Psalm 19/Translation/PTS

Instructions for listening

Read the Hebrew-mirror and Hebrew-tight guide translations from Appendix A for the group to listen.One reader per translation or one reader for all translations (as skills permit). Others to listen withclosed books. Consider 'how to listen': posture? with responses? in silence?

Explaining and discussing the meaning and beauty of the psalm

First impressions

After listening to the guide translations, discuss the following questions:

What do you like about the psalm?
What do you find difficult to understand?
What do you think is beautiful in the psalm?
What are some of the images that the Psalmist uses?

First creative response: the beginning and end of the Psalm

Listen to vv.1 and v.14 and see how the Psalmist begins and how he finishes this psalm.

Who (or what) does the Psalmist describe as speaking in v.1 and what do they speak about?
Whose words and meditation is the Psalmist concerned about in v.14 and what does he pray for?

Psalm 19 moves from what the heavens speak about God in v.1 to the Psalmist's prayer for himself in v.14. As we study and learn the Psalm, we need to think about how each part of the Psalm contributes to this movement.

Activity. From heaven to heart

Make a mime drama with actions for v.1 and v.14
Have a narrator give the sense of v.1 and v.14 in their own words (and language) while the group performs appropriate actions.

The flow of the Psalm

The psalm divides into three main parts. In each part, the Psalmist seems to speak about something completely different.The Psalmist introduces his main subject in the first line of each part and carries on speaking about this subject for a few verses before he shifts his focus towards the end of each part.

Identify the main subjects in each part of the Psalm.

Read and listen to the English Literal translation of vv.1-4, vv.7-9 and vv.12-13. What is the Psalmistsubject in each of these passages? Try and summarise what he says in each of them.

vv.1-4. The heavens declare the glory of God. The Psalmist speaks about the heavens declaring the glory of God and the words of the heaven reaching everywhere.
vv.7-9. The law of Yahweh is perfect giving rest to the soul. The Psalmist speaks about the beauty of Yahweh's law, what it is like and what it does.
vv.12-13. Who can discern his errors, forgive my hidden sins. The Psalmist asks for forgiveness for his sins, both his hidden sins and his wilful sins, so that he may be blameless and innocent of great transgression.

Shifts in focus

Towards the end of each of the three parts, the Psalmist shifts his focus slightly. Read and listen to theEnglish Literal translation of vv.1-6, vv.7-11 and vv.12-14. How does the Psalmist shift his focus towardsthe end of each part. Summarise what he says in the final verse of each part.

vv.1-6. Towards the end of Part 1, the Psalmist shifts his focus from the heavens to the sun whichcrosses the heavens. (He says the sun is like a bridegroom, like a champion, that it crosses theheavens from one end to another and that nothing is hidden from its heat.)
vv.7-11. In the main body of Part 2, the Psalmist speaks about the law. He uses 6 different terms todescribe Yahweh's law: it is his law, his testimony, his precepts, his commandment, his fear andfinally his judgments. What does he say about Yahweh'sjudgments? (They are very desirable, sweet and valuable.)
vv.12-13. At the beginning of Part 3, the Psalmists asks to be forgiven and protected from his sins sothat he may be blameless and innocent of great transgression. How does he shift the focus of hisprayer at the end of the Psalm and how does he show his dependence upon Yahweh to answer hisprayer. (He prays that his words and meditations may be pleasing to Yahweh, and he calls on him ashis rock and redeemer.)

Chart the flow of the Psalm

To keep track of what the Psalmist is saying in each part of the Psalm, start by making an initial chartwith labels for his main subjects in each part and for his change in focus at the end of each part.

Write each label on a board or a blank piece of paper in your own language.
The labels in the third part should be from the Psalmist's point of view (first person). At the end ofhis prayer in this part, he shifts his focus from his sins to Yahweh as his rock and his redeemer so thelabels for the third part should be my sins and my rock and my redeemer.

Put the main subjects on the left and the shifts in focus on the right, as follows:

The heavens

The sun

Yahweh's law

Yahweh's judgments

My sins

My rock and my redeemer

The Psalm as a whole

Yahweh's law is both the centre the Psalm and the governing thought of the Psalm.
The Psalmist takes us from the heavens to Yahweh's law in the first part of the Psalm.
After his meditation on the law in the central part, he then takes us from the law to his own prayerin the concluding part.

An Easy Question.

Why do you think he calls Yahweh his rock and his redeemer at the end? Choose which of the following answers is NOT correct

A. Because he needs a rock and a redeemer in the face of God's law.

B. Because he knows that he cannot make himself blameless and innocent on his own.

C. Because he wants to finish the Psalm and cannot think of anything else to say.

A Harder Question

In Part 1, the Psalmist talks about what the heavens speak: The heavens declare the glory of God, andthe sky proclaims the works of his hands. In Part 2, he talks about what Yahweh himself speaks and whathe speaks is his law. He starts his description of Yahweh's law by saying that it is perfect (or blameless)and ends by saying his judgments (another term for his law) are true and altogether righteous. In the Psalmist's final prayer, he asks that the words of his mouth and the meditations of his heartshould be pleasing (or acceptable) to Yahweh who he calls my rock and my redeemer.

What does the Psalmist's own speech need to declare to be in harmony with the speech of theheavens in Part 1?
What must the meditation of his own heart be like to be in harmony with what he says about Yahweh's law in Part 2?
Why do you think he calls Yahweh his rock and his redeemer at the end of his prayer? (He reliestotally on Yahweh as the one who can make both his speech and his heart blameless by being hisrock and his redeemer.)

Transfer of content for Step 2 ends here for this demo.

Absorbing the big picture of the psalm

The heavens speak

Speech and communication in vv.1-4

In v.1, the Psalmist speaks about the heavens declaring and the sky telling...

Write on a board all the ways you in your language that you refer to speaking and communication -declaring, proclaiming, shouting, whispering, saying, informing etc… Include any figurative language or ideophones that you can think of.
Listen to vv.1-4 and identify all the different words, expressions and images in vv.1-4 which refer to speaking and communication.
In v.1, what two things do the heavens and the sky say about God?
In v.3, the Psalmist says that the heavens do not have speech nor words and that their voice cannot actually be heard. He seems to say the opposite thing in vv.1-2 and in v.4. How do you make sense of what he is saying?
In vv.1-4 if the heavens have no actual speech or words, where are actual words from God to be found later in the psalm? (Yahweh's law, vv.7-9.)

In praise of the sun

In v.5, the Psalmist compares the sun to a bridegroom coming out from his chamber and to a champion, or mighty man, who rejoices to run his course. In v.6, he goes on to describe the movement of the sun across the heaven.

In what way is the sun like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber? (splendor, glory)
What does a champion or a warrior rejoice about when he runs his course? (power)
What is it about the sun's movement across the sky that the Psalmist especially wants to emphasise? (reach, nothing escapes heat)

Activity. A mime drama about the sun

Act out a drama with four short scenes to describe the sun.

The sun like a bridegroom coming out from his chamber in splendour,
The sun like a champion rejoicing in his strength to run his course,
The sun going from one end of the heavens to the other. (One way of acting this might be to use your arms to show the way the sun crosses the sky.)
And finally, the heat of the sun reaching everything. (You could use your arms again to show the way the heat of the sun spreads out everywhere).

Yahweh's law (vv.7-9)

In vv.7-9, did you notice that in each line he says that each thing is of Yahweh - it is the law of Yahweh, the testimony of Yahweh, the precepts of Yahweh, the commandment of Yahweh, the fear of Yahweh and the judgments of Yahweh?

Activity. Yahweh's law and Yahweh himself

Read out vv.7-9 for the group to hear. After each line the group should try giving the sense in their own language but replacing the term for the law with a phrase to indicate Yahweh himself.

Start in v.7a with Yahweh himself is blameless reviving the soul, then continue through the other lines in the same way.
In v.9a, the group can just change the phrase the fear of Yahweh to the fear of Yahweh himself
When you think about Yahweh as the one who gives the law and reveals himself in the law, how does it change the way you feel about the law?

The rhythm of vv.7-9

In vv.7-9, listen to the way that the lines follow the same rhythm or pattern. Listen for the slight change in rhythm in the last line which brings the set of 6 lines to an end. The law of Yahweh is blameless reviving the soul. The testimony of Yahweh is trustworthy making wise the simple. The precepts of Yahweh are upright giving joy to the heart. The commandment of Yahweh is pure giving light to the eyes. The fear of Yahweh is clean enduring forever. The judgments of Yahweh are true, they are righteous altogether.

Activity - Search for a pattern

See if you can identify a good pattern or rhythm in your language which will sound good for these 6 lines. (This will help in your oral translation of the psalm in the next step.)

Translating Yahweh's law

Drawing on the introduction to the meaning of the different terms towards the end of Step 2, try and decide on the way you will translate the terms in your language.

Activity - find a rendering for each term

As you look at the meaning for each term - put your rendering of the term in your language on a board.
The terms law, testimony, command, and fear are all singular in the Hebrew text. The singular is important because it means the Psalmist is talking about the different things in an all-embracing way.
The terms precepts and judgments (which we take to refer to his just laws) are both masculine and plural. The plural is important because each is referring to a group of specific things which together describe Yahweh's law.

In praise of Yahweh's law (vv.10-11)

Listen again to the ways in which the Psalmist praises the Yahweh's judgments, his just laws, in vv.10-11. He praises them - and by extension Yahweh's law as a whole - in 3 different ways.

In v.10a, he says that they are more desirable than gold and then intensifies the comparison by adding than much fine gold.
In v.10b, he says they are sweeter than honey and again intensifies the comparison by adding than drippings from the comb.
In v.11, he adds something different when he says by them is your servant warned and then along with the warning they contain, in keeping them there is great reward.

Activity. A mime drama about Yahweh's judgments

Act out another drama with words to show how desirable and how sweet are Yahweh's judgments.

For v.10a, take out an imaginary piece of gold from your pocket and place it on a table to indicate how desirable they are. Intensify the comparison by taking out many pieces of imaginary fine gold from all your pockets and from your bag to pile on top of the first piece of gold.
For v.10b, dip your finger in an imaginary pot of honey and put it to your tongue to show how sweet they are. Intensify the comparison by lifting up an imaginary honeycomb and catch the drippings falling into your mouth.
For v.11a-b, mime the action of receiving a warning by them and of finding a great reward in keeping them.

Yahweh's servant

What are the two kinds of sins which the Psalmist is concerned about in vv.12-13?

What is the difference between these two kinds of sin?
Make a list of hidden sins on one side of a board and of wilful sins on the other side.
What desire does he express in v.12 and then repeat in v.13?

The servant's final prayer

Read v.14 in the Hebrew-mirror translation and then perform a mime to express the Psalmist's request with gestures.

Crafting a song of the psalm

Once the artist-translators have sufficiently internalised the psalm in the workshop setting, compose a song, poem, rap, chant, or prayer to express all or part of the psalm.

Before you start: Identify an appropriate style or genre

Participants are recommended to choose a style or genre that is relevant for the psalm and base their compositions on that style.
In this psalm several possible genres may be appropriate. They include praise of someone or something for their character. This may be possible to use in a composition about the heavens in vv.1-6 and or the law based on vv.7-11. Another genre may be one about wrongdoing and asking for forgiveness. This may be possible to use in a composition based on vv.12-13.

If there is time, record examples from the culture. Transcribe and back translate your recordings in AVTT so that poetic devices may be analysed and identified. (This is a rich group activity if there is time)

Before moving on to Step 5, record the compositions.

Transcribe and back-translate them in AVTT if you plan to develop the compositions as a final product for performance and publication.
This will help you think about what you want to add or change after you have finished the process of checking and editing your translation. It will also allow consultants and other non-speakers of the language to give some input to their later development.

Translating stanza-by-stanza

To take full advantage of the oral form, avoid reverting to written Biblical text at this point. Divide into smaller groups and let one in each group read the different guide translations for the specific stanza. Together come up with an oral draft for each stanza. The oral draft can at that point be recorded and/or immediately written down (Step 6 merged with Step 5).

Before you start drafting - Identify poetic devices in your language

Look at the transcriptions of music, poems or other performances from your culture that you made in Step 4.

Look for instances where there is a strange word-order, not the usual. Sometimes it would work to use some unusual word-order in your language as well. Experiment a bit with different word-orders and see what sounds the most beautiful, the most poetic.
Look for other poetic devices in your transcriptions of the performances and ask yourselves how you might use or adapt them in this Psalm.

The following notes suggest a few things in each stanza which the translators should keep in mind as they compose an oral draft. See the notes on the Hebrew text in Appendix B for further comments on some of the points made here and for other suggestions.

Important notes for facilitators

Facilitators should have the guide translations in Appendix A in front them when they help the Psalmist-translators to think about things they should consider in preparing their oral draft.

The notes in this section suggest just a few things for each stanza.
See the notes on the Hebrew text in Appendix B for further comments on some of the points made here, and for other suggestions.
It is very important that facilitators should prepare beforehand and that they decide for themselves what information to give the Psalmists. You should try to give the information you think most important in your own words, not just read out the notes from here or elsewhere.

Stanza 1, vv.1-4

Verse 1. The Psalm begins with a chiasm in the Hebrew poetry in which the Psalmist inverts the phrase order of the first line (subject - participle verb - object phrase) in the second line (object phrase - participle verb - subject.)

The heavens - are declaring - glory of God works of his hands - are telling - the sky.

See if you can find a poetic structure with a similar dramatic effect to start the Psalm.

Take care with who or what is speaking in each line and try to capture the rich variety in the way the Psalmist refers to speech and communication.

In v.1a, it is the heavens which declare...
In v.1b it is the sky which tells....
In v2a, it is day then day which pours forth speech and in v2b night then night which reveals knowledge.
In v3-4 the speaker is once again the heavens (although in v3 they have no actual speech or words).

Verse 3 begins with the surprise statement that There is no speech are there are no words. The Psalmist is saying that the heavens don't actually speak or articulate words. Verse 3b reinforces his point, their voice is never heard. In v.4, the Psalmist nevertheless insists that their voice goes out into all the earth. You may want to make the contrast in the statements in v.3 and v.4 clear in some way. One way of doing this would be to start v.4 with a connector like Yet..., But still, However..., Nevertheless...

Verse 4. Try to find a change in rhythm to express the switch to God as the actor in the third line, for the sun, he (God) has pitched a tent in them (the heavens).

Stanza 2, vv.5-6

Verse 5 picks up its subject, the sun, from the bridging line at the end of v.4. Find a way of keeping the connection.

Although the Hebrew text drops the verb 'to be' in the opening line of v.5 (And he (is) like...) you may want to use it. If you do this, experiment with reinforcing the connection with v.4c by starting with an emphatic pronoun (And he, he is like...)
You may also want to experiment with removing the connector And and start the line with a double pronoun He, he is like...
You might even want to name the sun again in v.5a (And) the sun, he is like...

Verse 6 contains a chiasm in which the locative phrase, from the ends of the heavens is front-shifted to the beginning of the first line and is mirrored by the locative phrase up to their ends at the end of the second line.
a. From the ends of the heavens - his going out, b. his ciruit - up to their ends

Try to make your translation of the first two lines of v.6 a tight unit (as in the Hebrew text) to give prominence to the final line as an additional statement: and nothing is hidden from his heat.

Stanza 3, vv.7-9

Verses 7-9. Keep the same sentence structure through the 6 parallel lines. You do not have to follow the structure of the Hebrew poetry. You should determine what is the best way to express the lines in your own poetry.

If you have already started Psalm 119, make sure your rendering of the 6 different terms is consistent.
It is important to keep the repeated reference to Yahweh in each line.
Each of the first five lines contains a description of what the different aspects of Yahweh's law are like as well as what they do.
The sixth line starts the same way but then breaks the pattern with a full verb in the second half they are righteous altogether.

Stanza 4, vv.10-11

The pronouns they and them in v.10 and 11 should refer to Yahweh's judgments (his just decrees).

Verse 11 and Verse 13. In the Hebrew text, both verses begin with `gam 'also'`. Keep the idea of adding something to what has been already said in both verses.

Verse 11. In the Hebrew poetry, the first line of v.11 ends ...by them and the second line begins in keeping them... Try to find a good balance between the lines in your translation.

Stanza 5 and 5, vv.12-13 and v.14

Verses 12-13. The Psalmist speaks of two kinds of sin. Hidden sins are sins which he does not recognise as sins. Think of examples that you would include in this category of sins and then decide how to refer to them. The second kind of sins are sins of pride. In contrast with hidden sins, these are sins which the Psalmist knows about but does anyway. They are wilful sins in the sense that he does them in his pride, putting his will above Yahweh's will. So he asks Yahweh to hold him back or restrain him from these kinds of sin.

Verse 12-13. There are two ideas in vv.12 and 13 which are closely related but need to be kept distinct.

The first is the idea of innocence… Try and keep the two references to being innocent in vv.12-13. In v.12b, the psalmist asked to be made or declared innocent of hidden sins. In v.13c, he expresses the desire to be innocent of great transgressions.
The second is the idea of being perfect (or blameless). In v.13b, the Psalmists starts by saying then I will be perfect/blameless... and continues the line and innocent of great transgression. You should use the same word here as in v.7 where the Psalmist says The Law of Yahweh (is) perfect (or blameless).

Making a written draft

Transcribe and back translate

Transcribe the recordings of each section/stanza onto paper or a computer and add a word-for-word back translation.

Be careful about spelling and punctuation and line divisions.
Keep the same line divisions in both your transcription and your back translation.
Check your transcription and your back translation.
In AVTT, open a new passage for Step 9 and make a blank recording (a second or two without any speech). This will open transcription and back translation boxes in that passage. Copy the transcription and the back translation of your translation into the new step. This will be the place you make changes as you go through Steps 7 and 8 and edit your translation.

Check exegetical faithfulness

The purpose of this step is to check the content for faithfulness and trustworthiness to the original Hebrew, the interlinear, and other versions in use in the area.

Activity: Check for content faithfulness; do an exegetical check. Compare the draft with the guide translations given in Appendix A and the Hebrew and interlinear in Appendix B and adjust the text as necessary.

Exegesis Checklist

Give special attention to: Stanza 1. The different words for speaking and communicating in vv.1-4 Stanza 1. The contrast between there not being any speech or words and nothing being heard in v3 and yet the heaven's voice going out into all the world in v.4. Stanza 2. The terms for bridegroom, warrior/champion/mighty one, the athlete's course and the suns circuit. Stanza 3. The distinction between the different terms for the law. Stanza 4. The pronouns should refer to Yahweh's judgments (the last of the 6 descriptions of Yahweh's law in vv.7-9). Stanza 5. The idea of the question Who can discern his errors? being answered by a request Make me innocent of hidden faults. Stanza 6. Do not collapse into one the two ideas in v.14 of the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart Stanza 6. The rendering of rock and redeemer

Comparing and weighing the poetic features

Attention now needs to be given to the poetic devices found in the Hebrew, as well as poetic devices found in the receptor language that might not have been used in the Hebrew text (or might have served a different function).

Activity: Compare the compositions from Step 4 with the draft. See if there are any features from the compositions that can be used in the final official version.

Poetry Checklist

Give special attention to:

The slowing down and or extension of the rhythm in the bridging devices in v.4, v.6, v.11, v.13 and the ending device of v.14 (see notes in Step 5).
The inversions and word order shifting to give balance between lines a and b e.g. in v.1, 6, 11, 14.
The parallelism between the 6 lines in praise of Yahweh's law in vv.7-9.
The intensification in the descriptions of Yahweh's judgments as more to be desired than gold, than much fine gold and as sweeter than honey, than drippings from the comb.

Preparing the Final Version of an Authenticated Translation

Preparation of the final version which will serve as an authorized translation, that in turn will serve as the basis for performing the psalm in the community. You should attempt Steps 7 and 8 on your own, but a consultant will need to check your translation with you before you record your performances in Step 10.

Things to Work on for Finalizing Your Translation

Add verse numbers to both transcription and back translation.
Add stanza breaks.
As you edit your text, make sure the changes are included in your back translation.
Spelling, word division, and punctuation. To gain group participation, have a different person read out each verse and confirm that the group is ready to move on before you move to the next verse.
Do not get stuck on variant spellings or pronunciation of words!
Check line division in each verse. Have a different person reading in each stanza for the group as you go through and confirm or change the line breaks.
Work through the translation verse by verse, checking the exegesis and poetry (You can do Steps 7 and 8 in two different stages or you can do them together).
After you have worked through a stanza, a different reader should read out the edited text as fluently as possible to check that it sounds good.
Watch out for the following:
- A. Things that are missing.
- B. Things that are wrong.
- C. Things that could be improved.

Performing the Psalm in Your Community

Performance 1: Dramatic Reading (Audio)

Record an audio version of a dramatic reading of the final authenticated version of the psalm using one or more voices. The performance must follow the authenticated version word for word.

Performance 2: Dramatic Performance (Audio & Video)

Divide the psalm and each person learn their part. Then record a dramatic performance of the psalm without the text in hand (either on phone or on paper). Feel free to adapt the authenticated version, including adding poetic and dramatic features beyond it. Record your performance in audio and video.

Performance 3: Song or Hymn (Audio & Video)

Record a song or hymn based on all or part of the psalm. You can develop the compositions you recorded in Step 4 for this purpose. Make changes to reflect what you've learned as you've worked through Steps 5-9. Record audio and video as above.

Performance 4: Short Chorus (Audio & Video)

Record a short chorus of one or two verses—something catchy and highly memorable. Record audio and video as above. If possible, invite a group of children to learn and perform the chorus as well.

To Think About

As you create or develop your song based on Psalm 19, think about the following questions and suggested answers.

How can we pray the Psalm?

By introducing himself as Yahweh's servant, the Psalmist invites other servants of Yahweh to pray his prayer with him as co-servants.
As co-servants, we can learn to pray the same prayer that he prays in response both to the heaven's speech in Part 1 and to Yahweh's law in Part 2.

How does Christ fulfill the Psalm?

Since the Psalmist's direction of travel in the Psalm is towards his prayer in Part 3, the primary way in which Jesus fulfills the Psalm is in answer to that prayer.

The Psalmist asks Yahweh to make him innocent of hidden sins and to protect him from willful sins so that he might be blameless and innocent of great transgression (v.13). Jesus answers that prayer by taking our sins in his own body on the cross so that we might indeed be blameless and innocent of great transgression.
The Psalmist concludes his prayer and the Psalm as a whole by calling out to Yahweh, his rock and his redeemer (v.14). When Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth, died on the cross, and rose again, he became for us the rock and the redeemer to whom we may also turn for salvation and redemption.