Look Again

I will meditate on Your precepts and ^[f]regard Your ways.  Psalm 119:15  NASB

Regard – If you didn’t read it in Hebrew, you might expect that the translated word is šāmaʿ (shama).  “Hear, O Israel,” is the equivalent of “Do, O Israel” as šāmaʿ means both “to hear” and “to do.”  But surprising alternatives are often the tradecraft of poets, and in this case, instead of šāmaʿ we find nābaṭ.  Why?  What’s the difference?

First, we need to notice the tense.  This is the Hebrew Hif’il – to cause something – an action done to someone or something.  Robert Alter translates this verb as “look upon,” but perhaps we need a bit more to understand completely what the poet has in mind.  Remembering that the verb is causative, we can apply this to the usual meaning:

“1282  נָבַט (nābaṭ) look, regard  Our root represents that which one does with the eye (Ps 94:9) embracing everything from a mere glance (I Sam 17:42) to a careful, sustained, and favorable contemplation.”^[1]  It is often used in connection with God’s guidance.  “Men are to look, i.e. fix their eyes on and thus guide their lives according to the will of Jehovah as their only help.”^[2]

But the poet wants us to imagine that we are caused to look upon God’s ways.  In other words, God’s precepts (His governance) is so compelling, so magnificent, so inspiring that we cannot help but look at the amazing order of existence.  We don’t just notice this.  We don’t just glance at it.  We are overwhelmed by it—by its complexity, its connectedness, its comprehensiveness.  As Paul would write a thousand years later, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, . .”  The same poet captured the idea in another well-known expression, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which You have set in place; what is man that You think of him,. . .”

Perhaps you’ve looked at a sunset or sunrise and felt the presence of the Great Creator.  Perhaps you’ve walked through the forest or the desert and experienced His silent handiwork.  Or you’ve stared up at the heavens on a clear night and been amazed at the divine expanse.  Now the poet wants you to look at something else—at the incredible governance of it all, at the marvelous machinery of the universe, the astonishing design and awesome complexity all working perfectly toward His purposes.  Yes, the heavens are spectacular to behold.  The sunrise, the sunset—works of art.  The forest, the desert—studies in silence.  But more than all these things is the harmony of everything.  The great philosophical question, “Why is there something rather than nothing at all,” is answered with a resounding shout from the depths.  “Because I care.”

Look upon these things!

Topical Index: nābaṭ, regard, look upon, Psalm 119:15

^[1] Coppes, L. J. (1999). 1282 נָבַט. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 546). Moody Press.

^[2] Coppes, L. J. (1999). 1282 נָבַט. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 546). Moody Press.