Sermon Notes

119 73-80 With your very own hands you formed me;
now breathe your wisdom over me so I can understand you.
When they see me waiting, expecting your Word,
those who fear you will take heart and be glad.
I can see now, God, that your decisions are right;
your testing has taught me what’s true and right.
Oh, love me—and right now!—hold me tight!
just the way you promised.
Now comfort me so I can live, really live;
your revelation is the tune I dance to.
Let the fast-talking tricksters be exposed as frauds;
they tried to sell me a bill of goods,
but I kept my mind fixed on your counsel.
Let those who fear you turn to me
for evidence of your wise guidance.
And let me live whole and holy, soul and body,
so I can always walk with my head held high.

As the “songbook” of ancient Israel, Jews and Christians, Psalms provides a glimpse into the worship and liturgical life of the people of God. Acting as hymnal, devotional aid, prayer book, manual for pastoral care, and sermon book, “The Psalter” takes ancient Israelite theological themes and weaves them into songs which employ Ancient Near Eastern poetic language, visual imagery, and musical forms to speak of Gods activity towards generations of Israelite people. The title Psalms comes from the Greek word psalmos in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. In Hebrew, the Greek word psalmos is mizmor. Both words mean a song or instrumental music. The traditional Hebrew title is Sepher Tehillim and means “book of praises.” Therefore, ancient Israelites understood that this collection of songs essentially functioned as hymns that praise God.
For hundreds of years, biblical interpreters thought the psalms were written by David as evidence of his private devotional life since his named appeared on 73 superscriptions. However, with the advent critical biblical studies by the 19th century, scholars began to question whether authorship was linked to individuals through superscription as opposed to the corporate communal worship settings of ancient Israelites. In the early 20th century, scholars noticed various specific forms of the psalms and then characterized those forms as distinct genres/types such as individual psalms of lament, communal psalms of lament, thanksgiving psalms, royal psalms, wisdom/torah psalms, psalms of trust (Psalm 23) and psalms of praise. Further, those categories broke down into sub-categories. For example, psalms of praise can be enthronement psalms—which praise God’s rule and reign—or psalms of Zion, which center praise on the city of Jerusalem as God’s designated dwelling place.
As a collection, Psalms takes themes common throughout the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and re-presents them as musical compositions that explore various theological ideas such as:
1. Monotheism. The one true God, Creator of heaven and earth and ruler of the cosmos, will bring about Divine goodness and justice, in God’s own time. Human are invited to know and reverence this God, whose magnificent power and wisdom, steadfast faithfulness, and unceasing love are breathtak¬ingly beautiful and awe-inspiring.
2. Creation and Fall. Though God created humans with dignity and purpose, all people since the fall are beset with sins and weaknesses that only God’s grace can heal.
3. Election and Covenant. The one true God chose to be in covenant relationship with one particular people (ancient Israel) and bound God’s self to those people through making a covenant with them. This covenant expressed God’s intention to save Israelites and illumine the world through them.
4. Covenant Membership. In His covenant, God offers His grace to His people: the forgiveness of their sins, the shaping of their lives in this world to reflect His own glory, and a part to play in bringing light to the Gentiles. All God’s people are responsible to lay hold of this grace from the heart—to believe the promises, to grow in obeying the commands, and to keep on doing so throughout their lives.
5. Eschatology. The assurance that God’s people will have a glorious future, in which all kinds of people will come to know God and join His people. It is part of the dignity of God’s people that, in God’s mys¬terious wisdom, their personal faithfulness contributes to the story getting to its goal. Messiah, the ultimate heir of David, will lead His people in the great task of bringing light to the Gentiles.
Along with having common themes, because they are poetic compositions, psalms also have various literary features such as parallelism, repetition, intentional ambiguity, chiasm, acrostics, and liturgical instructions, to name a few.

The doxologies in Psalms 41:13; 72:19; 89:52; and 106:48 in effect divide the psalter into five books. Book I is comprised of psalms 1- 41. Book II is comprised of psalms 42-72. Book III is comprised of psalms 73-89. Book IV is comprised of psalms 90-106, and Book V is comprised of Psalms 107-150. Our lesson text, Psalm 119, comes from the fifth book which explores many of the questions that Book IV wrestles with, namely the “crisis of exile” and its implications for ancient Israel going forward. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter within the Bible and it is an acrostic poem—there are twenty-two sections which each begin with a successive letter of the twenty-two letter Hebrew alphabet—that explores the post-exilic experience of Israelites.
According to the psalmist, they are faithful to God and love Divine instruction, despite their present status as “suffering servants” due to generational disobedience. In fact, God’s commandments are “delightful precepts” because the Divine word brings hope even though they are going through difficult times. In this praise hymn, the psalmist asserts they are God’s servant and they will remain committed to keeping God’s torah because God is good. In the verses preceding the lesson text, the psalmist says God’s word “is good” employing the Hebrew word for good, “tov,” multiple times to explain God’s goodness even in in the midst of suffering.
Psalm 119 also repeatedly employs seven words that can be used interchangeably to explain God’s teaching. The words “decrees,” “statutes,” “commandments,” “ordinances,” “word,” “precepts,” and “promise” appear in every verse of this psalm inviting readers to consider the countless references in the Bible that discuss God’s torah/instruction.

73 With your very own hands you formed me; now breathe your wisdom over me so I can understand you.
In the opening verse of the lesson, the psalmist invokes the creation stories of Genesis 1 and 2 to declare how they are committed to God’s wisdom. Beginning the section off with the Hebrew letter, yod, each verse starts with the y/j letter. The psalmist acknowledges that just as God fashioned the human (the adam) in the garden, God has also formed them as well. Further, just like the Spirit or Ruah of God—She—hovered over the waters of creation, the psalmist invites the Ruah to hover again, breathing Divine wisdom so they can understand the deep things of God. Essentially, the psalmist is calling deep things—true understanding—from the deep of creation as she or he references the infinite well of God’s creative acts.
The psalmist understands that only God’s spirit and wisdom can help them truly understand God’s commandments or instruction. While the Message provides the translation, “…so I can know you,” to intimate God’s word, the NRSV makes it clear that the psalmist is talking about God’s word by translating the original Hebrew word mitsvah as “commandments.” Essentially, the psalmist is saying they understand that God’s word reveals the essence of God’s character. As Genesis states, they belong to God because God shaped them, and breathed the breathe of life into them. Thus, their life in God’s hands.
74-75 When they see me waiting, expecting your Word, those who fear you will take heart and be glad. I can see now, God, that your decisions are right; your testing has taught me what’s true and right.
The psalmist again references God’s word as the basis of a fulfilled life. Because of God’s word, the psalmist’s life will be well-ordered and attuned God’s call. In many ways, Psalm 119 is the sequel to Psalm 1 in theology and perspective. Psalm 1 says:
1“Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread or sit in the seat of scoffers, 2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. 3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.”
In Psalm 119, the psalmist invokes the language and imagery of Psalm 1 to explain that the “delight of the law of the Lord” (KJV) comes from the constant study of God’s word. God’s decree, statues, laws, ordinance, and commandments (this invokes the Ten commandments and law code that is given in Exodus 20) are the foundation not only for understanding the character of God, but also understanding how we should guard the covenant community.

76-79 Oh, love me—and right now!—hold me tight! just the way you promised. Now comfort me so I can live, really live; your revelation is the tune I dance to. Let the fast-talking tricksters be exposed as frauds; they tried to sell me a bill of goods, but I kept my mind fixed on your counsel. Let those who fear you turn to me for evidence of your wise guidance.
The affirmations of God’s goodness in the verses that precede the lesson text, and the fact that God holds the psalmist’s life in Divine hands, provides the theological ground for the prayerful petitions in verses 76-79. The psalmist requests that God loves them, comforts them, vindicates them, and lifts them up as a mentor to people who need Godly guidance. Although Israel has been carried away into exile, and they deserve that punishment, the Psalmist petitions God to continue to love them and hold them, invoking the Divine promises that God gave to Abraham, Issac, Jacob, the Hebrew children, and the other ancestors throughout ancient Israel’s history.
Because the psalmist has already called God good, they further assert that God’s goodness will continue to provide for them even in the context of exile. Ancient Israel always needed God’s kesed (steadfast womb-love)—and God’s ongoing mercies due to their propensity to wander and go astray. They recognized that God was the only one who could comfort them and deliver Divine mercy as expressed in Isaiah 40:1-2 and Exodus 34:6-7. The psalmist acknowledges the communal life of Israel depends on God’s ever-present mercy, compassion, and love.
80 And let me live whole and holy, soul and body, so I can always walk with my head held high.
In the final verse of the lesson text, the psalmist offers a type of benediction to this section of Psalm 119. While The Message beautifully translates the vernacular of ancient Israel into contemporary language, the NRSV better captures the essence of the original Hebrew, “May my heart be blameless in your statutes, so that I may not be put to shame.” In the context of the kesed (steadfast, womb-love) of God, to be "blameless" means having a commitment to living righteously before God. Finally, the psalmist faithfully expresses hope that they will be an expects they will be an example or witness that will encourage others. That “living” hope will enable them to walk blameless, “with their head held high.” For contemporary Christians, the psalmist request should also be our expectation—that we will be living witnesses for God who are bathed in God’s word and “enflesh” God’s word.

i) James Mays, Psalms: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Presbyterian Publishing Corporation: Kindle Edition), p.381
ii) Ibid, p.384.