alphabetic Psalm, in sections consisting of eight
couplets, and each couplet of the same section beginning with the same
letter. The sections follow in the order of the Hebrew alphabet. It is
the most elaborate alphabetic Psalm, there being several others where
each verse begins with a successive letter. It is also the longest
Psalm in the book. Still another peculiarity is that every verse
contains a reference to the law of God. It is a Psalm greatly loved by
many people. William Wilberforce, the great opponent of slavery, said
at one specially busy time that he found great comfort in repeating
the 119th Psalm. Ruskin, who learned it in his boyhood, later writing
of it, notes how the sense of delight in the law of God runs through
it all. Henry Martyn committed it to memory. David Livingstone learned
it in Sunday school at the age of nine. The names of those who have
found delight in this Psalm would make a very long list and be
representative of many different vocations.
_Psalm 121_. This Psalm was read by David Livingstone with his family
on the morning when he started for his first mission tour to Africa. A
later missionary, James Harrington, on his journey into Africa,
repeated this, which he called his "Traveling" Psalm, every morning.
_Psalm 122_. James Hogg, the Scottish poet, is said to have learned
this Psalm before he knew his letters. The Bible was his only book in
boyhood. This Psalm was used in the Huguenot wars as the Huguenot's
chant of victory after battle.
_Psalm 126_. Robert Estienne, a French printer of the Reformation
time, who was very influential in giving the Bible to the people, says
that often in his controversies he found strength in this Psalm.
_Psalm 130_. One of Luther's best known German hymns is founded on
this Psalm--
"Aus tiefer Noth schrel Ich zu dir."
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Beza died repeating lines 5 and 6, and it was one of the sustaining
influences of Bunyan in his spiritual struggles with himself.
_Psalm 136_. Milton's hymn, written when a student at Cambridge, at
the age of 15, is founded on Psalm 136--
"Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for he is kind,
For his mercies aye endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure."
_Psalm 144_ was used by Bernard as a text from which to preach a
crusade to win Jerusalem from the Saracens. Lines 10 and 11 have been
used, both in England and in France, as a motto on the face of
sundials. "Man is like to vanity. His days
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