I read somewhere that the Jewish writers were masters of their craft. They were very intentional with word choices, patterns, and poetic references when creating Scripture. The Bible Project podcast helped me understand that the Bible is not an encyclopedia, a novel, nor a “how-to” / “self-help” book. It is meditation literature, meaning that you read it and meditate on it, and in the process, it changes you and the way you think.
I was reading through this Psalm and felt like I “heard” it before somewhere:
Psalm 104:33 "I will sing to the Lord all my life. I will sing praise to my God as long as I live."
Then I found it in Psalm 146, a passage that I had read before and meditated on (I like Psalm 146 because in verses 7-9 it very quickly sums up who God has a heart for).
Psalm 146:2 "I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live."
Turns out, as I was flipping through the Psalms, there’s a LOT of praise for God. So many different combinations of the phrases praising and singing. Here’s another one, for example:
Psalm 63:4 "I will praise you as long as I live."
What happened? Was this a translation error, or intentional variation? It certainly makes memorizing Scripture more difficult. But maybe that’s the point, anyways. Being specific with your wording makes you pay more attention, which means you have to spend more time meditating.
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