Daily Word // Psalm 119 // 8- Key “Notes”

These are the eight keynotes that the singer of this psalms plays over and over. (nearly every verse has one of them and many sections use all 8!) So if you want to sing this song and experience it’s transforming power you have to tune your heart and mind to appreciate the nuances of these eight “notes.”

1. Torah: Law (NIV law; ESV law)- instruction; divine truth imparted; given; this is a comprehensive term for all teaching. (25x’s) 

2. edhah: Testimonies (NIV statutes; ESV testimonies) – What God bears witness to about himself, his truth, his requirements.  (22x’s) 

3.  piqqudh: Precepts (NIV precepts; ESV precepts)- detailed application of this truth to life. (21x’s) 

4. choq: Statutes– (NIV decrees; ESV statutes) to engrave- What is carved into a rock. The permanence of his teaching. (22x’s) 

5. mitzvoth: Commandments– (NIV Commands; ESV Commands) general word that expresses the idea that God’s revealed truth is intended for obedience. (20x’s) 

6. mishpat: Judgments/Righteousness: (NIV laws; ESV rules)  What God has decided upon as truth or commanded. His authoritative decisions. Judgments has the nuance of principles and righteousness has the nuance of practices. 

7. dabhar: Word (NIV Word; ESV Word)  Revealed truth personally spoken by God. (23x’s) 

8. imrah: Promise (NIV word/promise; ESV word/promise) it means simply something spoken, but is normally in the context of a promise (19x’s)