49. Remember your word to your servant,
in which you have made me hope.

50. This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life.

51. The insolent utterly deride me,
but I do not turn away from your law.

52. When I think of your rules from of old,
I take comfort, O Lord.

53. Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,
who forsake your law.

54. Your statutes have been my songs
in the house of my sojourning.

55. I remember your name in the night, O Lord,
and keep your law.

56. This blessing has fallen to me,
that I have kept your precepts.

Don’t Forget!

Our brains are “leaky”; we are often forgetful. God, therefore, regularly calls us to “remember” what He has done in the past to grow our faith that He is trustworthy and good today and in the future. God calls us to remember the deliverance from slavery in Egypt (Ex. 13:3) and the greater deliverance by Messiah’s body (1 Cor. 11:24) and blood (1 Cor. 11:25).

Beginning with the letter zayin (ז), Z’chor (זְכֹר) is the Hebrew word for “remember” and a form of this word begins three verses in this stanza. Specifically, verse 49 cries out for God to remember His word to the Psalmist while verses 52 and 55 declare what the Psalmist remembers. The opening of verse 52, “When I think of” is a translation of the root word z’chor, calling to mind God's rules or laws. In verse 55, the Psalmist declares his remembrance of God’s Name in the night.

Some of the earliest instances of z’chor in the Hebrew Bible include God “remembering” Noah (Gen. 8:1), Abraham (19:29), Rachel (30:22), and His covenant with the Patriarchs (Ex. 2:24). The last prophet recorded in the Hebrew Bible includes a call for us to “remember” God’s Torah (i.e., law, instruction) in Malachi 4:4. Psalm 119 certainly helps us heed this live-giving instruction!

Hebrew Treasure excerpt written by Thomas Boehm.
From The Psalm 119 Journey by Steve Allen, ©2022.
Used with permission.