Psalm 19 - Love and passion for God's Word

I was re-reading Ps. 19 this morning. I know I already posted something about this Psalm recently. This morning, though, my attention was fixed the verses from 7 to 11. I went to my trusty blueletterbible.org to do some looking into the Hebrew text, curious to see if there were any "hidden" gems to be found in the text.

The following is a copy from the notes I took. I'm not going to comment on them (much) but, if you're interested, you will see the major thoughts of each verse in bold type accompanied at times by the original Hebrew word (and possible translation-s in parentheses).

7 law (torah) is perfect (tamiym - complete, whole, complete or entirely in accord with truth and fact)
revives (shuwb - restore, refresh, repair, cause to return, draw back) the soul

decrees (eduwth - testimony) are trustworthy
make the simple wise

8 commandments (piqqud - precepts, statutes) are right (yashar - straight, upright, correct, righteous)
bring joy to the heart

commands (mitsvah - commandment to be strictly observed) are clear (bar - pure, clear, sincere)
give insight (owr - be or become light, shine, be illuminated, give light, shine, kindle) to life (ayin - physical eye, eye as representing mental qualities, eye as representing mental and spiritual faculties)


9 Reverence for the Lord is pure (tahor - physically pure, unpolluted)
Lasts forever

Judgments (mishpat - legal sense) are true (emeth - reliable, stable, faithful)
Each one is fair (tsadaq - righteous, just)

10 Desired more than any earthly treasure
Sweeter tasting than the sweetest honey

11 A warning to those who hear them
Great reward to those who obey them

There's something for me about seeing that original text and trying to get to the heart of what was being communicated. For instance in verse 8, even though I am a big fan (can you say that about a Bible translation?) of the New Living Translation, the imagery of God's commandments being so pure that they cause light to shine (and one translation of that word refers to the light of the heavens...the sun, moon, stars) into the eyes of man is lost. The NLT simply, and blandly in comparison to what we can read in the Hebrew text, reads "giving insight to life."

One more thought I'd like to bring up is from verse ten. David is trying to communicate as passionately, and beautifully, as possible what God's Word, His Law, means to him. I continue to sit here thinking about the depth of his words...more desirable than the finest gold and sweeter than the sweetest honey. And isn't it interesting to think about what David is referring to here? He's not talking about the portions of Scripture that we all love to hang on...Paul's letters, the Gospel accounts, the intriguing and mysterious Revelation...none of that had been written yet. David is referring to the books that are so often passed over by us today. And still...more desirable than the greatest riches and sweeter than the sweetest delicacy.

Oh to be in love with Scripture as the Psalmists were...to linger in it every second of every day, allowing God's divine Word to become our heart beat, our breathe...to desire it more than any single thing our imaginations could fathom.