Psalm 119

Psalm 119 is the 119th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English of the King James Version: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord". The Book of Psalms is in the third section of the Hebrew Bible, the Khetuvim, and a book of the Christian Old Testament. The psalm, which is anonymous, is referred to in Hebrew by its opening words, "Ashrei temimei derech" ("happy are those whose way is perfect"). In Latin, it is known as "Beati inmaculati in via qui ambulant in lege Domini". The psalm is a hymn psalm and an acrostic poem, in which each set of eight verses begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The theme of the verses is the prayer of one who delights in and lives by the Torah, the sacred law. Psalms 1, 19 and this psalm may be referred to as "the psalms of the Law". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 118. With 176 verses, the psalm is the longest psalm as well as the longest chapter in the Bible. The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has often been set to music. British politician William Wilberforce would recite the entire Psalm while walking back from Parliament, through Hyde Park, to his home. In Judaism, Psalm 119 has the monikers Alpha-Beta and Temanya Apin (Aramaic: "eight faces"). The English version in the King James Bible can be seen at . Versions which mark the original section divisions include the American Standard Version, the New International Version and the New King James Version. The Good News Translation has a sub-heading for each stanza, although biblical commentator C. S. Rodd considers this practice "misleading" because it suggests that "each stanza expresses a special theme". Psalm 119 is one of several acrostic poems found in the Bible. Its 176 verses are divided into 22 stanzas, one for each of the 22 characters that make up the Hebrew alphabet.