Peace. See Matt. 11:6,
24:10
166 ¶ LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation (Yeshua), and done thy commandments.
Since Yeshua is
the Living Torah, His Commandments are no different from the Torah itself. Since
God and Yeshua are One, since they are Father and Son, Yeshua’s Commandments
are the same as the Father’s, and here we see that that is the Torah.
167 ¶ My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.
168 I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee.
David is not
afraid to make this “grandiose” statement, he asks God to check him on it and
to see if he has not done his best to adhere to the Torah wholeheartedly.
169 ¶ TAU. Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy word.
If David said this
once, he has said it a hundred times.
David wants God to
know how serious he is about His Torah.
David will praise
God for each new revelation and insight he gets from the Torah.
He won’t keep it
to himself either, he will tell everyone he can!
173 ¶ Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts.
174 I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight.
If David said this
once, he has said it a hundred times.
He is saying let
the Torah have its perfect way in me!
Does this sound
like someone who feels and or fears that they have to keep the Torah to be
saved!? Certainly Not, God forbid!
Psalm 19
This is like a
mini Psalm 119 describing the perfection and supremacy of Torah.
1
¶ To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens
declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line is gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
7 ¶ The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them, there is great reward.
12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line is gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
7 ¶ The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them, there is great reward.
12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
I hope you enjoyed
this commentary of Psalm 119.
