“I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes” (Ps 119:15-16).
We know why there are 22 sections of verses in Psalm 119, because the sections represent the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. But why eight verses in each section? Numbers have significance in all areas of creation; it would be surprising if it weren’t so in revelation, as well. In music, the octave is seven distinct notes, with an eighth note repeating the first, but at twice the frequency. We traditionally use Isaac Newton’s seven colors of the rainbow, but today we often think of eight: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple (or indigo), and magenta (or violet). When we examine the Hebrew words for seven and eight, we get the same ideas. In verse 164, we read, “Seven times a day I praise You” which translates the word šheba‘ as seven, from a root meaning “to be full or satisfied.” On the other hand, šemôneh is the Hebrew word translated “eight.” It’s from a root word meaning “plenteous” or “rich,” carrying the idea of over-abundance. How appropriate this is for the subject at hand, as the psalmist challenges himself (and us) to think of every possible way to describe the excellencies of the Word of God. And it doesn’t take us long to see how intimate the psalmist is with his Lord. In the first three verses, he speaks about Him; in the rest of the psalm he speaks to Him. Every verse mentions the Lord at least once; most have more than one reference to Him. Only in verse 121 is “You” inferred in the second line: “Do not leave me to my oppressors.” If my count is correct, there are 165 pronouns referring to the Deity. Also “Lord” (Yhwh) occurs 24 times, “God” just once (v 115), and even there He is called “my God.” We’ll now begin to follow certain themes, like brilliant threads through a lavish tapestry.