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Day 292: Psalm 119 | Read The Bible In A Year | Bible Study with Commentary by Dr. Manny Arango — Transcript

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0:00Hey Bible nerds, this is Dr. Manny
0:02Orango. Welcome to the Bible department
0:04podcast powered by Arma. We are walking
0:08through the entire Bible in a year. You
0:10can go to the description or the bible
0:13department.com to download a reading
0:15plan and join the journey
0:24family. Welcome to a day I've been
0:26waiting for for a very very very very
0:28long time here on the Bible department
0:30podcast. If there was one chapter of the
0:33Bible that I would say was the poster
0:35child for this entire podcast, it's
0:38Psalm 119. So, welcome today 292.
0:43Today's a holiday here at the Bible
0:46department studios because we get to
0:48study our favorite favorite favorite
0:50psalm today. If you were wondering what
0:53Pastor Dr. Manny Orango's favorite psalm
0:56is, it is Psalm 119. I love this psalm.
1:00Uh, I tear up when I read this psalm. I
1:02cry when I read the psalm. The psalm is
1:04freaking awesome. It's like a love
1:06letter to the Bible. Like, man, I wish I
1:11wrote Psalm 119. All right. Uh, it's a
1:14good good good good psalm. So, if you
1:17have not done the reading for the day,
1:20please stop the video, pause the audio,
1:24go read Psalm 119. Now, this is the
1:28longest Psalm that we've got recorded
1:31out of all 150 psalms. So, I think it
1:34was yesterday, Psalm 117, the shortest
1:37psalm of all the Psalms. Today we've got
1:39the longest psalm of all the psalms and
1:42in my opinion the best psalm of all the
1:45psalms. A love letter to the Torah. Like
1:49every day we're going to get context
1:50clues, nerdy nuggets, and then a
1:52timeless truth. Let me forewarn you.
1:55I've got multiple timeless truths today.
1:58The whole dang thing is a timeless
2:00truth. Okay? And so we're going to go
2:02light on the context clues today, heavy
2:04on the timeless truths. going to give
2:05you as many nerdy nuggets as I can. If
2:08you've done the reading, let's dive in.
2:11All right, first things first. Uh we
2:13have no context for the psalm and which
2:16then we have to try to figure out, okay,
2:19who wrote this thing? Okay, who's the
2:21hero that wrote this thing? Now, there
2:24are four options that scholars typically
2:26put forth. Daniel and Jeremiah are some
2:30of the suspects, some people in in in
2:33question, you know, but probably
2:35unlikely that it was Daniel or Jeremiah
2:38to be honest. The two likely suspects
2:41are David, our boy David or Ezra. Okay.
2:46Now, the context of David's life and the
2:48context of Ezra's life both fit for just
2:52the content of this psalm. Okay. But we
2:55don't really know for sure. like there's
2:57no guarantee. We we don't know. Now,
2:58when I read Psalm 119, I don't know. I
3:01guess I can hear David's heart. I can
3:03hear David's writing style. I can hear
3:06David's voice. And so, it wouldn't shock
3:08me if it was David, but it also wouldn't
3:10shock me if it was Ezra just because of
3:14the context in which Ezra is compiling
3:20the the Torah really, but the Tanakh as
3:23a whole. And so let me kind of read the
3:26arguments for why it could be David, why
3:28it could be Ezra, and then we'll get
3:29into some nerdy nuggets. Okay? If David
3:31is the author, then the context is the
3:34beginning of Israel as a kingdom. When
3:36the promised land is completely
3:38conquered, the people are settled and
3:40prosperous, the king follows Yahweh, the
3:42tabernacle has been rebuilt, and Yahweh
3:44enthroned in it, and Yahweh is enthroned
3:48in it once more. It is a time of triumph
3:51uh where the Torah in its earliest forms
3:54was still at the heart of Israel and at
3:58the heart of its leadership. The psalm
4:01makes much more sense in that context
4:05rather than the years that followed when
4:07Israel essentially forgot the Torah. It
4:10also fits Ezra's context as it can be
4:14seen as supporting what Ezra is doing in
4:17putting the Torah back at the heart of
4:21Israel's life as a nation as they now
4:24return from exile. Right by the time we
4:27get to Jesus's life, Judaism is a Torah
4:30based religion as opposed to a
4:32templebased religion. And then post70 AD
4:36when the temple gets destroyed
4:37permanently. Judaism today is a Torah
4:41based religion not a templebased
4:44religion. So you can say that this shift
4:47towards Torah centeredness starts with
4:50Ezra. Okay. The desire was that the
4:54exile would never happen again. and the
4:56former prophets had clearly shown that
4:58it was the forgetting or disobeying of
5:01the Torah that led to the exile. From
5:04now on, it would be different. Israel
5:07would be centered around the Torah. And
5:10so, this psalm fits that mission. So,
5:14it's either David's context or Ezra's
5:17context. Both make sense. I think we
5:20could make arguments for both. Both are
5:23reasonable. And so that's all the
5:25context clues that we got. All right. I
5:28wish we had more, but those are the two
5:29context clues that we got. And you'll
5:31have to decide for yourself. Do you
5:33think this was written by David? Do you
5:34think this is written by Ezra? Does
5:36David's context fit better? Does Ezra's
5:38context fit better? Totally up to you.
5:42All right, let's get into some nerdy
5:44nuggets. Now, this is going to frame the
5:47entirety of this psalm. Okay, to be
5:51honest, this is probably one of the most
5:52important days of nerdy nuggets on the
5:55calendar. All right. Now, this psalm is
5:58generally understood to be a wisdom
6:00psalm. So, that's the first nerdy nugget
6:01we just got to knock out. That the Torah
6:04makes you wise. That you should listen
6:07to it, long for it, desire it, that your
6:09heart should be after it. That you
6:11should find it more valuable than gold.
6:13Okay, all that language is found in
6:15Psalm 119. So, this is a wisdom psalm.
6:18It is also a full acrostic but like the
6:23most complex form of an acrostic. This
6:26is an acrostic on steroids. Okay. So the
6:29Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. So we've
6:34got 22
6:36eight line stanzas
6:39with each individual line in the stanza
6:42beginning with the same letter. So I
6:44want to say that one more time. It's a
6:46full acrostic. All right. Right. So, the
6:48Hebrew alphabet, 22 letters starting
6:50with LF. Okay. Now, if you look in your
6:53Bibles at Psalm 119, you'll see that
6:56first stanza starts with LF. Okay? And
6:59then it's got eight lines. And then
7:02you'll see bet, okay? Which is the
7:05second letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
7:06And then you'll see Gimmel, third letter
7:09of the Hebrew alphabet all the way.
7:11Okay? It's going to work through every
7:14single letter of the Hebrew alphabet all
7:17the way down till we get to t. Okay. So,
7:22we're going to get our last eight lines
7:25for the last stanza. 22 stanzas for the
7:3022 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each
7:33stanza has eight lines. Eight lines. 22
7:38stanzas. Eight lines a piece. Now, why
7:41are there eight lines? I'm so glad you
7:43asked. Okay, so I want you to think
7:46about it. If this was English, okay, the
7:49first stanza would have eight lines and
7:52it would be a a a like the first words a
7:55a a a
7:58and then it would go b.
8:02You go C C
8:06D.
8:10Okay. All the way from A to Z. Okay.
8:13That's an acrostic using the alphabet to
8:17actually create a format for your
8:19poetry. Now, why eight lines for each
8:23stanza? Well, this these are eight
8:27synonyms for Torah that are used
8:29throughout the psalm. Just like in
8:31Hebrew poetry in general, these are not
8:33to be viewed as eight aspects of
8:35scripture. That is that they are not
8:37talking about eight different things.
8:39Okay? They are talking about eight
8:42different words that almost proi provide
8:45eight different viewpoints on how to see
8:48Torah. So these are not eight differing
8:52things. These are eight different angles
8:56for how to understand Torah. Angles is a
8:58great word. perspectives. Eight
9:01perspectives on Torah. And you can see
9:03these synonyms repeated all the way
9:05through Psalm 119. Here we go. I'll tell
9:08you what the eight words are. Okay? Law,
9:12testimonies, precepts, statutes,
9:15commandments, ordinances, word, promise.
9:18Okay? These are the eight synonyms that
9:20are going to get used for Torah over and
9:24over and over and over and over and over
9:27throughout Psalm 119. I'll say those
9:29eight words again. Okay, so these eight
9:32words are the heart of this psalm. If
9:35you don't understand these eight words,
9:37you're not going to really understand
9:38the psalm. You're going to think you
9:40understand the psalm. You can even
9:42appreciate the psalm. The psalm could
9:44make you cry. But the interpretive key
9:46to understanding this psalm is
9:49understanding that we've got 22 stanzas
9:53made up of eight lines of piece. So the
9:56way that the poem is organized actually
9:58is communicating something. So why is
10:00the number 22 important? Uh because
10:03that's the amount of letters in the
10:04Hebrew alphabet. Why is the number eight
10:08important? Well, it's because there are
10:09eight angles to see the scripture. Eight
10:12words that describe what Torah does,
10:16what Torah is. And 22 * 8 is 176. Guess
10:21what? There's 176 verses in Psalm 119.
10:25Okay, so the math is math. All right,
10:30let's begin to break down what these
10:34eight words are. Okay, first law. This
10:37is of course the most common term in the
10:39psalm and in the scriptures as a whole.
10:41It can mean teaching, directing,
10:45instructing or law or as it comes from
10:49God, revelation. It is sometimes used
10:52for a single instruction, but it is
10:55mostly used to speak of all Yahweh's
10:58revealed teaching to Israel in the
11:02Torah, which is Genesis through
11:04Deuteronomy. It is however not law in
11:08the modern sense of a legal system or
11:10consultation. Okay. So law law and we'll
11:15get to this in the timeless truth that
11:17for whatever reason when Christians
11:19think law we think legalism but Psalm 19
11:22makes it clear the law is fantastic.
11:25That God gives teaching, direction,
11:28instruction. He gives uh revelation that
11:32the Torah is not seen as a legalistic
11:36system, but it is seen as something that
11:39we should have an affectionate
11:41relationship with because it is God's
11:43teaching, directing, instructing and and
11:47vehicle for revelation. Okay. Number
11:49two, Edote. Okay. Edote. This is
11:52testimonies. The Torah functioned as a
11:57witness to Israel. In Deuteronomy 31:26,
12:01a scroll of the Torah was placed beside
12:04the ark as a witness against them or a
12:07witness against you if you read it in
12:09Deuteronomy 31:26. The testimony of the
12:13Torah let Israel know when they had
12:16fallen from the standards of living a
12:17covenant life with Yahweh. But at the
12:20same time, the testimony of the Torah
12:22was a delight because it showed Israel
12:25what covenant life with Yahweh was like.
12:28So two of these eight words we've now
12:31just defined. Okay. Torah or law and now
12:35edote testimonies. Next, picudim
12:39precepts. Picodim is the Hebrew word.
12:42Precepts obviously the English word.
12:44This is a more detailed word. It is
12:46usually used by someone who is overseen
12:50or in a position of authority
12:52responsibility when they must give
12:54detailed instructions for those under
12:58them to take action in a given
13:00situation. It shows how the Torah is
13:03active. Yahweh is a God who cares about
13:07the details in Israel's life. The Torah
13:10responds to crisis with detailed action.
13:14So if you think about Torah as a general
13:19teaching, directing, instructing
13:22revelation, we want to think about Edote
13:26testimony as the witness that bore
13:30witness of Israel's failure to keep
13:33Torah. And then we want to think about
13:35the picuodim as a detailed word from
13:39Yahweh, a detailed instruction, a
13:42detailed order that is supposed to cause
13:46the listeners to take action and not be
13:49confused on how to take action. Okay.
13:52Number four, him. Him. This is statutes.
13:56This word implies permanence. Statutes
13:59are not just said or written in scrolls.
14:02statutes are engraved, inscribed in
14:04stone or metal. Examples would be of
14:08Assyrian stells that 2,700 years later
14:13still tell us the decrees and words of
14:15kings like Tiglas Pisa III. Statutes are
14:19built to last. This word tells us that
14:24Yahweh's Torah is everlasting, aka a
14:27timeless truth. It cannot truly be
14:30forgotten or lost. It is permanent.
14:32Perhaps this is connected more to the
14:35possibility of Ezra's authorship.
14:37Possible. Even though it appeared that
14:40the Torah was broken and forgotten
14:44and lost, it was not indeed lost. It was
14:47back because Yahweh built it to last.
14:52Maybe maybe that was the case. Next,
14:54misw. Okay, misvote. Commandments. This
14:59word highlights the authority within the
15:01Torah. Although much of the Torah were
15:04case studies where the reader is
15:06encouraged to consider what Torah life
15:09is like and so follow in their own
15:12situation. There are also clearly
15:15commandments within the Torah. The Ten
15:17Commandments, for example, is less about
15:20considering and more about obeying
15:22commandments. You don't got to think
15:25hard about this. Just do the
15:29commandment.
15:30Okay. Six. I'm running out of time. Six.
15:33Misimatim.
15:37Ordinances. This is often also
15:40translated as judgments. It highlights
15:43the Torah's role in making decisions
15:46over the lives of Israel. The wisdom
15:49contained in the Torah would decide
15:51between cases whether someone is right
15:53or wrong, living in covenant life or
15:55living outside of it. The Torah set the
15:58standards of what life with Yahweh
16:01should look like. Ordinances
16:04mispatimine. And then seven word dar
16:08word word in Hebrew dbor. This is a
16:11general term based on the fact that the
16:13Torah was spoken by Yahweh to Israel and
16:16then Moses. The Torah came from the
16:19mouth of God. We see this directly in
16:22Exodus 19:2 and Exodus 20:1 where Moses
16:28went down to the people and then Yahweh
16:32spoke the Ten Commandments to all
16:34Israel. Then throughout the Torah, we
16:36get this repeated phrase when God
16:38speaks. Write this down. The Torah is
16:41from Yahweh. It is his words given
16:44through his servants Moses, Ezra, and
16:46the unknown authors in between them.
16:48This is the word. It is the spoken word
16:53from the mouth of God. Recorded by
16:57humans, but spoken nonetheless. Okay.
17:00And number eight, promise. Imra. Okay.
17:04Imra. This is often simply translated
17:06word as well in our English
17:08translations. But if the debar is a
17:11general term then immacar
17:15is word but imra is more like to say
17:18that like to conjugate that to say this
17:21particular word rather than the general
17:23is therefore sometimes related sorry
17:26translated as promise okay I have a
17:29promise from the lord it doesn't mean I
17:31have a general word no I have a specific
17:33promise as it highlights the particular
17:36words of Yahweh to Israel words that are
17:39always faithful to fulfill what is said,
17:43prophesied, and promised. Those are the
17:46eight words that are going to get used
17:48synonymously.
17:49And if you think they all mean the same
17:51thing, you're going to lose the depth
17:54and nuance and richness of this song.
17:57So, let's move into our timeless truth.
17:59I got a lot to say, family. The wait is
18:02over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos,
18:05is out now and available everywhere
18:08books are sold literally today. I walked
18:12into a Barnes & Noble and I signed a
18:15bunch of copies at a physical location.
18:17So, you can grab this book at a physical
18:20Barnes & Noble or you can go to a Books
18:22a Million or Amazon or anywhere books
18:25are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy
18:29reading the Bible from an ancient
18:31perspective, if you understand that the
18:34beauty of scripture is actually knowing
18:35it in context, then you'll love this
18:38book. And if there's any chaos in your
18:41personal life, I think that reading the
18:43Bible from an ancient perspective can
18:46actually help to crush the chaos in your
18:48life. I think this book is going to be a
18:50New York Times bestseller. I really do.
18:52I think we wrote a good one. I think you
18:54should get a copy today. All right, back
18:57to the episode. Number one, in the
19:00church, the Torah is often
19:01misunderstood. It is either ignored as
19:04we are now under grace, not law, or it
19:08is overused as a list of rules that must
19:10be followed or are the foundation of our
19:12society. In truth, neither responses
19:16should be made. But rather, this psalm
19:18gives us a careful, loving consideration
19:20of what the Torah was and is. We see the
19:24Torah through the eyes of this ancient
19:26psalmist rather than our own
19:28misconceptions. This psalm can be
19:30helpful and inspiring. Therefore,
19:32because as Jeremiah said, this Torah is
19:35now written on our hearts through the
19:37spirit. Perhaps we should read this
19:40great psalm and then turn to Romans
19:42chapter 8. Paul's incredible thoughts on
19:44how the Torah is written within us
19:47through the spirit. And as our final
19:50kind of timeless truth, I just want to
19:52highlight some of the verses in Psalm
19:54119 that I use in my daily prayer life.
19:58Okay. So the first is Psalm 119:18. I
20:01pray this every day. Open my eyes that I
20:04might see wonderful things in your law.
20:06That's simply me acknowledging I can't
20:09in my own power understand the
20:11scriptures, but God has the ability to
20:13open up my eyes so that I could see
20:16things in whose law? his law. No one can
20:19explain me better than me. No one can
20:21explain my writing better than me. No
20:24one can explain my penmanship better
20:27than me. So when we approach God's book,
20:31God's law, God's word, we should ask God
20:34to open up our eyes so that we can
20:35understand and not just understand
20:37average stuff. Understand wonderful
20:39things. God, I want to be behold the
20:44wonderful things when I look in your
20:45law. I don't want to just be bored by
20:48what I'm reading. I don't want this to
20:50just be some stories I've been hearing
20:52my whole life. No, I want to behold
20:54wonderful things. Okay, that's number
20:56one. Number two, uh I love this verse
20:58right here. It says, "I have hidden your
21:01word in my heart that I might not sin
21:02against you." That's verse 11. And I
21:05think that there's a natural link
21:06between consuming scripture and our
21:10fight against sin. Most times people
21:12tell me that they are succumbing to
21:14sinful habits and I'll immediately say,
21:17"How many Bible verses have you
21:19memorized? How often do you read the
21:21Bible? How often do you meditate on the
21:23scriptures?" Because here's the reality.
21:26Sin will keep you from your Bible or the
21:28Bible will keep you from sin. Up to you.
21:30A lot of times people just want a quick
21:32fix on how to sin less. And I always
21:34tell them, if you want to sin less, read
21:36more. If you want to sin less, memorize
21:38the Bible. Because if I say, "Don't
21:42imagine a pink elephant in a blue tutu
21:45spinning around with an umbrella over
21:47its head." Guess what? If I say don't,
21:49don't don't don't, guess what you're
21:50going to do? You're going to imagine a
21:52pink elephant. But if I say do,
21:55meditate, memorize, consume, read, you
21:59know, then if you're actively doing
22:01that, then you're going to not do the
22:04things that you've been trying to not
22:06do. But it's not by not focusing on the
22:09things that you were trying to not focus
22:12on. It's by actively setting your mind
22:14towards the things that you want to
22:15focus on. All right? And then one more.
22:17Uh it says this verse 73. Your hands
22:21made me informed me. Give me
22:23understanding to learn your commands.
22:26Your hands made me informed me. I love
22:29this verse because for me, I essentially
22:33can say to the Lord, I can find comfort
22:35in the fact, God, you made me, you
22:37formed me, which means my ADHD is not a
22:40flaw. You made me with ADHD. When you
22:43formed me, and when you made me, you
22:46made me to understand a certain way. So,
22:49you know how to teach me because you
22:51know you're a student, because you
22:53formed and fashioned this mind. I'm not
22:56the one who has the study hacks. you do.
22:59So God, would you give me understanding
23:02to learn your commands? I can't learn it
23:04the way everybody else can because I
23:05wasn't made the way they were made. You
23:07made me, you formed me, which means you
23:09got the cheat code on me. So how about
23:11you use the cheat code so that I can
23:13understand your word. Okay, that right
23:16there is incredible. To all perfection,
23:20I see a limit, but your commands are
23:22boundless. There's a limit to
23:24everything, but the word, the
23:25commandments of God are infinite. That's
23:28just good, man. I like that verse
23:30because when there are times where it's
23:32like, well, is there anything new to be
23:34preached? You know, thousands of sermons
23:37have been preached by millions of
23:38people. There's nothing new. And I go,
23:41no, there's a limit to everything except
23:44the commands of God. So, as long as I'm
23:46holding the commands of God, there's an
23:48infinite amount of sermons that can be
23:49preached. And if I believe that there's
23:52an infinite amount of sermons I can get
23:54from this Bible, then guess what? I
23:56won't approach it from a defeated place,
23:59I'll approach it from a place of, of
24:02course, there's another message in here.
24:04I'll do one last one, one last verse
24:07that I love. It says this, "How sweet
24:10are your words to my taste, sweeter than
24:12the honey to my mouth. I gain
24:14understanding from your precepts.
24:16Therefore, I hate every wrong path." And
24:18uh there's one more that I really love.
24:20So I like the fact that the word is
24:23being likened or equated with sweeter
24:28than honey to my mouth. Like God, this
24:31is sweet to my taste. The same way that
24:32I crave, you know, I crave a donut. Love
24:37donuts. Same way I crave a cronut. I
24:41love a cronut. My local coffee shop be
24:43having cronuts. Cronut will bless your
24:46life. Same way that I crave that, I want
24:48to crave the word. Okay? So, if you
24:50don't crave the word the same way that
24:52you crave your favorite sweet treat,
24:54something's off. And then last, I love
24:56this. It says, "I rejoice in your
24:59promises like one who finds great
25:02spoil." Can you Can you imagine like
25:04finding $50,000, finding $100,000,
25:08finding a million dollars, how you'd
25:10respond? I hate and detest falsehood,
25:13but I love your law. So, in it, I love
25:15this one. Verse 127. Because I love your
25:18commands more than gold. So, not only is
25:21it honey, it's it's gold. It's great
25:24spoil more than gold, more than pure
25:27gold. And because I consider all your
25:29precepts right, I hate every wrong. Man,
25:33this ain't just true for David if he
25:34wrote it or Ezra if he wrote it. This is
25:37true for you and for me. And I have
25:39applied this one psalm to so many
25:42scenarios in my personal life. I love
25:45Psalm 19. And I hope that after today,
25:48you would love Psalm 19 as well.
25:50Tomorrow, I'll see you for day 293 on
25:54our journey through the entire Bible.
25:56Tomorrow, we've got Psalms 120, 121, and
26:00122. I'm so proud of you, especially if
26:02you're on a streak. I love you so much.
26:04Can't wait to see you tomorrow. Peace.
26:07Thanks so much for joining us on the
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About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Day 292: Psalm 119 | Read The Bible In A Year | Bible Study with Commentary by Dr. Manny Arango by The Bible Dept., generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 4,019 words across 574 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

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