Psalms 119: 136: “Rivers of water run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.”
This morning I was reflecting on a recital put on by a local music school that I attended some time ago. The performers were about junior high school age and I had to admit that they were very artistic and gifted. Before each number the music teachers gave a little introduction sharing certain insights which an untrained ear (like mine) would never pick up. That little bit of guidance opened up a whole new world to classical music that I never realized existed.
For some reason I began thinking of Hebrew poetry and how so many Christians do not get the full appreciation of Hebrew poetry because they are just not given that little bit of coaching in what to look for like these music teachers gave into classical music. Now I lay no claim in being an expert in poetry, particularly Hebrew poetry, like these music teacher were with classical music, but there are certain things I learned from rabbis who were expert in Hebrew poetry that I would like to share with you in this brief study and tell me if just a little bit of coaching does not open up a whole new world to Scripture for you. My study partner is writing a book on the Hebraic secrets behind Psalms 119 so hopefully this will prepare you to anticipate her book.
I would like to offer to you for your consideration Psalms 119:136 as an example. Psalms 119, as many know, is an acrostic poem. Like most poetry it is filled with imagery, metaphors, similes and pictures. To most people in our Western culture when they think of poetry we think in terms of little rhymes like “Little boxes little boxes on a hilltop, little boxes all made of ticky tack, little boxes all made just the same.” Just because it rhymes does not mean it is poetry. Actually, poetry is using metaphors, and images to express what cannot be expressed in literal words. This is why so much of poetry involves love. We cannot express love in just words, so we need to draw pictures. Classical Hebrew has only 7,500 words. That is not near enough to express the full range of human understanding, so Hebrew is known as a poetic language because it uses so many pictures and metaphors to express its thoughts.
The use of rhyme and meter is only a discipline to poetry, but not poetry in itself. So too with an acrostic poem. The discipline that David used in Psalms 119 is to have a poem of 22 stanzas with eight verses per stanza. The numbering and title of each stanza is important. David runs through the entire Hebrew alphabet with each stanza representing a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. If you want to find the Hebrew Alphabet in the Bible, look at Psalms 119. It starts with the first letter of the alphabet Aleph and follows it all the way to the last letter Taw.
Now we get to the genius of this poem. Each verse begins with the corresponding letter of the alphabet. In Psalm 119:136 verse 136 is found under the stanza titled by the Hebrew letter Pei. Each verse in this stanza begins with a word that starts with a Pei, as does verse 136. That is not too bad unfortunately that is about as far as any Christian teacher that I have known will take it. However, ancient rabbis, sages and esoteric rabbis go much much further than that.
The letter Pei represents speaking and words. It is the sign of the profoundly powerful activities of speaking and communicating. Pei calls us to speak from the heart. You will notices that each of the eight verses in Psalms 119 under Pei suggest in some way communication: The first verse (129) speaks of testimonies, the next verse (130) speaks of the entrance of words, and the next verse (131) speaks of opening the mouth. In verse 132 David is asking (in the Hebrew) that God speak mercy. Verse 133 speaks of the steps of the divine word and verse 134 tells of the oppression of man. In the Hebrew the word oppression is me’osheq which again carries the element of speaking as it is an oppression by the hurtful words of others. Verse 135 David asked to be taught God’s statutes. This portion concludes with David speaking his heart by shedding tears over those who do not keep the law.
The letter Pei is also the number eighty. Moses was eighty years old when he was called by God and said he could not speak. God assured him he would give him the words to say. The sages teach that if you add the Pei or 80 to the sixth thought in the stanza (Pei 80 + verse 6) you have 86. This is the numerical equivalent for the word Elohim. Elohim is the word for God as a judge. Coincidentally, David is asking God to judge his oppressors so he can follow His laws.
As I concluded reading this stanza I followed the rabbinical teaching and added the eighth thought or verse 8 to the Pei (Pei 80 + verse 8) where we get the numerical value of 88. The word kacach has a numerical value of 88. Kabach means to wash. This is what David is expressing when he said that his eyes are washed with tears over those who reject the Pei or the words of God, His law.
Well, my time is up and I have to crank up the old disability bus and get Jimmy and Andy (his service dog) to the VA Hospital, so I will conclude my little fun time in Hebrew poetry. I guess I have not shared anything really profound other than to point out that there is much more to the Word of God than meets the eye of Western civilization. If I had the time I could continue sharing some of the marvelous insights into the Word of God that the Hebrew poetry expresses that we in our cold Western scientific culture would never see but then I would be stealing the thunder from my study partner who is writing a book on the Hebraic secrets of Psalms 119 so I will just leave you hanging hoping that you will be wanting for more. My point is that we as Christians have not even begun to mine the revelations that are just waiting to be uncovered in Hebrew poetry if we would just take the time to dig. For you see you just cannot help but love the Word of God and the One who wrote it. For if you love Him enough, He will reveal His secrets to you.
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