Psalm 119:97

Psalm 119:97

Searching for hidden depths

And so we come to 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and it is “Mem.” Traditionally, Mem has several related meanings: “waters,” “people,” “nations,” and “tongues.” The name of the letter is thought to symbolise water itself, and in its most ancient forms it bore a resemblance to waves of water. That thought was taken further so that Mem was seen as representing the sea that is Torah or the ocean of Talmud! Yes, it does get complicated! This thinking is taken further in that there are two forms of Mem, the open form represents God’s revealed word, and the closed form represents the concealed truth of God.

Now, we ended verse 96 with the thought that there are hidden depths to God’s Word, there are things as yet unrevealed to us, the Word is so profound that no humans can ever plumb its hidden secrets, However much we study and meditate upon it, there are always new mysteries to unravel and hidden truths that we never saw before. In that sense “Mem” is a great heading to the next 8 verses. It is in this context that the writer exclaims, “Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long.”  He has realised that there are unsearchable riches and endless hidden gems of wisdom and truth and the more he meditates, the more these gems are revealed.

So, what have we learned that is new in the past week? What previously hidden truths have we uncovered? Where has the Holy Spirit taken us on our journey of discovery? What are the words or verses that have jumped up at us and turned from just knowledge to revelation? It is so easy to make do with what we already know, to believe that we’ve grasped the basics and that any further revelations are for scholars and theologians. Not so. The Lord has something new to say to each of us today. Hallelujah! 

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