Tav

Let my cry come before You, Lord; give me understanding according to Your word.  Psalm 119:169  NASB

תִּקְרַ֤ב רִנָּתִ֣י לְפָנֶ֣יךָ יְהֹוָ֑ה כִּדְבָרְךָ֥ הֲבִינֵֽנִי

Let my cry come before You, Lord; give me understanding according to Your word.

תָּב֣וֹא תְחִנָּתִ֣י לְפָנֶ֑יךָ כְּ֝אִמְרָתְךָ֗ הַצִּילֵֽנִי

Let my pleading come before You; save me according to Your word.

תַּבַּ֣עְנָה שְׂפָתַ֣י תְּהִלָּ֑ה כִּ֖י תְלַמְּדֵ֣נִי חֻקֶּֽיךָ

Let my lips pour out praise, for You teach me Your statutes.

תַּ֣עַן לְ֭שׁוֹנִי אִמְרָתֶ֑ךָ כִּ֖י כׇל־מִצְוֺתֶ֣יךָ צֶּֽדֶק

Let my tongue sing about Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness.

תְּהִי־יָדְךָ֥ לְעׇזְרֵ֑נִי כִּ֖י פִקּוּדֶ֣יךָ בָחָֽרְתִּי

Let Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts.

תָּאַ֣בְתִּי לִישׁוּעָתְךָ֣ יְהֹוָ֑ה וְ֝ת֥וֹרָתְךָ֗ שַׁעֲשֻׁעָֽי

I long for Your salvation, Lord, and Your Law is my delight.

תְּֽחִי־נַ֭פְשִׁי וּֽתְהַלְלֶ֑ךָּ וּֽמִשְׁפָּטֶ֥ךָ יַעְזְרֻֽנִי

Let my soul live that it may praise You, and let Your ordinances help me.

תָּעִ֗יתִי כְּשֶׂ֣ה אֹ֭בֵד בַּקֵּ֣שׁ עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ כִּ֥י מִ֝צְוֺתֶ֗יךָ לֹ֣א שָׁכָֽחְתִּי

I have wandered about like a lost sheep; search for Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.

The End Game – My cry

“Let my cry come before You.”  When you read this, what emotion does the psalmist express?  Is it agony?  Angst? Distress?  We’ve seen all these before in the Hebrew word ānâ, and if you read this only in English, you might imagine that this is the word here.  Then you would think that the psalmist is crying out in pain.  But you’d be wrong.

In this verse, as a sort of postscript to the summation in the shin section, the poet begins with rinnâ.  It’s entirely Hebraic, in thought and deed.

rānan is a primary Hebrew root, not developed in the other Semitic languages, passing into medieval Judeo-Arabic. The root and its verbal noun appear over fifty times in the ot. The most frequent occurrences are in Isa and Ps, generally in poetic passages.^[1]

The initial use of rānan is in Lev 9:24 where the shout of jubilation is connected with a divinely appointed sacrifice. This usage of the term to describe the joy of Israel at God’s saving acts is carried on throughout the ot. In all of the fourteen occurrences of rānan in Isaiah, it is the connotation of holy joy which is being celebrated by Israel’s shouting (Isa 12:6)^[2]

In Ps the root is developed to its fullest. rānan appears in parallel poetry with nearly every term for “joy,” “rejoicing” and “praise” but not clearly in any strict grammatical relationships.^[3]

White’s comment on the use in the psalms is particularly important.  Notice the synonyms: joy, rejoicing, praise.  Now we realize that “my cry” is not at all about distress.  It’s about jubilation!  The psalmist tells us, after 168 verses of praise for God’s involvement, that his voice is the voice of absolute, passionate joy.  He’s overwhelmed with thanksgiving for the God who cares.  And he chooses a word that is as unique as the character of the Hebrew God, a word which is not paralleled in any other Semitic language.  This in itself is significant.  The poet could have chosen many words to express his delight, but those other choices would echo something from the cultures of pagan deities.  Rather than provide even a hint of compatibility, he uses a word that belongs only to God’s language.  We would do well to remember this.  Perhaps the NASB’s rendition would have been better accomplished if the verse were, “Let my jubilant shout come before You.”

Just two more grammatical notes.  First, notice that opening verb (qārab) indicates coming near with intimate proximity.  Here it is an imperfect, implying a continuous action.  It is almost as if the poet is asking for God’s permission to shout joyfully.  Even this expression is laced with holy compliance and respect.  Secondly, unlike the previous verse, the word “before” now is the traditional preposition and idiomatic expression, l^e pānêkā (“before Your face”).  Once again, the tone is particularly personal.  This joyful shout is in the direct presence of the High One of Israel, whose name, by the way, is not “Lord,” as rendered in the English, but rather YHVH, the personal name of the unique God of Israel who receives the unique joyful outburst of His servant.

Now you understand why the Chabad translation is:

“May my song of prayer draw near before You, O Lord; according to Your word, enable me to understand.”

Topical Index: l^e pānêkā, before You, rānan, joyful shout, cry, Psalm 119:169

^[1] White, W. (1999). 2179 רָנַן. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 851). Moody Press.

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Ibid.