Read Psalm 25 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraph:
25:1-22 {p} David recognizes the greatness of his iniquity, and the greatness of his need of God’s mercy for past sins, and instruction in God’s ways to prevent future sins
Psalm 25:1-22 Chiastic Structure:
The structure illustrates the topic of the Hebrew paragraph. But it turns out the 2A pair makes its own substructure:
We have the Repeating themes from Psa 25:1-3 (1A) of trust, not shamed, and enemies; but also the concept of waiting on YHVH. In fact, this is the first occurrence of the Hebrew verb “to wait” in the Psalms.
To wait in Hebrew is Strong’s H6960, קוה qavah, a primary verb meaning, “to wait, to expect.” The ancient pictographs are quph + vav + hey.
quph ק = sun on the horizon, thus condense, circle, time
vav ו = the tent peg, thus add, secure, hook
hey ה = man with upraised arms, thus exclaim, reveal, wonder, worship, breath
The parable the Hebrew Root Word is telling, is of measuring time (quph, as sunset measures one day from another), secure (vav) in Him to whom we look (hey).
In both the main structure, and the substructure, the concept of waiting on YHVH, which literally means being secure, because of who He is upon whom we are waiting – the Almighty, our Creator and Father, the One whose depth of mercy is unfathomable – is paired with trusting in Him, and taking refuge in Him.
To trust in Hebrew is Strong’s H982 בטח batach, a primitive root meaning, “to trust.” We have seen this verb a few times before in Bible for Beginners, the most recent being in 1 Samuel 12. The 3-letter root is bet + tet + chet.
bet ב = the house, thus house, household, family, in, within
tet ט = the basket, thus surround, contain, hold, mud
chet ח = the wall, thus outside, divide, half
The parable is of the family (bet) surrounded by (tet) the wall (chet). The abstract concept from this verbal root is security, because the family is secure within its house.
To take refuge in Hebrew is Strong’s H2620 חסה chasah; a primitive root meaning, “to seek or find refuge.” We have seen this verb a few times before in Bible for Beginners (see Psalm 7). The 3-letter root is chet + sin + hey.
chet ח = the wall, thus outside, divide, half
sin ס = the thorn, thus grab, hate, protect
hey ה = man w/ raised arms, thus look, reveal, wonder, worship, breath
The parable is of the wall (chet) which protects (sin), which is found (hey, in the sense of pointing out a discovery). Our English word “house” comes from the CH-S root.
And now we know why waiting on YHVH is a pair with trusting in Him and taking refuge in Him. Placing our trust in YHVH surrounds us as with a wall, so that we are secure from one sunset to the next while we wait, looking at Him whose deliverance is forthcoming.
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