Psalm 119:1-8 Aleph
According to Rabbin Deborah Brandt in her book “A Devotional Study of Psalm 119”, Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet symbolizes the one and only, eternal, omnipotent God.
She starts out with, “This implies belief in absolute monotheism-that there is but one God. He is one, unique, and He alone is timeless, changeless.”
Charles Spurgeon, in his book “The Golden Alphabet” opened up about Psalm 119 1-8 with this statement, “The first eight verses are taken up with comtemplation of the blessedness that comes from keeping the statutues of the Lord. The subject is treated in a devotional manner rather than in a teaching style. Heart fellowship with God is enjoyed through love of His Word, which is God’s way of communicating with the soul by His Holy Spirit. Prayer, praise, and all sorts of devotional acts and feelings gleam through these verses like beams of sunlight through an olive grove. You are not only instructed to devout feelings, but these verses influence you and help you to express those holy emotions that derive from being near God and His Word.”
In yet another book “Counsel from Psalm 119”, Jay Adams starts out with verse 1 focused on, “The word ‘happy’ or ‘blessed’ indicates that the one so designed is walking in all areas of his life in the Lord’s way.” Adams boldly states, “That is the only road to true happiness.” Think about this for a minute… How many individuals would say they are looking for true happiness but have never considered finding it in the verses of Psalm 119?
Adams concludes this first stanza of Psalm 119 sighting the reality of being a follower of Jesus. Referring to verse 8 he says, “Here is a determination of the true saint of God. He wants to observe God’s statutues so as to please Him, but as he looks at the results of his endeavors, he wonders how the Lord can continue to put up with him. All he can figure is that God has every right to forsake him (give up on him entirely). But God is a God of grace.”
Here are some additional specifics of Psalm 119…
Psalm 119 is near the middle of the Bible and is longest chapter of the Bible (176 verses).
Psalm 119 is written as an acrostic poem. The parents would teach the Hebrew children the Hebrew alphabet using the acrostic structure of Psalm 119.
The writer of Psalm 119 is unknown. One writer possibility is Ezra the priest, writing at the time the temple had been rebuilt. Others think King David, and yet others say Daniel.
An overall message of Psalm 119 focuses on the truth of GOD’s WORD. Descriptive words like commands, precepts, laws, ways, decrees, wisdom, rules, appear throughout all of Psalm 119.
In his Journal of Biblical Counseling article entitled “Suffering and Psalm 119” David Powlison points out that even more than mentioning descriptions of GOD’s WORD, Powlison points out: “Far and away the most common words (in Psalm 119) are first- and second-person singular pronouns: I, me, my, mine, You, Your, Yours!”
Powlison said, ‘Psalm 119 is the most extensive I – to – You conversation in the Bible.” So if you are wondering: “What does it look like to talk to GOD?”
Powlison would say, “See Psalm 119.”
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! Romans 11:33 ESV
