Michiana Covenant Presbyterian Church

Today we are looking at the 7th and 8th stanzas of the Psalm. The seventh stanza begins with the letter "zayin." This seventh stanza is the stanza of memory – rooted in the word "zachar" which means "remember." Zachar is the first word of verses 49, 52 and 55. Even as the seventh day of Exodus 20 is the day of rest – and remembering - so also the seventh stanza of Psalm 119 is the stanza of remembering. And, not surprisingly perhaps, the eighth stanza of Psalm 119 is the stanza of promise. The remembering of the Sabbath day, and the remembering of the seventh stanza, points back to the creation as well as the redemption from Egypt, but it also leads up to the inheritance of the eighth stanza – the promises of God, as well as my own promise to keep your words. There are five clear connections between the stanzas: 1) both refer to "night": "I remember your name in the night, O LORD" (v55) "At midnight I rise to praise you (v62) (this word is found nowhere else in the Psalm) 2) both stanzas refer to "your promis