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{"id":2336,"date":"2007-03-16T02:10:21","date_gmt":"2007-03-16T07:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2007\/03\/16\/against-the-wall-focal-point\/"},"modified":"2007-03-16T02:10:21","modified_gmt":"2007-03-16T07:10:21","slug":"against-the-wall-focal-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/03\/16\/against-the-wall-focal-point\/","title":{"rendered":"Against the Wall: Focal Point"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The focal point of this psalmist, a fella who has his back against the wall and is surrounded by those who want to do him in, is this:
\nThe sum of your word is truth;
\nand every one of your righteous ordinances endures forever.
\nIt is no wonder that the rabbis love this psalm; it is Torah-centric.
\nThe \u201csum\u201d or other ideas connected to this term (rosh<\/em>): tip of a mountain, top of the tower, top of the mast or tree, the ears of a corn, the chief of a nation or group, the best\u2026 etc..
\nThe whole is put together into this one word: God\u2019s Word is Truth; everything God says is eternally true. God can do no other.
\nFor that reason, the psalmist faces God with his back against the wall, pleas with God, and asks God to preserve his life.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The focal point of this psalmist, a fella who has his back against the wall and is surrounded by those who want to do him in, is this:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1753],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-psalm-119"],"yoast_head":"\nAgainst the Wall: Focal Point<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The focal point of this psalmist, a fella who has his back against the wall and is surrounded by those who want to do him in, is this: The sum of your\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/03\/16\/against-the-wall-focal-point\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Against the Wall: Focal Point\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The focal point of this psalmist, a fella who has his back against the wall and is surrounded by those who want to do him in, is this: The sum of your\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/03\/16\/against-the-wall-focal-point\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-03-16T07:10:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/03\/16\/against-the-wall-focal-point\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/03\/16\/against-the-wall-focal-point\/\",\"name\":\"Against the Wall: Focal Point\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-03-16T07:10:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-03-16T07:10:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"The focal point of this psalmist, a fella who has his back against the wall and is surrounded by those who want to do him in, is this: The sum of your\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/03\/16\/against-the-wall-focal-point\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/03\/16\/against-the-wall-focal-point\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/03\/16\/against-the-wall-focal-point\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Against the Wall: Focal Point\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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