YODH – THE TRIAL OF SLANDER – Psalm 119:73-80

Each verse of the 10th stanza of the great acrostic song begins, in the original language, with the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet – 'yodh'. As the Psalmist's trying journey continues, he finds himself facing slander ffrom his and the Lord's enemies (78). In spite of the hardships he continues to encounter, he remains encouraged. He has learned and confessed in stanza 9 that there is redemptive purpose in the afflictions of the elect (67, 71). Here again he acknowledges the faithfulness of the Lord even in the face of sundry trials (75). These stanza's anticipate teachings of Jesus emphasized in the beatitudes. (Mat 5:10-12) The extended teaching in Jesus' introduction in His 'Sermon on the Mount' encouraged His disciples with the promise of blessings for those who are persecuted for righteousness sake and reviled with false accusations on account of their relationship with Christ. “Rejoice and be glad” He says, “for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” The author of Ps 119 was certainly one of these prophets Jesus had in mind. A prophet, in as much as he was inspired and anointed to record the greatest song in literature and no stranger to hardship as he proclaims the sufficiency of the Covenant Revelation of God in the face of 21 presenting trials through the course of his epic song. In our text today, he testifies that the Word of God is sufficient for the trial of slander. Though the author of Ps 119 remains unknown to us, his testimony certainly is clear. In his journey of sanctification, he has found understanding, hope, comfort, delight, and holiness in the commandments, word, rules promise, law, precepts, testimonies, and statutes of God. In stanza ten, he models for us examples of grounded petition. The 'Yodh' section emphasizes the relationship between the nature of God and godly prayer.