Ordinary Days #13: Worthy of a song

I will sing

   of your word. (Psalm 119:172)

Our word “alphabet” comes from the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet: alef & bet—see how that works? Our alphabet today comes to us from ancient Hebrew and Aramaic people. Maybe that’s why the Hebrew Bible likes to play with its alphabet: Psalms 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, 145; plus, the whole book of Lamentations and the famous ode to a capable woman that concludes the book of Proverbs. The final stanza of our acrostic Psalm praising Torah from alef to tav (from a to z) eight times over, invites us to sing a line or two.

I’ve taught Psalm 119 as a technical achievement with its eight times over alphabetic acrostic and how each eight verse stanza manages to include eight different synonyms for Torah. I didn’t say it out loud, but I’ve thought this technical achievement overshadowed its content turning it into something mechanical, even tedious. However, reading the Psalm over and over these last few mornings, I see the Psalmist as something more than a gifted language technician. Within this technical achievement the Psalmist remains a Psalmist, expressing sorrow and affliction (laments); and, praying for God’s deliverance: “Though I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek me out…” (vs 176—last verse).

In the end, the Psalmist asks us to sing of God’s promises (vs 172). I noticed no one has put the Psalm to a tune like “The Deer of the Dawn” (Ps 9), or “The Doe of the Morning” (Ps 22), or “Lilies” (Pss 45 & 69), or “Lilies of the Covenant” (Pss 60 & 80), or “A Dove on Distant Oaks” (Ps 56). I don’t suppose there is one tune that could contain all 176 verses. It would take a cantata; or maybe, an opera. But, I do recall a tune we used to sing from Psalm 119: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (vs 105). Somehow, we always knew we were singing about Jesus, “the Light of the world” (Jn 8:12). The Light that shines even in our darkest days.