Psalm 119 (the 2nd half of it) was assigned to me to teach, and I think I needed it. I really feel like if I had just read through this, it wouldn’t have the same effect on me as teaching on this.
As I may have said before, my attitude towards the Old Testament was that it was boring and I didn’t see the point of knowing anything about it really because I’m a Christian. But what I’ve learned from studying this, is that the entire Bible is the word of God! and how applicable it is to me and what I learn from it is somewhat dependent on my own attitude.
I really appreciate the attitude of the writer towards God and his word, it’s really beautiful! And this is the kind of the attitude that I want to have in myself towards God’s word. Here are some of the verses from Psalm 119 in no particular order:
Oh, how I love Your law [torah]
Through Your precepts [piqqûḏ] I get understanding
I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
That I may keep Your word [dāḇār].
How sweet is your word [imrâ] to my taste,
Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
I rejoice at Your word [imrâ]
As one who finds great treasure.
I love Your commandments [mitzvah],
More than gold, yes, than fine gold!
Trouble and anguish have overtaken me,
Yet Your commandments [mitzvah] are my delights.
You, through Your commandments [mitzvah],
make me wiser than my enemies;
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
Yet I have not strayed from Your precepts [piqqûḏ].
Your word [dāḇār] is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
Great peace have those who love Your law [torah],
And nothing causes them to stumble.
Light: Does God’s word still give us light and understanding for our path?
119: 130: Your words (dāḇār) are a doorway through which light shines, giving understanding to the simple (naive)
119:105 Your word (dāḇār) is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
Whenever I read verse 105, and think of a lamp, I always picture an illustration of an old man in a nightgown, walking through the streets, holding a lantern. A glass and metal lantern. Wee willie winkie, perhaps? I was thinking though, that’s probably not Biblically accurate, like to the times and the technology of that part of the world. So what did they use for lighting and lamps? They used lamps made from clay, (see separate page) and the lampstand in the temple was made of gold.
Btw, The KJV uses the words “candle” and “candlestick” but that’s not accurate to the time, it’s more accurate to the Hebrew to say “lamp” and “lampstand”.
Lamp A with oil jug, is the kind of open, simple lamp used until 300 BC. Lamp B is the kind of lamp used in Israel during the time of Jesus with closed top and spout. Lamp C is the kind you see in the movie Aladdin, but not used by Israelites.
Why would we want a light for our path? Why do we put solar lights around sidewalks and pathways? Why do we carry flashlights? Because we want to see where we are going and we don’t want to fall. Can we walk in darkness? Technically, yes. We can walk with our eyes shut. Blind people can walk. We can walk when it’s dark outside, but again we want to see where we are going and we don’t want to fall!
I carry a flashlight with me when I go for a walk around this long circle drive near me, its about a mile around and if I go when it’s dark, there are street lights, but there are dark sections between the street lights, 20 foot long, totally black sections. I like having a flashlight with me because I like to see my choices. I don’t know what’s there, in that dark section. Could be branches? Electrical line? Roadkill? I’ve seen big armadillos as roadkill out there. Potholes too.
If I have a flashlight that I can shine on that dark area, I can see if there’s a pothole, or rock or dead animal, not only to not step in, but even worse, trip on something and fall into! The word of God is like a flashlight, it shows us the path AND also sheds light on the things we don’t to stumble over or fall into.
Speaking of stumbling: Snares, traps & stumbling blocks:
119:110 The wicked have laid a snare for me,
Yet I have not strayed from Your precepts [piqqûḏ].
Here’s what I learned about snares and traps:
1. Most snares are not meant to kill in the moment, but lead to death and destruction.
2. They only work when the thing being trapped lacks insight.
Below is something I copied from Marandia Wright's blog online about snares:
"A snare is a trap set to catch animals that consisted of a looped cord. Once stepped on or passed through, the loop would tighten around the animal while they enjoyed the pleasure of the bait... It was used most often in biblical times for catching birds. Since the Fowler could not rise to their level, he had to get them to come down to his. The birds saw his bait and left the protection of being above their enemies in the sky, and came down to the Fowlers dominion where they were caught in his snare and trapped...
Satan works the same way. we only see what the Fowler wants us to see. anything that looks good, quick, and easy makes for great bait for tempting us to leave the path that God has placed us in, to feed from the Fowler’s snare."
Isaiah 28 also discusses the word of God and snares.
(depending on what translation you use, it’s possibly a cultural thing here):
They disregarded theword of God and it became to them as:
(either) blah blah blah and useless words,
(OR) just line after line of rules with no understanding.
Because of that, they would fall backwards and be broken
and snared and caught.
If we disregard the words of the Lord, and/or have a similar attitude will not the same thing happen to us?
I do not want to fall backwards and be broken. The older I get, the more conscious I am of falling, and being careful about things I have in my house or on my floor cause I don’t want to trip on them.
The older ones know about falling and breaking a bone or a hip and that can lead to many other things. And as Christians, it doesn’t matter how old we are, we still have to be careful, there are still things that we can get trapped in.
When I was younger, at a different congregation, I saw an older Christian get tangled up in things that i was surprised by, because I was thinking they are pretty old and probably have been a Christian long enough to know better! but if we’re not paying attention to God’s instructions, no matter who we are, we can still get tangled up in stuff, and ensnared in sin, no matter how old we are.
God’s word and God’s precepts help us to avoid those snares by teaching us what is good and to desire those good things. Jesus said the truth will do what? The truth will set you free.
Stumbling blocks:
119:165 Great peace have those who love Your law [torah],
And nothing causes them to stumble
.
(In other passages this Hebrew word for stumble, miḵšôl (mik-SHOL) is translated as “stumbling block”) *nothing becomes a stumbling block.
A stumbling block is something that in definition, causes you to fall or makes you to go astray from your path. Here are some other uses of that same Hebrew word.
Ezekiel 7:19
Their silver and their gold became their stumbling block (miḵšôl) of iniquity.
Ezekiel 14:3-4
God says that his people separated themselves from him because they set up idols in their hearts, and these idols became stumbling blocks (miḵšôl ) into (caused them to stumble into) iniquity.
So money (silver and gold) and idols in the hearts of the people, these became stumbling blocks into sin for the Israelites - can these be stumbling blocks for us too?
There’s alot of things that can be stumbling blocks that cause us to sin, innocent, every day things. Having money is not sinful. We need money to pay our bills and can use money for many good things. But the love of money is what?
As for setting up an idol in our hearts? That idol could be anything! What’s scary about that is we don’t have to have a metal figurine in our house to serve an idol - we can serve idols in our heart!
That’s the part that's blowing my mind right now, we can serve idols in our hearts, and God knows it, we can’t hide that from God.
That’s another purpose of God’s word, is not just shining light on our path, but helping us see snares and stumbling blocks for what they TRULY are, knowing and identifying what sin actually is.
Jesus also, was and still is, a stumbling block. Why was Jesus a stumbling block? Most of the Jews didn’t SEE him for what he TRULY was:
Peter: 1 Peter 2:6-8
“I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone”. Now to you who believe, this stone is precious.
But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”
But you are a chosen people, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
In this passage we have stones, stumbling, light and darkness. For those of us who believe, we see Jesus as a precious stone, our cornerstone and we walk in his light - we see him for what he TRULY is.
For those who don’t believe or obey the message of the good news, but instead reject it, they are walking in darkness and Jesus is a stone that makes them stumble and fall. Because They don’t recognize him for what he truly is.
One of the passages Peter is quoting above is Isaiah 8:13-15.
The Lord will be to some as a rock of safety but for others
But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence (miḵšôl )
As a trap and a snare And many will stumble;
And fall and be broken, Be snared and captured
but this word that is translated as “offence” is that same Hebrew word (miḵšôl) above that is translated as “stumbling block”. it’s not something that “offends” you like we think of that word, it’s something that makes you fall.
This passage is talking about God - being a strong rock of safety for some, and a stone of stumbling for others. A rock can be both of those things!
It’s strange (to me) to think that Jesus was not the first stumbling block for some of the Jews! God was their first stumbling block! They didn’t see him for what he truly was, and they rejected him, and they didn’t see Jesus for what he truly was either, then they rejected Him as well.
Rejoicing in God’s word as great treasure:
119:162 I rejoice at Your word [imrâ] As one who finds great treasure.
There was one Sunday morning when I was on my way to church assembly here, and I take a shortcut through that neighborhood over there, usually. And when I stopped at a stop sign there was a van that went in front of me and they were going in the opposite direction that I was going because I was about to turn right.
And I recognized that van from my neighborhood and I thought how odd it was that we were both in a different neighborhood than our own neighborhood at this particular time and place on a Sunday morning. Now I know where I was going, I was on my way to assemble with my brothers and sisters and study the bible, but I didn't know they were going.
I see them driving around a lot when it's time for heavy trash pickup and I realized oh they're probably driving around looking at the curbs to see what people have thrown out because heavy trash day is on tuesday.
I don't know if that's what they were out there looking for but I wondered, what is the greatest thing that they could find? (And I'm not knocking picking up stuff from the curb I have a few things in my house that I have picked up off the curb nothing wrong with that!)
But what if they found a box of gold coins or a million dollars in it? Yes that would be an amazing find, but it's a toss-up whether or not you find anything of value on a curb. But as I was driving I was thinking about how confident I was that I was going to find something of value in studying the words of God. And in getting to see my Christian family and be encouraged, that is tremendously valuable to me.
We as Christians understand that our inheritance and our treasure is in heaven, not in or of this world. But technically, I guess you could find treasure on a curb if someone left a Bible out there! but whether or not you see that as something valuable or someone's trash, that depends, right? Do you see it for what it truly is?
An intense delight in God’s word.
119:92: your law (torah) is my delight,
119:143: Your commandments [mitzvah] are my delight
119:24 your testimonies are my delight
The Hebrew word for “delight” here in verses 92 and 143 is “shahshua”. It’s used 5 times in Psalm 119, and it is not found in any other chapter of Psalms - only in Psalm 119!
This kind of gives more credence to the idea that the person who wrote Psalm 119 was a specific, one time anonymous individual, as David and Asaph and the other writers of Psalms never, ever use this word.
Additionally, this specific word for delight in the Hebrew, “shahshua”, is an “intensive” noun, which means it’s a word that has a more intense or extreme meaning, so this does not simply mean regular “delight”. it means “extreme or heightened delight” or “intense delight” - and it’s ONLY used in this extreme sense of this word, in describing God’s law, God’s commandments and God’s testimonies.
Is this still a good attitude to have towards God’s word?
The extreme and intense delight and joy that we can have in the word of God is more than the delight that we could ever get from any thing here on earth! Sweeter than honey, (sugar), better than gold ( winning the lottery)! Or anything you could find with a metal detector.
The potter didn’t just make pots!
Final thing: in bringing together light and treasure and God’s word:
119:105 Your word (dāḇār) is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path
When I was researching how to make clay oil lamps, I came across someone who was talking about these lamps, and how they weren’t made of expensive clay and they were prone to breaking pretty easily, like how we have terra cotta pots and coffee mugs that we have probably all broken or chipped.
Potters didn’t just make pots out of clay like I think of them doing, they also made lamps, because lamps were made of clay, except for the lampstand in the temple, that one was made out of pure gold, but regular ones used every day by regular people were made out of clay.
You could make anything out of clay: bowls, pitchers, plates, basins, etc. you could put oil or water or wine or food or gold or silver in them. But you also needed the potter to make lamps. And he said this is what Paul was talking about in 2 Cor. 4, he could be talking about a clay lamp as an earthen vessel that holds light. I had to look that up!
In 2 Cor. 4, verse 7, speaking of “we have this treasure in earthen vessels” or “jars of clay”. Verse 7 is sometimes separated from verse 6 and the preceding verses, it’s put into the section below about hardships. if your Bible translation has sections it will probably be separated, but lets look at this section with verse 7 included.
Check out the Greek verb for “shine forth”! It’s LAMPO! Where we get our English word for Lamp! Because what does light do? What does a nightlight do or a flashlight do? It SHINES! It’s LAMP(ing). Unless you cover it up with something, otherwise that’s what it does, it shines!
2 Cor. 4: 3-7
But even if our message of the good news
is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, who do not believe, lest the
illumination/light (photismos) of the glorious good news of Christ, should
(beam/brightly - augazō) on them…
For it is the God who commanded
Light (phos) to shine (lampo - like a lamp) out of darkness (Genesis),
He shines (lampo - like a lamp) in our hearts to give the
illumination/light (photismos) of the knowledge of: the glory of God [seen in] in the face of Jesus Christ.
and/now/also we have THIS treasure in earthen (clay) vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
For those of us who believe: God is LAMPO (shining like a lamp) in our hearts: to shine light on, to make known to the people in darkness, the good news of Jesus, with our words and our actions.
Jesus says in Matthew 5: we are the light of the world, and to shine LAMPO (shine like a lamp) before men, that they may see our good works, and glorify - who? ourselves? No glorify our father in heaven.
So when Paul says THIS treasure , what is he talking about?
7 and/now/also we have THIS treasure in earthen (clay) vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God - and not of us.
Google AI : In 2 Corinthians 4:7, the "treasure" refers to the good news of Jesus Christ, specifically the message of God's glory revealed through Jesus, which is considered a priceless gift entrusted to human beings, even though they are described as "earthen vessels" or "jars of clay" signifying their weakness and imperfection; the point being that the power of the good news comes from God, not from the person delivering it.
There are a few translations that interpret this treasure as the light that is the good news of Jesus: (the word-for-word translations don't have this, but a few of the idea-for-idea translations do.)
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
“However, we possess this precious treasure [the divine Light of the Gospel] in [frail, human] vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God - and not from ourselves.”
New Living Translation
“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves”
What is a clay lamp? A humble and fragile piece of pottery - a basic, common item, made from a lump of ordinary clay (clay being dirt, a component of soil), with one very important purpose: to shine forth light.
(This writer of one article says) Once Paul realized he was but a fragile clay jar whom God was pleased to use for his glory and not for Paul's, only then did Paul appreciate fully the treasures of God's word and God’s favor. That’s why he was given a thorn in the flesh, so that he didn’t become conceited, and think that it was because of who he was that God had chosen him to carry His light, his message of the good news of Jesus to the Gentiles.
The fact remained that Paul was simply a humble clay jar whom God was pleased to use for his glory. Therein is the true significance of anything made out of clay, such as a lamp: out of something so humble and fragile and simple God is able to manifest his light and his glory.
That’s a picture of us! I'm still processing this idea of us being lamps, and this is very new for me, so if any of you have comments or thoughts, please email me!
Last thing of Interest:
All the gifts of the Spirit that we have, are from God, not because of our talent or intelligence. these flames of fire that appeared above the heads of the apostles on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, do they not look like human lamps?
These flames of fire were to show that their speaking in different languages was not knowledge from themselves, it was the WORDS from GOD being spoken by the power of God - they were speaking the words of the good news of Jesus to all the people there, and it was God speaking - through them! They were just the vessels.
If you want to print this lesson out, here is a PDF of it, and it's about 10 pages long. It took me 45 minutes to go through this so you could do it in an hour class. Feel free to use any of this info in your own class or lessons, all glory be to God!
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