neither calvin or luther or spurgeon or henry or augustine or popes or preachers today know that Psalm 119 is Messiah Yahshua's prayer for life

"I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments". Huh, I didnt figure The Lord ever went astray. I thought He was sinless.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.
Psalms 119:176

the Hebrew word they translated "gone astray" is ta'a h8582. it means to wander. it is an unfortunate mistranslation in this verse. a more correct translation would be "I have wandered off like a slain Lamb." that is exactly the situation Yahshua was in when He prayed that verse. He was dead like a "slain Lamb" which is a correct translation of Hebrew words abad/avad H6 (slain) se H7716 (Lamb). He was separated from His Father through death. He was asking His Father to seek Him and raise Him again.

He even says "for I do not forget Your commandments." He was referring to the promise of life in the law to Him and asking His Father to keep His promise to raise Him to life again as He asked for 16 times in the Psalm. He was completely obedient to the law which required Him to give His life to be obedient to the Father and to save us. He was separated from His Father because of the death He suffered for us. His Father answered that verse and the Psalm by raising Him from the dead according to the promise of life in the law to Him.

other Psalms also have His prayers while dead. Psalm 88 is a prime example. He asked His Father to raise Him so He could continue to praise Him and declare His works and wonders.

verse 176 actually proves it is Yahshua praying and He even refers to Himself as a "slain Lamb" if it were translated properly.

Hebrew word abad/avad H6 occurs 184 times in the OT. it is translated perished 98 times and destroy 62 times which accounts for 160 of those occurrences. the word slain means perished and destroyed, so it is the accurate translation of the word in verse 176. you can check the blue letter Bible online to verify this.

the prior 2 verses also prove it is Yahshua praying during death. in verse 174 He says

I have longed for Thy salvation, O YHVH; and Thy law is My delight.

(He delights in the law because it saves Him since He is the One Who keeps the law and fulfills it by giving His life to save us, which the law required of Him. If He were a sinner the law would be condemnation to Him as it is to us because we have broken it.)

in verse 175 He says

Let My soul live, and it shall praise Thee; and let Thy judgments help Me.

(He is asking His Father to raise Him so He can continue to praise Him. He asks His Father to show He fully obeyed the law by giving His life to save us, and to raise Him according to the promise of life in the law to Him.)

Yes. When I read it trying to see these words coming from David, about himself, that made no sense to me. Once I realized what I was reading, the heart of Jesus for the Law, for rightousness, then it came into focus.

Much love!

so you disagree. what's new. and that is why nearly no one has got it for the past 2000 years.

I find much in this Psalm that tells me about how life works.

Jesus Christ is made unto us . . . sanctification . . .

My ways need to be directed to keep His law, that is, my heart needs to be renewed in His love.

Much love!

thank you so much for that affirmation. it is greatly appreciated. much love in return. thank you.

then please consider while you read it how much it shows you about His heart and what He did. it opens up everything, even His prayers while dead.

The greater revelation to me was to look at all the Psalms, particularly of David, and see where they are Jesus' prayers, or the record of His thoughts in the days of His flesh.

This is to me a strong recommendation to save commentaries and such for last, but first, just sit with your Bible and prayerfully read, and when anything doesn't make sense, ask, how is it that this is fully and completely true in what it is saying? Give the first and most abundant opportunity to the Holy Spirit.

Much love!

It was maybe 6-7 years ago I saw this, and I'm still trying to assimilate it all! Yes indeed it opens it up! Before, I was just aghast, How could David say such things? Seeing Jesus in the Psalms, and in particular this Psalm, is to me like this detailed life journal that models for me the mind of Christ, as I work to take on that mind in fulness.

Much love!

agree. looking at the original Hebrew in difficult verses is also helpful. the Blue Letter Bible is great for that. going back to the original words can give more clarity when needed. thank you again for you comments.

exactly.

Psalm 119 is a perfect guide to living happy and well, but it is about the law of the Lord. That law does not save us, it is our faith in Christ that does that, but Christ tells us of the law of the Lord. If we accept Christ, of course we also accept what Christ tells us. We cannot say that we have faith in the forgiveness and salvation Christ offers, but other than that, everything Christ tells us is to be ignored.

As the 119th psalm says 119:16-18 --16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.

18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

we are never capable of attaining life through the law though. the promise of life in the law was to Him only because He is the only One Who could fully keep the law by offering His sinless life to save us. as pointed out earlier. the promise of life in the law to Him is in Leviticus 18:5. it is also referred to in Ezekiel 20. Paul refers to in in Romans 10 and Galatians 3. Hebrews 5 is very helpful as well.

He was saved from death by His obedience to the Father and the law, and His faith that His Father would raise Him according to the promise, and His love for us His neighbors in giving His life to save us. we are saved by faith in Him and what He did to save us.

just trying to help understand Psalm 119 and Who's prayer it is. if Christians accepted it is Yahshua's prayer and preached it as such it may help save more Jews and Muslims. If they can see His prayers in the Psalms they may be convinced to believe the Gospel.

who knew there was a promise of life in the law?

knowing there is a promise of life in the law is key. that is the basis of what He is praying for throughout Psalm 119. that is why He praises the law and precepts and statutes and judgments because it was His path to life and being raised from the dead. He calls on His Father throughout Psalm 119 to give Him life or raise Him because of His obedience to the law in giving His life to save us. in most translations they use the word revive or quicken for Hebrew word haya H2421 which means to live and life. He is asking to be raised to life throughout Psalm 119 after giving His life to save us.

There are many kinds of law, it is a very complicated subject. God's law cannot stand along, all scripture is truth and each must be learned and acknowledged. Even the world, whose ways are so opposed to God's ways, have law. We don't run a red light in the world.

The law alone, without Christ, cannot save, but if your faith in Christ is only that He is able to forgive sins, it isn't actually faith in Christ, only faith in his ability to forgive our sins. I we do not repent of them, but prefer to keep them, Christ lets us do that.

Luther loved psalm 119. He said it was a model for understanding the entire Bible. That it perfectly lays out both law and gospel.

I had not seen the gospel is the 119 psalm, only instruction about how to live as belonging to Christ. So I just now read it again and there was the gospel so clearly given. Thanks so very much, God be with you and bless you.