July 26th, 2020

The Old Testament text for this Sunday is from the book of Deuteronomy [7:6-9]. The title of that book refers to a second giving of the law. A more accurate title may be found in the first words of the book: ‘These are the words….’ There are A LOT of words in that book, words that talk a lot about what had happened in the past (and not so many words that are describing the current events of that time).

Just a few weeks ago, the text was from Exodus 19, and in both that text and in this one there is an extremely rare word, sometimes translated with these two words: ‘treasured possession’. Here are both verses in a somewhat literal translation:

And now, if you certainly listen to my voice and you keep my covenant, then you will be, to me, a treasured possession to me from all the peoples that are in all the earth (Exodus 19:5).

For you are a holy people to Yahweh, your God; Yahweh, your God, chose you to be for him as a treasured possession from all the peoples which are on the faces of the earth (Deuteronomy 7:6).

These verses should be a ‘treasured possession’, since that word does not show up too frequently in the Old Testament. In 1 Chronicles 29:3 and Ecclesiastes 2:8, the word refers to the personal property of kings. But in the two verses above, as well as in only four other places, that word is used in connection with Israel, that Israel is seen as the LORD’s ‘treasured possession’.

Here are those four verses, again with a somewhat literal translation:

For you are a holy people to Yahweh, your God, and Yahweh chose you to be for him as a people, a treasured possession from all the peoples that are on the faces of the earth (Deuteronomy 14:2; please note how similar this verse is to 7:6; here, again, is an emphasis on words).

And Yahweh has declared this day to be to him for a people of a treasured possession, just as he promised to you and to keep all of his commandments (Deuteronomy 26:18).
For Yahweh chose Jacob for him, Israel for his treasured possession (Psalm 135:4).

‘And they will be for me’, says Yahweh of Hosts, ‘in the day which I making a treasured possession, and I will spare them just as a man spares his son, the one serving him (Malachi 3:17).’

Besides those three appearances in Deuteronomy, there are not many words that appear once in the second book of the bible, once in the Psalms, and once in the last book of the bible! Much could be said about ANY of these verses, but the appearance in the Psalter is probably the most noteworthy.

Although I have often written that chapter divisions are an artificial structure imposed upon the text, I should also mention that the book of Psalms is an exception. Each Psalm is a chapter, and each Psalm was probably composed separately, and so those chapter divisions are important ones and should be taken into account. But I should also say that the book of Psalms AS A WHOLE also has a structure, and it is sometimes difficult to see such a structure. Sometimes the structure takes into account certain numbers that are important to the Hebrew language and history. And with the Hebrew language, numbers are VERY closely related to words since the Hebrew letters sometimes serve as numbers as well. The entire book of the Psalms is actually broken up into five books, and this mirrors, in some ways, the first five books of the bible. (There are also five Psalms at the very end of this entire book which form somewhat of a conclusion and which may be connected to these first five books of the bible.)

The appearance of Israel as a treasured possession in Psalm 135 is in an interesting place. The fifth book of the Psalter is from Psalm 107 to Psalm 150. If you go ten Psalms into that book, you are at Psalm 116. In the Psalms before this, you hear of people praising the LORD in an assembly. You also hear, in Psalm 108:8, that God speaks from his sanctuary. In Psalm 110:2, we hear that Yahweh will send his scepter of power from Zion. There is also the reminder that our God is in the heavens (Psalm 115:3). But in Psalm 116, at the end (verses 17 and following), there are these words (literally translated):

To you I will sacrifice an offering of thanksgiving and on the name Yahweh I will call. My vows to Yahweh I will fulfill before, now, all his people, in the courts of the house of Yahweh, in your midst, Jerusalem. Praise Yahweh!

So there seems to be a closer progression toward the temple in these first ten Psalms. Then there are three Psalms after this, the shortest one (Psalm 117), one with one of the most comforting prophecies of the Old Testament (and Martin Luther’s most favorite Psalm, Psalm 118), and the longest Psalm (Psalm 119).

After this ‘interlude’, there are fifteen ‘Songs of Ascent’ (Psalm 120 to 134; and the only Psalm ‘of Solomon’, the builder of the temple, just happens to be the middle one!). On the way to the final ‘Song of Ascent’, at Psalm 122, there was talk of being ‘at the gates of Jerusalem (verse 2).’ At the last ‘Song of Ascent’, there is the command to ‘Lift up your hands in the sanctuary.’ Then there is this statement: ‘Yahweh will bless you from Zion, the One making the heavens and the earth (Psalm 134:2-3).’ Before this there was also talk of Yahweh blessing from Zion, but that is connected to the goodness of Jerusalem—not something as important as making heaven and earth (See 124:8 and 128:5)!

So, there seems to be a progression at the beginning of this fifth book of the Psalter, and there seems to be another progression within these Songs of Ascent. And the first Psalm after these Songs of Ascent is Psalm 135, and this Psalm contains those very special and very rare words of Israel being a ‘treasured possession’.
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After Psalm 135, the next Psalm has a repeated phrase throughout the chapter, much like a liturgy, and then there is somewhat of an opposite contrast in the next Psalm, with a reference to being exiled in Babylon. The fact of a ‘treasured possession’ seems to be meant to carry the hearer through a whole spectrum of possibilities. In much the same way, all the words of scripture have been carefully designed to carry the Lord’s people through a wide spectrum of situations in this life.