Daily Bible Nugget #181, Psalm 19:7

The Nugget:

Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

My Comment:

The Scriptures are designed for making wise the simple. The term “simple” in modern English translations is given as “the inexperienced” (NET Bible), “ordinary people” (CEV, Contemporary English Version), “the foolish” (Bible in Basic English). When it comes to understanding things about God we all start at the beginning. The Bible is designed to inform us, to make us wise, about the things of God. Notice that in this text, God declares His written Word is designed for ordinary people. In Proverbs 4:7 we are encouraged to make wisdom our priority in life. If the Bible is designed for ordinary people, then the Bible must be understandable by its own declaration. This proves the perspicuity of Scripture. When we make the Bible our primary source of knowledge about God and His will for our lives, we will indeed be given all the wisdom we need.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 544 for Psalm 19:7.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 596 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Psalm 19:7.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

Ps 19:7. law. or, doctrine. +*Ps 1:2. 78:1-7. *Ps 119:72, 96-100, 105, 127, 128. 147:19, 20. *Dt 6:6-9. *Dt 17:18-20. 31:12. **Jsh 1:8. 2 S 16:23. *Ezr 7:10. Ne 9:13. 13:3. **Jb 23:12. Ro 2:18. 3:2. 7:7, 12. **Ro 15:4. Ep 6:17. 1 Tim 1:8. 4:6. +**2 Tim 3:16. perfect. T#45.2; T#1027. ver. Ps 19:8, 9. *Ps 18:30. 111:7. +*Ps 119:96. Dt 32:4. Pr 30:5. +Mt 5:48 (T#548). *Ro 12:2. James 1:17, 25. converting. or, restoring. Meshivah:—used of restoring from disorder and decay (Ps 80:19),—from sorrow and affliction (Ru 4:15),—from death (1 K 17:21, 22) [Kay]. T#47. *Ps 23:3. +*Ps 51:13. 56:4. *Ps 119:9, 93, *Ps 119:150. +Ps 126:5 (T#431). Jb 33:27. Mic 2:7. +Mk 4:14 (T#428). +**Jn 5:39. 6:63. 15:3. 17:17, 19. Ac 11:14. +Ac 27:31 (T#429). Ro 1:16. **Ro 10:17. +1 Cor 1:17 (T#430). +1 Cor 4:15 (T#432). Ep 6:17. **1 Th 2:13. **2 Tim 3:15. *James 1:18, 21-25. *1 P 1:23. +*1 P 2:2. soul. Heb. nephesh, +Ge 34:3. testimony. Eduth:—frequently used of the Decalogue,—which was God’s standing protestation to Israel. Ex 25:16, 21, 22, 26, etc. Hence the Tabernacle is called “ohel eduth;” Nu 9:15; 17:23; 18:2 [Kay]. FS132C. Parallelism, Simple: Synthetic, or Constructive F/S 351. This is where the parallelism consists only in the similar form of construction. There is neither gradation nor opposition of words in the several lines; which are independent, and depend for their parallelism on their construction. Here, in Ps 19:7-9, the lines are simply parallel, and are chiefly in pairs. See the terms law/testimony, statutes/commandment, fear/judgments. *Ps 89:37. *Ps 93:5. 119:14, 24, 111, 138, 152. Ex 32:15. 1 K 2:3. 2 K 23:3. Is 8:16, **Is 8:20. Jn 3:32, 33. **Jn 5:39. *Ac 10:43. *2 Cor 3:7. 2 Tim 1:8. *1 J 5:3, 9-12. *Re 19:10. sure. Ps 93:5. *Ps 111:7. 2 S 23:5. +*Mt 24:35n. Mk 13:31. Jn 17:17. *2 Tim 2:19. *He 6:18, 19. *2 P 1:19. making wise. T#1039. **Ps 119:98-100, 130. Dt 4:6, 8. Ezr 7:25. *Prov 1:4, 5, 22, 23. 2:6. *Prov 8:9. +**Is 8:20. 35:8. 45:19. %+*Je 8:9. Ezk 18:9. Lk 10:21. **Ro 15:4. *Col 3:16. **2 Tim 3:15-17. **1 P 2:2. simple. FS108K54, +Pr 1:4. Ps 116:6. Pr 7:7. *Pr 8:5, 6. 9:4. Ro 16:18.