Psalm 119:16

I have found the real original meaning of a particular word used in verse 16 to be very insightful as to the depth and passion of what Jesus is expressing in his prayer to His Father in this verse.

The Hebrew is:

בחקתיך אשתעשע לא אשכח דברך

Which gets transliterated as:

Buh-choo-koe-tay-chah   eshuh-tah-ahz-shah  loe-eshuh-kahch   duh-var-eh-chah  .

Literally this means:

In your statutes I will be blinded with delight, I will not forget your word.

That second word “eshuh-tah-ahz-shah” literally means from its derivative root “I will have my eyes smeared.” It is a colloquialism that means “I will be so delighted that I can see nothing else and will therefore be blinded to anything else going on around me.”  That is the expression of the deep emotion and passion Jesus has for the statutes of YHWH.

When you think of the statutes of YHWH (e.g.—the Ten Commandments), does it get you so passionately excited that you can see nothing else going on around you?  If you are like me, you can easily answer that question with, “Hardly!  As a matter of fact, I have to wrestle with myself to not feel burdened and perceive them as a set of constraints, like handcuffs on my soul.” 

But the Hebrew in this verse gives us insight into the fact that Jesus saw them in a VERY different light.  He saw them as such a enormously valuable treasure, that He could hardly think of anything else.

In my opinion, this is a surprising and keen insight into the true heart and mind of our Savior.  Do we really know Him like we think we do?