Resh

We've got just a few more days to go before we finish up our journey through Psalm 119. In today's study we come to the letter resh. We once again see the psalmist contrasting himself with the wicked people around him and wanting his life to be preserved. Let's read.

¹⁵³ Look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law.

¹⁵⁴ Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise.

¹⁵⁵ Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek out your decrees.

¹⁵⁶ Your compassion is great, O LORD; preserve my life according to your laws.

¹⁵⁷ Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes.

¹⁵⁸ I look on the faithless with loathing, for they do not obey your word.

¹⁵⁹ See how I love your precepts; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your love.

¹⁶⁰ All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

Psalm 119:153-160

Before we get to our discussion questions, I want to do something a little different. First, I want to look at a few of these verses from a different translation - the Amplified Bible.

We will see here how different translators bring out different aspects of the text. Sometimes this can be helpful for understanding the message of the text. Consider when you're playing Star Wars Lego on the Wii. There's a weapon that you call a "meter." When you boys are playing and talking about meters, you each know what the other is talking about. To me, a meter might be a parking meter where you would put money in to pay for parking or the primary unit of linear measure in the metric system. If you only knew about your "meter" then you might be confused if I told Mommy about having to keep going out every 15 minutes to feed the meter. But if instead I said I had to keep going out every 15 minutes to pay for parking, you might understand better. By looking at a different translation, you might better understand a passage of Scripture or you might respond to it differently.

¹⁵³ Consider my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget Your law.

¹⁵⁴ Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me and give me life according to Your word.

¹⁵⁵ Salvation is far from the wicked, for they seek not nor hunger for Your statutes.

¹⁵⁶ Great are Your tender mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord; give me life according to Your ordinances.

Psalm 119:153-156 (Amplified Bible)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

Now, I will admit that when I read this text in the Amplified Bible, something clicked that hadn't when just reading it in the NIV or the NIrV. I recognized it as being the inspiration for the song "Revive Me" by Jeremy Camp which we have heard sung in church a couple of times. When you hear the words sung, you may get yet a different impression of this passage of Scripture because of the way emotion can be communicated through the singing. So, let's listen to the song.

Discussion Questions

• Which did you like best? The NIV, the Amplified, or the song?
• I know my impressions of greatly differed between the NIV and the song. The song doesn't have all of the words in the text and chooses words to help focus on the theme. Did you get different impressions from the different versions?
• We've talked before about how singing God's word is valuable. Do you think that this song is a good example of singing God's word?
• Though the full text in the Bible that we read touches on several themes, what is the theme that you hear in the song?


• Do you think that this song is a good representation of this part of Psalm 119 or do you think it misses? Or in other words, do you think the theme in the song is found in the text?
• Did you find it refreshing today to look at this text differently by using another translation and using a song?