kafka Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 * It is the longest Psalm and the longest chapter of the Bible * It is divided into 22 stanzas with 8 verses per stanza. Each stanza begins with a letter in the Hebrew alphabet. * It is a stunning and awesome praise of God and His law. It is the prayer of a man who walks in God's law and how this choice affects his life with all the sweetness and troubles, ups and downs, elation and sorrow this choice means. * in almost every verse a synonym for the 'law of God' is used. * It is daily recited at midnight in Orthodox monasteries after verse 62: I arose in the middle of the night to confess to you, over the judgments of your justification. * There is a tradition that David used this Psalm to teach Solomon the alphabet. * St. Augustine has written thirty-two, and St. Ambrose twenty-two sermons on the contents; and St. Basil observes, that David has here composed in one psalm the sum of all that he has written in the rest (Haydock commentary) * In the Latin it starts with the same first word as the first Psalm, namely 'beatus' which means blessed, happy I timed how long it took me to read/pray it and it takes about 15 minutes. It is a good 15 minutes that could be spent anyday or even everyday. Its incredibly moving, although it could be awkward reciting at first. Almost each verse is like a little one-line couplets, its almost as if the second half of the line is an echo of the first part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philothea Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Great post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resurrexi Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 (edited) In the [i]Monastic Breviary[/i], Psalm 118 is divided between four hours of the Sunday office. Edited July 10, 2009 by Resurrexi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VoTeckam Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 (edited) [quote name='kafka' post='1916257' date='Jul 9 2009, 11:50 PM']* It is divided into 22 stanzas with 8 verses per stanza. Each stanza begins with a letter in the Hebrew alphabet. * There is a tradition that David used this Psalm to teach Solomon the alphabet.[/quote] We studied alphabetic acrostics in biblical hebrew and this is actually one of about a dozen examples of alphabetic acrositcs in the old testament. While it might not be true that David used this psalm to teach Solomon the alphabet, we do know that alphabetic acrostics were used in the bible and in rabbinic literature where the author thought the passage was worth memorizing (as the literary form gained its popularity because it was ussed as a memorization tool). I think it is wise then to assume we have much to gain by meditating daily on this psalm. Thanks for posting Kafka. Edited July 10, 2009 by VoTeckam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kafka Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 [quote name='VoTeckam' post='1916607' date='Jul 10 2009, 10:23 AM']We studied alphabetic acrostics in biblical hebrew and this is actually one of about a dozen examples of alphabetic acrositcs in the old testament. While it might not be true that David used this psalm to teach Solomon the alphabet, we do know that alphabetic acrostics were used in the bible and in rabbinic literature where the author thought the passage was worth memorizing (as the literary form gained its popularity because it was ussed as a memorization tool).[/quote] that makes sense. Often traditions like that one are only partially true, however they are still inspiring and instructive. I'm going to refine this thread and post it on my blog so I'll mention it as legend and also mention the info about acrostic poems used as a memorization tool. thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kafka Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 (edited) blog is up if you want to send it to someone. Its just meant to get people interested in it. It is a powerful Psalm to recite in order to recieve strength, healing, and grace for the moral life. [url="http://greatcatholicmonarch.blogspot.com/2009/07/psalm-118-19.html"]http://greatcatholicmonarch.blogspot.com/2...alm-118-19.html[/url] Edited July 10, 2009 by kafka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thessalonian Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 You left out one thing. It is very problematic from protestants who don't think we have to follow the moral law anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Red Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 +J.M.J.+ i the day we pray it for LOTH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouisvilleFan Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 [quote name='thessalonian' post='1919698' date='Jul 14 2009, 02:50 PM']You left out one thing. It is very problematic from protestants who don't think we have to follow the moral law anymore. [/quote] and Catholics, for that matter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jon Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 [color="#000080"]Bless you Kafka, Thank you so much for your OP. Jon[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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