#Wineskin in the smoke skin

#Wineskin in the smoke skin

Through the smoking process, the skin becomes dry, tough, soft, and mature, and then, it is transformed completely and now can be filled with wine, which is the Word of God that is the psalmistвЂ™s ultimate delight (24, 77, 143, 174). This is to be prepared as a leather bottle of wine. Here вЂњa wineskin in the smokeвЂќ is the skin of a sheep that is hung in the middle of hot and sooty smoke. In verse 83, the psalmist says, вЂњThough I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.вЂќ I think this is the summation of the singerвЂ™s life, describing also what we Christian go through and achieve through our lives. It is rather a weary trudge with many agonies. He eagerly seeks GodвЂ™s guidance through His Word. So he is praying to be sought and found by the shepherd. Still he remembers the commands of his shepherd. He is a lost sheep that has strayed from the shepherd. He has two contradictory aspects in his one life. While the psalmist sees the ideal image of the blessed at the beginning, he seems to be in the middle of the journey to this blessing. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.вЂќ The beginning and the end are quite contrasting with each other. And it ends with this lamenting prayer: вЂњI have strayed like a lost sheep. This psalm begins with this statement: вЂњBlessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LordвЂќ (v. Most of the verses in this poem include one or two of these terms denoting the Word of God, but verses 84, 90, 121, 122 and 132 do not.

(As I counted based on the NIV Bible translation, these counts may be slightly different from others). The most frequent term is вЂњThe Law of the Lord,вЂќ which appears 46 times in this psalm. In this poem, the Word of God is called in a number of different terms. This psalm is mainly the PsalmistвЂ™s prayers to God, and his resolutions regarding the Word of God. As the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters shown as below, the total number of verses becomes 176 (22 x 8). The text on the right shows the original version of the first set of eight verses, each of which starts with the first letter Alef ( Чђ). This is an acrostic poem, in which each set of eight verses begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

As we see, Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, consisting of 176 Still it is a great wild repository of heavenly treasures that needs to be mined carefully and diligently, and I would like to share with you what IвЂ™ve dug from the repository. Though I Am Like a Wineskin in the Smoke Psalm 119 I have never thought to write a sermon on Psalm 119 simply because it is too long to cover in a sermon.