Midnights of Heth

hebrew letter heth

For the past few weeks, our Wednesday night Bible study focus has been geared at moving through Psalm 119. Last night we covered v.57-64, also referred to as the Hebrew letter Heth.

As with each of our study group sessions, there are always in attendance at least two different insights and perspectives on various scripture readings. We took our time dissecting this one last night, and I got to thinking a lot about what was said.

Some interesting notes:

v. 57-59: The word promise is used twice, in two separate contexts. First, the psalmist's promise to God to obey His word, and the second in regards to the promise which He has made to us. We spent a few moments in discussion over the human capacity to actually make a promise to God, and to what degree our caution should be in making such a gaurantee. It was tossed out that, in reading forward a couple verses, the psalmist here is reflecting on his current life, situation, and spiritual state, and therefore proclaiming his endeavor to follow the word and comply with the Lord's teachings. Additionally, it was also noted that this psalmist is an old testament figure, thus the concept of salvation was achieved by keeping the written laws and looking forward to Christ's sacrifice. This is in contrast to new testament salvation, which is achieved now by keeping the written laws and looking back at the sacrifice made.

v. 60-62: This was the portion of the passage that struck a particular chord for me. In 61, the psalmist describes the ensnarement of himself by the wicked as being bound by ropes, and declares his unwavering remembrance of his Lord's law. The footnotes in my Bible explained this [ropes] as being oppressed by the world in which we live, which is, by nature, a fallen world. There wasn't much debate over the contextual interpretation of either v.60 or 61, but 62 opened a door to me. In this verse, the psalmist states his dedication in adhering to the written law, even at midnight. There's where it started getting tricky.

First it was translated [by a group member] that midnight was referring to its most literal translation as a point in time during which the psalmist was rising [awaking] to give praise. Interestingly enough, that insight caught me offguard; the first thing that hit my mind was that midnight was alluding to a period of life, a time of darkest hours. I gathered and defended that point by including v. 61 and tying the two together contextually. My mind read that as, the world will attempt to discourage me, many times succeeding for a period, but in those darkest hours, I will praise you.



'hope that stems from midnight' | anonymous



Perhaps it's because I spent the majority of my college tenure immersed in different styles of literature, digging by instruction in every direction for literal or figurative translation of what I had read. I had learned to process every sentence with an objective frame of mind, and that there is usually just a fraction of an entire piece that is not open for interpretation. [i.e. - the crucifixion, resurrection, etc. are absolutely non-negotiable in reading the Bible. Other things, like the midnight reference currently being mentioned, lend more room for personal comprehension.] The whole revelation of midnight hours sent me thinking into some of the darkest times in my life, and the dark hours I've either seen happening in the lives of friends or family, and all the national/global events, natural disasters, and wars that have made such deep historical marks on our world. One of the things we always hear during the coping process after an altering event or series of events is the immediate response of those in prayer. Strangers rally together to pray for others, for their country, for their world. It's midnight somewhere, and God is there.

I like that. It's comforting.

It's midnight somewhere, and God is there.

Not 'but God is there,' rather 'and God is there.' Dark hours will find us somehow, sometime, some way. That doesn't change for a second the fact that God is there all the time. He knows that our midnights will confuse and discourage us, and He also knows that all that will be left at that point is Him. He's there, and he's waiting.

I'm carrying that with me today. I just thought I'd share.

xo | cmd