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Aleph: Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the
law of the LORD. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,
and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity:
they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts
diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy
commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when
I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy
statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
Beth: Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking
heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have
I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy
word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes. With my lips
have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced
in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will
meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will
delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
Gimel: Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live,
and keep thy word. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous
things out of thy law. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not
thy commandments from me. My soul breaketh for the longing that
it hath unto thy judgments at all times. Thou hast rebuked the
proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments. Remove
from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.
Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did
meditate in thy statutes. Thy testimonies also are my delight
and my counsellors.
Daleth: My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according
to thy word. I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach
me thy statutes. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts:
so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. My soul melteth for heaviness:
strengthen thou me according unto thy word. Remove from me the
way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously. I have chosen
the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me. I have
stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame. I will
run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.
He: Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall
keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep
thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me
to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me
in thy way. Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted
to thy fear. Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments
are good. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me
in thy righteousness. Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD,
even thy salvation, according to thy word.
Vau: So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth
me: for I trust in thy word. And take not the word of truth utterly
out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments. So shall
I keep thy law continually for ever and ever. And I will walk
at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. I will speak of thy testimonies
also before kings, and will not be ashamed. And I will delight
myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. My hands also
will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and
I will meditate in thy statutes.
Zain: Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou
hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction:
for thy word hath quickened me. The proud have had me greatly
in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law. I remembered
thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself. Horror
hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy
law. Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept
thy law. This I had, because I kept thy precepts.
Cheth: Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would
keep thy words. I intreated thy favour with my whole heart: be
merciful unto me according to thy word. I thought on my ways,
and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. I made haste, and delayed
not to keep thy commandments. The bands of the wicked have robbed
me: but I have not forgotten thy law. At midnight I will rise
to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.
I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that
keep thy precepts. The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: teach
me thy statutes.
Teth: Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according
unto thy word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have
believed thy commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray:
but now have I kept thy word. Thou art good, and doest good;
teach me thy statutes. The proud have forged a lie against me:
but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. Their heart
is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law. It is good for
me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold
and silver.
Jod: Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding,
that I may learn thy commandments. They that fear thee will be
glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word. I know,
O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness
hast afflicted me. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be
for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. Let thy
tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is
my delight. Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely
with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.
Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known
thy testimonies. Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that
I be not ashamed.
Caph: My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy
word. Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort
me? For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not
forget thy statutes. How many are the days of thy servant? when
wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? The proud
have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law. All thy
commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help
thou me. They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook
not thy precepts. Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall
I keep the testimony of thy mouth.
Lamed: For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy
faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the
earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to thine
ordinances: for all are thy servants. Unless thy law had been
my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.
I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened
me. I am thine, save me: for I have sought thy precepts. The
wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider
thy testimonies. I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy
commandment is exceeding broad.
Mem: O how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies:
for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all
my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand
more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. I have refrained
my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. I have
not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. How
sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to
my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore
I hate every false way.
Nun: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my
path. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy
righteous judgments. I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O
LORD, according unto thy word. Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill
offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments. My
soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy
precepts. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever:
for they are the rejoicing of my heart. I have inclined mine
heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.
Samech: I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love. Thou
art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word. Depart
from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my
God. Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and
let me not be ashamed of my hope. Hold thou me up, and I shall
be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for
their deceit is falsehood. Thou puttest away all the wicked of
the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies. My flesh
trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.
Ain: I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine
oppressors. Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud
oppress me. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word
of thy righteousness. Deal with thy servant according unto thy
mercy, and teach me thy statutes. I am thy servant; give me understanding,
that I may know thy testimonies. It is time for thee, LORD, to
work: for they have made void thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments
above gold; yea, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem all thy
precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every
false way.
Pe: Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul
keep them. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth
understanding unto the simple. I opened my mouth, and panted:
for I longed for thy commandments. Look thou upon me, and be
merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy
name. Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have
dominion over me. Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will
I keep thy precepts. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant;
and teach me thy statutes. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes,
because they keep not thy law.
Tzaddi: Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.
Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very
faithful. My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have
forgotten thy words. Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant
loveth it. I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.
Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law
is the truth. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet
thy commandments are my delights. The righteousness of thy testimonies
is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.
Koph: I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O LORD: I will
keep thy statutes. I cried unto thee; save me, and I shall keep
thy testimonies. I prevented the dawning of the morning, and
cried: I hoped in thy word. Mine eyes prevent the night watches,
that I might meditate in thy word. Hear my voice according unto
thy lovingkindness: O LORD, quicken me according to thy judgment.
They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from
thy law. Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are
truth. Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou
hast founded them for ever.
Resh: Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not
forget thy law. Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according
to thy word. Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek
not thy statutes. Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken
me according to thy judgments. Many are my persecutors and mine
enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. I beheld
the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy
word. Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according
to thy lovingkindness. Thy word is true from the beginning: and
every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.
Schin: Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my
heart standeth in awe of thy word. I rejoice at thy word, as
one that findeth great spoil. I hate and abhor lying: but thy
law do I love. Seven times a day do I praise thee because of
thy righteous judgments. Great peace have they which love thy
law: and nothing shall offend them. LORD, I have hoped for thy
salvation, and done thy commandments. My soul hath kept thy testimonies;
and I love them exceedingly. I have kept thy precepts and thy
testimonies: for all my ways are before thee.
Tau: Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding
according to thy word. Let my supplication come before thee:
deliver me according to thy word. My lips shall utter praise,
when thou hast taught me thy statutes. My tongue shall speak
of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness. Let
thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts. I have longed
for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight. Let my
soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help
me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for
I do not forget thy commandments.
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Holy Bible
God's Law, commissioned by august King James, published in sixteen
hundred eleven. The Holy Bible will quite ably address major
significant questions of religion by quoting from soliloquies
of God's judiciously wise, infallibly holy elder men. It will
boldly expound about ethical issues such as horrible sinful mortal
errors, or really foolish, silly human failings, godly sorrows,
or ugly, sinister anger, fair justice or equally horrifying,
inhuman, barbaric injustices; qualities of jealousy, liberality,
etc. The Holy Bible brings many quaint stories quite credibly
to life. We can enjoy stories of illustrious holy men like Enoch,
Japheth, Noah, Ham, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua,
Samuel, Saul, Jesse, David, Joel, Abner, Solomon, Jeroboam, Jehu,
Elijah, Jeshua, Isaiah, Job, Jonah, Micah and other Jews; countries
like Egypt, Assyria, Tyrus, etc.; stories like the curse of Cain
for killing Abel, the big flood, the tower of Babel, etc. The
Holy Bible can be likened unto a rich quilt consisting of quite
a few assorted beautiful squares joyously assembled by God, requiring
quality eyes, my God's eyes of faith.
Genesis
How the mighty Lord creates many things, including this imperfect
entity the human. Eden. The evil tower of petty disharmony. Why
the common tongue was muddled. Nasty perverts taken out at fiery
Sodom. The flood. Tipsy Noah. The ark at sea. The devout Abraham.
The twelve children of Israel.
Exodus
The captivity told. The cruel Egyptian taskmaster of the community
of Israel. The dreadful plague of death. The victory over Pharaoh,
with his men drowned in the Red Sea. The ten commandments the
Lord gave them on mount Sinai. Why they went walking forty years
in the hot dust, led by Moses.
Leviticus
Calling devout Aaron, steady in the truth, to the Levitical priesthood.
Why we regard some types of hunted meat filthy, some pure. Some
commandments that have to do with blasphemy, usury, etc. Why
God let mankind rest from working every fiftieth year. He had
this intent: to enhance the land.
Numbers
Moses prompted to take a count of the congregation. That is why
he had a duty to list the stalwart men in the twelve houses.
He numbered every family he took with him, freed from Egypt's
tyrannical country. Grave dirty sin. When the earth opens, evil
men did fall to death into the muddy chasm.
Deuteronomy
The ten commandments. The feasts. The destruction of most everything
related to idolatry. New laws given. The totally white-haired
Moses walks up to the summit of Nebo: there he dies. Very many
a happy, huge victory predicted, with a charmed infantry, throughout
the land of milk and honey.
Joshua
The valiant man designated under the prophet Moses takes the
faithful of God into the rich country that he promised to them.
They defeat a mighty city when the walls come down with very
loud shouts after many trumpets are blown. They had victory over
many more kings. Lines delineated.
Judges
The tune Deborah composed to thank God for easy victory over
the many enemy kingdoms. Samson smote many men, after which he
ruled for twenty years. That tragedy, the unwanted haircut this
pretty Delilah did give unto him while he slept, that left him
destitute of all his covenant power.
Ruth
To depart famine's doom, Naomi and husband trek to another hot
country. When they get there, sons get wives. All adult men die.
They come home. The very special, faithful Ruth travels with
them. A mighty kinsman, attracted in the fields, decently provides
a home for the pretty, shy young widow.
I Samuel
A worthy woman prayed for a child, and witness that the Lord
sent her Samuel, committed to serve as the prophet. Saul made
the first king. The enemy, that mighty fit Goliath, a contemptuous
menace, slain by the youthful David; wherefore in envy the moody
king, when told, resented the victory.
II Samuel
The Anointment of David to the monarchy. The pretty wife of this
true army friend was sweet. Wishing to touch, he wickedly made
the man get killed on the front. He gets caught. They are very
happy at Solomon's delivery to them. His unruly son Absalom did
curse him and then attempted a revolt.
I Kings
Solomon ruled the newly-chartered kingdom very thoughtfully.
A truly mighty temple was erected there. An eminent lady monarch
from Sheba pays a happy visit to the city. She wanted to meet
him and to view the treasures. The division of the kingdom that
was effected: into north and south.
II Kings
The wicked movement to depart the way of truth, with vulgar unworthy
worship of the hated enemy gods. The prophets fulminate vehemently
and decry it. The northern kingdom's demise: the domination by
Assyria caused that calamity. Later the south also fell to the
invading enemy forces.
I Chronicles
The details of human ancestry: names from Adam down to the twelve
tribes. The glory of David recounted. The thirty mighty men he
trusted who were loyal to him in the army. The sacred ark moved
into the new capital. A nice, happy hymn of thanks sung unto
God. The priestly duties of the Levites.
II Chronicles
The destiny and glory of Solomon. The way he wanted the divine
temple valuably furnished with cedars. Why Huram of Tyre meets
the need. The proclamation from that very mighty Persian king
Cyrus, who makes this demand to the Israelite nation: that the
devout construct the temple of God.
Ezra
Hopeful men return home on the highway from captivity. Sadly
an enemy was trying to harass them and delay the rebuilding of
the temple deity wants. Then Darius stops them: he invoked the
document from Cyrus that allowed it. They that took the strange
alien wives forced to divorce them.
Nehemiah
A sad prophet prays that the Lord may deal forgivingly toward
his children. He mentions the meek men that built the wall: defense
for this theist home. The practice of usury must end. They continue
to make very many new covenants. Why? Reading the law of God
motivates them to do their duty.
Esther
Mordecai recommended to the king that he take pretty Esther to
be his wife. Why? He was angry with unruly Vashti. So then Haman
cunningly attempted to claim that if her family doesn't want
to serve dutifully, he should destroy them. Esther pleaded on
that topic, saving everyone from doom.
Job
Fact: God let Satan grimly torment, with unhappy misfortunes,
a devout person of great riches. Why? In shock, he meets men
who imply that he must have been ultra wicked. However he attested
that he remained one of honesty and modest integrity. The Lord
duly vindicated him for that loyalty.
Psalms
Many delightful, sweet praises unto the Lord documented, that
David a mighty, saintly king of Israel wrote. Ponder here all
the varied thoughts they contain. Think very often of the many
themes they cover. Meditate much on the secrets of wisdom, then
pray about what the words imply. Amen.
Proverbs
This heritage of pithy wisdom from the son of David. Fathom it
well. The evil and the righteous way contrasted. Many thoughts
concerning why some people succeed and why others tend to fail.
The petty envy and the vanity, the adultery, and other like,
immature errors that make men stumble.
Ecclesiastes
The vanity of men's flashy, ephemeral pursuits. The frivolity
of the many decadent things that we like to do. Avoiding an errant
way while in the world is recommended. The right choice: seek
every path to truth. What's the loyal duty of man? To trust the
supreme God and obey the commandments.
The Song of Solomon
A king did eye with fancy a very sweet, pretty Shulamite miss
that he wanted to romance. But tormented, she did vow to remain
loyal to the happy memory of a youthful, smart shepherd lad with
a vehement love for this fetching young lass. Ah, the decent
king did consent to let her return to him.
Isaiah
God's new home in the mountains. The Assyrian army that wanted
blood fell, crushed; turned, it gets out of Israel. The overthrow
of the haughty kingdom at Tyre: The sinful idolatry vehemently
decried. The commencement of the captivity. Why heaven made kind,
happy promises to the stalwart.
Jeremiah
The covenant land to be decimated. Many armies that will advance
upon Israel to destroy, must come unto them from the north. If
they don't forsake idolatry, repent, and keep the law God gave
unto them, they must perish. Why? The sin, the vice, the filth.
What? The dire misery. How? God's slaying fury.
Lamentations
The famed city full of men and women sits solitary. Wicked folk
cry. God's truth? They loved it not. For that, they moan and
wail, even them that now must pay tribute to the enemy. The Lord
heard their sighs. He saw the unhappy crying and is come to erase
tears, deliver them, and give unto them hope.
Ezekiel
Stark things a man of God was commanded in a dream to reveal
unto the impudent men of Israel. Why? He knew the very sad truth:
the coming captivity they must suffer for unholy hedonist idolatry.
The penitent to have his mercy. The holy city to be restored
with the hallowed temple and gates.
Daniel
The king's dream told: the mighty image with many substances
vividly represented the calamity of the later transient kingdoms
of this earth, that come to unhappy ends. Why devout worthy men
are delivered from the doom of a white-hot furnace. Why one escaped
lions' teeth totally unhurt.
Hosea
The humble prophet takes this woman Gomer to wife. It turns out
the lady's a cheat. He yearns much for the former times, and
that's likened unto God's loving the guilty, wayward men and
women, that he condemned for the petty vices, or the evil hypocrisy
and vile idolatry that they manifested.
Joel
An unwelcome swarm of locust suddenly invade like an enemy army
from the north to devour everything which grew. The harvest all
perishes. Then it is death. Dismayed by this torture, the men
of the Lord wanted to sanctify a fast in hope that God might
yet take pity and come to help them out.
Amos
That very empty, formalistic worship loathed as wicked. Drought
and the pestilence are punishments the Lord may deal out to them
that want to think much of evil. Men of Tyrus wasted for remembering
not the law. The enemy? Ha, they died! The heavenly vision of
God destroying the sanctuary.
Obadiah
Esau's enmity, that wrongful petty hate he had. Edom's silent
dearth of sympathy for twin brother Israel, as the violent enemy
overruns them and destroys them. The fall of the very wretched,
evil, accursed Edomite kingdom, that mighty, wicked nation located
way up high on the mountain top.
Jonah
A mighty unhappy man wants to make his way to Tarshish so that
he'd not have to go unto Nineveh, the very wicked city that the
Lord commanded him to call to repentance. In wild stormy waters
men utter: "Let's dump if guilty!" Devoured into the
belly of a fish for three days, he then emerges freed.
Micah
The enemy to advance, and that hostile enemy to waste the children
of Israel. Punishment awaits very greedy activity. The men that
oppress the poor on their farms and in their homes targeted.
God utterly cuts them off. The whole duty of humankind is to
love mercy and walk humbly with God.
Nahum
God to thwart the depraved wickedness of that haughty Assyrian
enemy menace. That very wild, bloody community of Nineveh shall
he condemn without sympathy to a ghastly tormented end. See,
it terminates, that the people will suffer no more under the
dark threat of their vicious might.
Habakkuk
Vengeance that the Chaldean forces wreak upon the unworthy children
of God. Irate men of fury suddenly threaten with death them that
live in the holy city, to motivate them to keep from vanity's
rosy way. Worshipers that trust dead molten images must be damned.
God is in his holy temple.
Zephaniah
Will not God utterly consume everything that moves? The human
with the fowl and fishes, many a king, a mighty prince, and merchants,
too, history! But if they attend worthily to heed their duty,
cease from loathsome wicked attitudes, and repent, he's happy,
elated, and loves them forevermore.
Haggai
Israelites, returned from captivity, commanded to get busy constructing
the temple. Wayward, they wait. When men thus provoke the Lord
and make him mad, he, in wrath, gives poverty to them. They heed,
then lo, an heyday of faith ensues. The glory that fills the
Lord's house if not contaminated.
The Son of Berechiah
The prophet's many vivid nightly visions. The angel who walked
and talked under the myrtle trees. That mighty, evil anti-Semite
enemy: they had to be cut off. Many faithful promises that God
then made unto worthy men of his chosen race. Accursed outward
worship. The remedy: not to tolerate.
Malachi
A mighty Lord's mercy to the covenant people, if they do truly
return to him and show devout piety. Sacrifices they make, when
dead animals that were sick are used, profit nothing. To be worthy,
mortal men must mind the sage ways of God and tithe a full tenth;
then he loves them, and they thrive.
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