The 9th letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet
Tet
ט
As seen by its meaning and its usage in the Hebrew Bible, the Hebrew letter Tet has positive connotations of goodness. Nonetheless, as with many things in the spiritual realm, there is also a certain duality associated with this Hebrew letter. Thus, while it is the first letter in the Hebrew word for “purity” (טהרה), it is also the first letter in the Hebrew word for “impurity” (טומאה). Additionally, while it is the first letter in the word for good (טוב) which is used to describe G-d’s reaction to the creation of light, He then goes on to separate between the light and the darkness, thus connecting once again back to duality.
V65 - You have dealt well with your servant , according to your word.
- We are slaves of God, and He keeps His promises according to His word.
- We don’t think about it enough, but it is wonderfully true that You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD. Think of all the ways God has dealt well with us. He chose us, He called us, He drew us to Himself. He rescued us, He declared us righteous, He forgave us, He put His Spirit within us, He adopted us into His family. He loves us, He makes us kings and priests and co- workers with Him, and He rewards all our work for Him. (Guzik)
V66 - Teach me good judgement and knowledge for I believe your commandments
- Good judgement and knowledge goes hand in hand and we need to be thought both according
to God's commandments
- We far too easily forget our great need to learn good judgment and knowledge, and are far too ready to trust our own heart and conscience. “The faculty of conscience partakes, with every other power of man, of the injury of the fall; and therefore, with all its intelligence, honesty, and power, it is liable to misconception…. Conscience, therefore, must not be trusted without the light of the word of God; and most important is the prayer – Teach me good judgment and knowledge.” (Bridges)
V67 - Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word
- Discipline brings us back on the right path. we should be very concerned for our souls if it is not disciplined by God when we go astray. Proverbs 3: 11-12 "My child, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves the one he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights."
- Afflictions are among the most precious means of grace.
- “Often our trials act as a thorn hedge to keep us in the good pasture, but our prosperity is a gap through which we go astray.” (Spurgeon)
V68 - You are good and do good, teach me your statues
- Acknowledge that only God is good, and by learning His ways/ statues/ word we can see how desperately we need salvation through Jesus Christ, because can never be good by our works.
- Despite the affliction – which we should regard as genuine – he proclaimed, “You are good, and do good.” In fact, he even wanted more instruction from God, saying “Teach me Your statutes.” This is said with the implicit understanding that this teaching might require more affliction; yet it was the psalmist’s desire. This shows how confident he was in the goodness of God. (Guzik)
V69 - The arrogant smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts.
- According to God's word we should deal with those, who hate us, with Love
- To such slanders and calumnies, a good life is the best answer. When a friend once told Plato, what scandalous stories his enemies had propagated concerning him, – I will live so, replied the great Philosopher, that nobody shall believe them.” (Horne)
- “If the mud which is thrown at us does not blind our eyes or bruise our integrity it will do us little harm. If we keep the precepts, the precepts will keep us in the day of [insults] and slander.” (Spurgeon)
V70 - Their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law.
- “There is and always ought to be a vivid contrast between the believer and the sensualist, and that contrast is as much seen in the affections of the heart as in the actions of the life: their heart is as fat as grease, and our heart is delighted with the law of the Lord.” (Spurgeon)
- “As if he should say, My heart is a lean heart, a hungry heart, my soul loveth and rejoiceth in thy word. I have nothing else to fill it but thy word, and the comforts I have from it; but their hearts are fat hearts; fat with the world, fat with lust; they hate the word. As a full stomach loatheth meat and cannot digest it; so wicked men hate the word, it will not go down with them, it will not gratify their lusts.” (William Fenner, cited in Spurgeon)
V71 - It is good for me to be afflicted, that I might learn Your statues
- How does God bring us nearer to Him, not with an easy life but through affliction. Through affliction I learned to empty myself and rely on God alone.
- Yet we must guard against the misunderstanding that seasons of affliction automatically make one better or godlier. Sadly, there are many who are worse from their affliction – because they fail to turn to God’s word for wisdom and life-guidance in such times. The worst affliction of all is a wasted affliction, wasted because we did not turn to God and gained nothing from it. (Guzik)
- “I, for my part, owe more, I think, to the anvil and to the hammer, to the fire and to the file, than to anything else. I bless the Lord for the correctives of his providence by which, if he has blessed me on the one hand with sweets, he has blessed me on the other hand with bitters.” (Spurgeon)
V72 - The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces
- The real treasure is God's wisdom and instruction, far more precious than gold and silver.
Matthew 6:19-21 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- “Herbert Lockyer recounts a story concerning the largest Bible in the world, a Hebrew manuscript weighing 320 pounds in the Vatican library. Long ago a group of Italian Jews asked to see this Bible and when they had seen it they told their friends in Venice about it. As a result a syndicate of Russian Jews tried to buy it, offering the church the weight of the book in gold. Julius the Second was Pope at that time, and he refused the offer, even though the value of such a large amount of gold was enormous…. Today we pay little to possess multiple copies of God’s Word. But do we value it? In many cases, I am afraid not.” (Boice)
- “The word of God must be nearer to us than our friends, dearer to us than our lives, sweeter to us than our liberty, and pleasanter to us than all earthly comforts.” (John Mason, cited in Spurgeon)
Oh Holy Heavenly Father , we are Your slaves and You are our Master. We rely on Your daily for wisdom and instruction according to Your word. You are good, Your word is good, Your rod and staff they comfort us. Help us to live like Your Son, holy and blameless and with love for our fellow man. Let us never forget or have dull hearts for your precious word.
Thank you Father
Amen.