Michiana Covenant Presbyterian Church

We have come to the end of our journey through Psalm 119. As we come to the concluding pair of stanzas, we find a word that we have not heard much in the whole Psalm: "Praise" (verses 164, 171, and 175). In all of the intimate conversation between the Psalmist and the LORD, the word "praise" only arises here at the end. Even as the Psalter as a whole ends with a crescendo of praise (Psalms 146-150), so also Psalm 119 ends with praise as well. Another unique phrase is found in verses 166 and 174: "your salvation, O LORD." The word "salvation" has been used a couple of times in the Psalm, and the name of Yahweh has frequently occurred. Last week we saw that the Psalmist cried out to the LORD to save him (v145-146), and pled with the LORD for mercy in the context of talking about salvation (v155-156). But only here does "your salvation, O LORD" become the central theme. The connection between stanza Shin and stanza Taw is made especially clear because this phrase "your salvation, O LORD" occurs in the sixth line