April 11, 2020 Psalm 119:148 So shall no part of day or night from sacredness be free

My eyes wake before the watches of the night,

that I may meditate on your promises.

Psalm 119:148 English Standard Version

You’ll notice that verses 147 and 148 are quite similar. This is a stylistic devise called parallel intensification. As modern readers we do much of our reading alone. Also, rather than reading audibly, we read silently. Jewish culture of the time had very few copies of the Old Testament scriptures available. So, the people would listen to the reading. Some of the things that make the reading particularly powerful for the listener, then and now, includes the fact that each of the eight-verse stanzas of this Psalm begins with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So we have in the QOPH stanza and eight verses of this stanza all begin with the Hebrew letter QOPH. This makes the verses immediately identifiable as to which stanza it belongs and aids memorization.

As mentioned earlier the ideas of 147 and 148 are parallel, they are quite similar and the repetition of them makes an even stronger impact on the listener. Remember that the Bible is meant to be heard. It is meant to be read out loud for the benefit of the reader and the listener. Consider reading the bible aloud in your personal devotional times and see the difference it makes for understanding and the greater impact it has touching your head and heart.

When you read the Gospel of John you’ll see many times there is a sharp contrast between darkness or night and day or light. The darkness is the time when sin reigns. The darkness is when dormant evil rises (consider the fact that Judas, when we was identified as the betrayer, he went out and it was night (John 13:30). He departed from Jesus, the Light of the World (John 8:12).

The psalmist is meditating on the promises of God before the watches of the night, such thoughts and meditations keep him from straying towards sin when the night is long and sleepless frustration grows. The promises of the LORD become richer and sweeter than the siren call of sin. Rehearsing the promises of God helps us to understand more fully Who He Is. The promises of God show sin to be the path of defeat, hell, and death and the light of Christ to be victory, heaven and life.

I wonder if the hymn writer had this portion of Scripture in mind when he penned Fill Thou My Life, O Lord, My God, especially the last verse:

3 So shall each fear, each fret, each care
be turned into a song,
and ev'ry winding of the way
the echo shall prolong.
So shall no part of day or night
from sacredness be free,
but all my life, in ev'ry step,
be fellowship with thee. 

(Horatius Bonar, 1863; public domain)

You can see the lyrics of stanzas 1 and 2 below. If you have time, find a rendition of this hymn on-line and praise God as you listen to it.

Mighty God, thank You for the wonderful truth that You rule day and night. Thank You for the fact that even dark is as light to You. Spirit of the Living God guard our hearts and minds in Christ, anchoring us on the promises of God so that the wiles of the devil are disarmed and the temptations hurled at us or arising from within us are exposed as tawdry and shame-filled. Blessed Triune God, fill our lives so that every part is filled with praise.

1 Fill thou my life, O Lord my God,
in ev'ry part with praise,
that my whole being may proclaim
thy being and thy ways.
Not for the lip of praise alone,
nor e'en the praising heart,
I ask, but for a life made up
of praise in ev'ry part:

2 Praise in the common words I speak,
life's common looks and tones,
in fellowship enjoyed at home
with my beloved ones,
enduring wrong, reproach, or loss
with sweet and steadfast will,
forgiving freely those who hate,
returning good for ill.