hebrew alphabet stencil (Photo credit: Shira Golding)

Verses 25-32 of Psalm 119 are brought to you by the fourth letter of the letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Daleth.  The psalmist admits that his soul – who he is – clings to the dust from which he was made (verse 25) ; but he implores God to teach him the truth of His righteous commandments, so that he will cling to Him, enlarging our hearts is akin to enlarging breadth of hour minds (1 Kings 4:29, 2 Corinthians 6:11, 13).

Psalm 12 is a chiasmus, as the first and last verses contain the phrase “the sons of man” (or in some versions, “the children of man”) in a parallel structure. In the former, the faithful have vanished from among them.  In the latter, vile wickedness is exalted among them.  This A-B-B-A  structure can be observed in Psalm 2, 10, and 11 as well.  The call for the cutting off of lying and boastful lips is a reference to those who believe they are lord over the needy and the poor.  But God is the great almighty and as Isaiah in 33:10 foretells, (because of their groaning) “Now I will arise,” says the Lord, now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted.”

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy

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some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.