Hebrew Treasure - Mem
Psalm 119:97-104
This is the thirteenth installment of Hebrew Treasure from Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible. Every other week I will be mining nuggets of gold from the original Hebrew and my goal is to make the riches of God’s Word more accessible to you—even if you don’t know any Hebrew!
97. Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
98. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
99. I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
100. I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
101. I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
102. I do not turn aside from your rules,
for you have taught me.
103. How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104. Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
DO JUSTICE
When the Hebrew letter mem (מ) is at the beginning of a word it functions as a preposition and is translated from. Mem is also the first letter of the Hebrew word, mish’pat, translated as judgment, justice, rule, or ordinance. Psalm 119:102 starts with both the preposition mem and the Hebrew word mish’pat. Thus, this first word of verse 102 is Mi-mish’pa-teicha (מִמִּשְׁפָּטֶיךָ) that is made up of both the preposition mem and the Hebrew word mish’pat but also includes a 2nd person singular pronoun, cha, at the end that is translated your and makes it about God’s ordinances. Together, the translation of Mi-mish’pa-teicha is David telling God he will not turn aside from Your rules (or from Your judgments or from Your ordinances).
David is committed to allegiance to walking in God’s ways and obeying God’s words. This allegiance to God’s mish’pat (plural is mish’patim) can be seen in his using the word mish’pat a total of 23 times in Psalm 119 alone. Specifically, David uses mish’pat 11 times earlier in verses 7, 13, 20, 30, 39, 43, 52, 62, 75, 84, and 91. Additionally, he uses it 11 times later in psalm 119 in verses 106, 108, 120, 121, 132, 137, 149, 156, 160, 164, and 175.
This biblical word shows up for the very first time in the Bible in Genesis 18:19. Specifically, God uses it to explain how the children of Abraham will receive His blessings by “keeping the Way of the LORD” by which He means “doing righteousness and mish’pat (justice)”. The prophet Micah echoes this call to do justice using this same Hebrew word mish’pat when he answers the question of “[W]hat does the LORD require of you?” He answers this question, “to do mish’pat, to love chesed (mercy or covenant fidelity), and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
Our sense of justice is too often defined by what we feel is right rather than what God has decreed by His word. Let’s commit ourselves today to doing mish’pat through faith-fueled obedience in the power of God’s Spirit.
Hebrew Treasure excerpt written by Thomas Boehm.
From The Psalm 119 Journey by Steve Allen, ©2022.
Used with permission.
Also, check out the Parashah Project’s 2024-2025 (5785) Annual Reading Cycle to join in the weekly readings along with links to helpful commentary.
Shalom!
Thomas