Reading Psalm 23 & Psalm 1יְהוָה רֹעִי לֹא אֶחְסָר — the LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want
The capstone of the Hebrew course. We close not with a new rule, but with the thing rules were for: reading the Hebrew Bible itself. We walk verse-by-verse through Psalm 23 (the shepherd psalm) and Psalm 1 (the gate of the Psalter), applying everything learned across Lessons 1–29 — alphabet, vowels, syllables, nouns and verbs, the seven stems, the weak roots, the prefixes and particles, and the parallelism of Hebrew poetry. Two psalms. Twelve verses. The whole course put to work.
Reveal answer
- Read Psalm 23 in Hebrew, verse-by-verse, with comprehension of every word
- Read Psalm 1:1–3 in Hebrew, with comprehension of every word, and follow the contrast in vv.4–6
- Identify the key vocabulary of both psalms: רֹעֶה, נֶפֶשׁ, צַלְמָוֶת, שֻׁלְחָן, חֶסֶד, אַשְׁרֵי, תּוֹרָה, הָגָה, עֵץ, שָׁתוּל
- Parse the major verb-forms encountered: imperfects (he leads, I shall lack), perfects (you anointed), participles (planted, walking), the cohortative (I shall dwell)
- Identify the bicolon parallelism of Psalm 23 and the antithetic parallelism of Psalm 1
- Recognize the climactic centering of Psalm 23 on v.4 — the valley of death-shadow
- Look back over the whole course: alphabet to participle, vowel-point to psalm
Why End With These Two Psalms
Of all the texts in the Hebrew Bible, none has been more dearly loved than Psalm 23, and none more strategically placed than Psalm 1. The shepherd psalm has been recited at deathbeds, in catacombs, on battlefields, and beside hospital beds for three thousand years. The blessed-man psalm stands as the deliberate gateway to the Psalter — chosen, almost certainly by the Psalter's final editors, to greet every reader at the threshold and ask: which way will you walk?
For our purposes, the two psalms are also ideal closing texts. Between them they exhibit nearly every grammatical feature this course has taught: noun-clauses and verbal clauses; perfect, imperfect, and cohortative verbs; Qal active and passive participles; nouns with pronominal suffixes; construct chains; the inseparable prepositions and the definite article; weak roots (hollow, geminate, III-he); the divine name; the parallelism of Hebrew poetry. To read these two psalms aloud — slowly, with comprehension — is to put the whole course to work.
And, fittingly: neither psalm is long. Psalm 23 is six verses. Psalm 1 is six verses. Twelve verses in total — about the length of a short Pauline paragraph — but every word is freighted. Read slowly. Read more than once. Read aloud.
Psalm 23 — The Shepherd
Six verses. A bicolon structure throughout — each verse is two parallel half-lines (cola). The climactic v.4 sits at the structural and emotional center. Read each verse aloud before you read the notes.
Psalm 23:1 — The LORD is my shepherd
Vocabulary: יְהוָה — the divine name (the Tetragrammaton), conventionally read Adonai in synagogue and rendered "the LORD" in English. רֹעֶה — "shepherd," Qal active participle of the root רעה "to shepherd, pasture." לֹא — the standard negative particle. חָסֵר — "to lack, be in want."
Parsing: רֹעִי is the participle רֹעֶה in construct with the 1cs suffix ־ִי "my" → "my shepherd" (the final he drops before the suffix, as is regular for III-he roots). אֶחְסָר is the Qal imperfect 1cs of חָסֵר — the prefix אֶ־ marks 1cs ("I"), and the imperfect carries the future-aspectual sense "I shall (not) lack."
Structure: A perfect bicolon. Colon A is a verbless noun-clause ("Yahweh [is] my shepherd"). Colon B is a verbal clause ("I shall not lack"). The verbless clause asserts identity; the verbal clause draws the consequence. The whole psalm unfolds the second half: because Yahweh is my shepherd, what follows is what shepherds do.
Psalm 23:2 — Green pastures, still waters
Vocabulary: נָוֶה (plural נְאוֹת) — "pasture, abode." דֶּשֶׁא — "tender grass, new growth." רָבַץ — "lie down, recline" (Qal); the Hiphil הִרְבִּיץ means "cause to lie down." מַיִם — "waters" (the construct plural is מֵי). מְנוּחָה — "rest, resting-place." נָהַל (Piel) — "lead, guide, refresh."
Parsing: בִּנְאוֹת דֶּשֶׁא — preposition בְּ־ "in" + construct chain "pastures of tender-grass." יַרְבִּיצֵנִי — Hiphil imperfect 3ms with 1cs suffix: "he-causes-to-lie-down me" → "he makes me lie down." The Hiphil stem (Lesson 26) is causative — note the yod-prefix and the characteristic i-vowel between the second and third root letters. עַל־מֵי מְנֻחוֹת — "beside waters of rests" (waters of rest = still, quiet waters). יְנַהֲלֵנִי — Piel imperfect 3ms with 1cs suffix: "he leads me." Piel (Lesson 25) intensive/factitive — note the dagesh-implied doubling of the middle root letter and the e-vowel pattern.
Structure: Synonymous parallelism. Colon A: prepositional phrase + verb. Colon B: prepositional phrase + verb. The phrases are not identical but they rhyme semantically: "in pastures / beside waters," "he makes me lie / he leads me."
Psalm 23:3 — Soul restored, paths of righteousness
Vocabulary: נֶפֶשׁ — "soul, self, life, throat." Not "soul" in the Greek-philosophical sense; rather the whole living self, the inner person. שׁוּב — "return, turn back" (hollow root); the Polel שׁוֹבֵב means "bring back, restore." נָחָה — "lead, guide" (a near-synonym of נָהַל). מַעְגָּל — "track, path." צֶדֶק — "righteousness, what is right." לְמַעַן — "for the sake of." שֵׁם — "name."
Parsing: נַפְשִׁי — noun + 1cs suffix "my soul." יְשׁוֹבֵב — Polel imperfect 3ms of the hollow root שׁוּב; the Polel is the doubled-stem form used for hollow roots (where ordinary Piel doubling is impossible — Lesson 22). Meaning: "he restores." יַנְחֵנִי — Hiphil imperfect 3ms + 1cs suffix of נָחָה: "he leads me." בְמַעְגְּלֵי־צֶדֶק — preposition + construct chain "in paths of righteousness." שְׁמוֹ — noun + 3ms suffix "his name."
Structure: The verse turns from physical care (food, water) to inner care (soul, righteous paths). The phrase for his name's sake grounds the shepherd's faithfulness in his own character, not the sheep's worthiness.
Psalm 23:4 — The valley of death-shadow (climactic center)
Vocabulary: גַּם — "also, even." כִּי — "for, because, when, though." הָלַךְ — "walk, go." גַּיְא — "valley, ravine." צַלְמָוֶת — a famous compound: צֵל "shadow" + מָוֶת "death" → "death-shadow" or "deep darkness." יָרֵא — "fear, be afraid." רָע — "evil." עִם — "with"; with 1cs suffix עִמָּדִי. שֵׁבֶט — "rod, staff, tribe." מִשְׁעֶנֶת — "staff" (the walking-staff a shepherd leans on). נָחַם (Piel) — "comfort."
Parsing: אֵלֵךְ — Qal imperfect 1cs of הָלַךְ ("I walk"); the initial he drops in the imperfect — a peculiarity of this verb (Lesson 21, weak roots). לֹא־אִירָא — "I will not fear"; Qal imperfect 1cs of יָרֵא (I-yod verb). אַתָּה — independent pronoun "you" (2ms). עִמָּדִי — "with me" (an extended form of עִם + 1cs suffix). שִׁבְטְךָ וּמִשְׁעַנְתֶּךָ — two nouns with 2ms suffix "your-rod and your-staff." הֵמָּה — independent pronoun "they" (3mp), emphatic. יְנַחֲמֻנִי — Piel imperfect 3mp + 1cs suffix "they comfort me."
Structure — the center. This is the structural pivot of the whole psalm. Note the shift: through vv.1–3 the LORD is referred to in the third person ("he restores," "he leads"). At v.4 the address turns: "you are with me." The shepherd has stopped being talked-about and has become talked-to. The valley does that. When the path narrows and the shadow falls, the shepherd is no longer a topic of conversation — he is a presence beside you. This grammatical pivot — from third-person to second-person — is the heart of the psalm.
Psalm 23:5 — A table prepared, an anointed head, an overflowing cup
Vocabulary: עָרַךְ — "arrange, set in order, prepare (a table)." לִפְנֵי — "before, in front of." שֻׁלְחָן — "table." נֶגֶד — "in front of, opposite, in the presence of." צוֹרֵר (root צרר) — "adversary, one who hems-in." דָּשֵׁן (Piel) — "make fat, anoint with rich oil." שֶׁמֶן — "oil." רֹאשׁ — "head." כּוֹס — "cup." רְוָיָה — "abundance, overflow" (a noun built from the root רוה "be saturated, drink one's fill").
Parsing: תַּעֲרֹךְ — Qal imperfect 2ms of עָרַךְ: "you prepare." Notice this is a continuation of the direct address that began in v.4 — God is still "you," not "he." לְפָנַי — preposition + 1cs suffix "before me" (literally "to my face"). צֹרְרָי — Qal active participle masculine plural construct of צרר, with 1cs suffix: "my adversaries" (literally "ones-hemming-in-me"). דִּשַּׁנְתָּ — Piel perfect 2ms of דָּשֵׁן: "you anointed-richly." Note the dagesh in the shin (Piel doubling). בַשֶּׁמֶן — preposition בְּ־ + definite article (merged: בַּ־) + noun "with the oil." כּוֹסִי רְוָיָה — noun-clause: "my cup [is] overflow."
Note the verb-tense shift. The psalm has moved from imperfect verbs in vv.1–4 (he leads, I walk, I shall not fear) to a perfect in v.5 (you anointed). The aspect-shift suggests a completed act of welcome — the host has already poured the oil, the guest has already been seated. The imperfect תַּעֲרֹךְ alongside the perfect דִּשַּׁנְתָּ creates a moving present: the table-setting is in progress; the anointing is done.
Psalm 23:6 — Goodness and mercy, all my days
Vocabulary: אַךְ — "surely, only, indeed." טוֹב — "good, goodness." חֶסֶד — the great covenant-word: "covenant-faithfulness, steadfast love, loyalty," often translated "lovingkindness" or "mercy." More than emotion: a fierce, faithful loyalty rooted in covenant. רָדַף — "pursue, chase" (here ironically: not enemies pursuing, but goodness and mercy). כֹּל — "all, every." יוֹם — "day"; construct plural יְמֵי "days of." חַיִּים — "life" (plural in form). יָשַׁב — "sit, dwell." בַּיִת — "house." אֹרֶךְ — "length."
Parsing: יִרְדְּפוּנִי — Qal imperfect 3mp + 1cs suffix: "they will pursue me." The subject is the compound goodness and mercy. כָּל־יְמֵי חַיָּי — construct chain: "all the days of my life." וְשַׁבְתִּי — Qal of יָשַׁב (or perhaps interpretively from שׁוּב "return") — most commonly read as weqatal (waw-consecutive + perfect) 1cs of יָשַׁב with future force: "and I shall dwell." Some grammarians read it as a cohortative-flavored "and may I dwell." Either way the sense is forward-looking. בְּבֵית־יְהוָה — construct chain "in the house-of-Yahweh." לְאֹרֶךְ יָמִים — "for length of days" (an idiom for "for ever" or "for a long time").
Closing. The pursuit-imagery is the psalm's last surprise. In vv.1–5 the speaker was led, made-to-lie-down, walked-through. Here the verbs reverse: goodness and mercy become the pursuers. The threat-image of pursuit (so common in the Psalter when enemies are the subject) is gloriously inverted. What chases the sheep, in this fold, is the Shepherd's own faithfulness.
Psalm 1 — The Two Ways
Six verses. An antithetic structure: vv.1–3 describe the righteous man, vv.4–6 the wicked. The psalm is the deliberate gate of the Psalter — the editors placed it first because it asks every reader the question that the rest of the book will answer.
Psalm 1:1 — The blessed man does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
Vocabulary: אַשְׁרֵי — "blessed, happy" (a noun in construct plural, lit. "O the happinesses of...!"). אִישׁ — "man." אֲשֶׁר — relative particle "who, which, that." עֵצָה — "counsel, advice." רָשָׁע — "wicked one"; plural רְשָׁעִים. דֶּרֶךְ — "way, path." חַטָּא — "sinner"; plural חַטָּאִים. עָמַד — "stand." מוֹשָׁב — "seat, dwelling-place" (noun from יָשַׁב). לֵץ — "scoffer, mocker." יָשַׁב — "sit, dwell."
Parsing: אַשְׁרֵי־הָאִישׁ — construct chain with the noun אֶשֶׁר "happiness" in the plural construct, joined to הָאִישׁ "the man." Literally "[O] the happinesses of the man...!" — an exclamation, not a verb. הָלַךְ / עָמַד / יָשַׁב — three Qal perfect 3ms verbs ("walked / stood / sat"), each negated by לֹא. The perfect-tense is gnomic here: it describes the man's settled habit. בַּעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים — preposition + construct chain "in counsel-of wicked-ones."
Structure — the three-step descent. Notice the careful progression: walk → stand → sit. From transient passing-by, to lingering presence, to settled belonging. And the company tracks the same descent: wicked → sinners → scoffers. Each step worsens. The blessed man does none of the three — neither the first step nor the last.
Psalm 1:2 — His delight is in the LORD's instruction
Vocabulary: כִּי אִם — strong contrastive: "but rather, on the contrary." תּוֹרָה — "instruction, teaching, law" (the Torah; more broadly, the written word of God). חֵפֶץ — "delight, pleasure, desire." הָגָה — a beautiful word: "mutter, murmur, meditate." It is the same verb used of a lion growling over its prey (Isa 31:4) and of a dove cooing (Isa 38:14). Hebrew meditation is not silent; it is a soft, continual sounding-out of the text under the breath.
Parsing: בְּתוֹרַת יְהוָה — preposition + construct chain "in the Torah-of Yahweh." חֶפְצוֹ — noun + 3ms suffix "his delight." וּבְתוֹרָתוֹ — connective וּ־ + preposition + noun + 3ms suffix "and on his Torah." יֶהְגֶּה — Qal imperfect 3ms of הָגָה "he mutters/meditates." A III-he verb (Lesson 23) — note the final seghol-he ending typical of the imperfect of III-he roots. יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה — "day and night"; יוֹמָם is an adverbial form ("by day"); לָיְלָה is a noun used adverbially.
The substitution. The blessed man does not sit with scoffers; he sits with the Torah. His mouth is not full of mockery; it is full of murmured Scripture. The negation of v.1 has a positive counterpart in v.2 — Hebrew poetry's antithesis becomes paraenesis.
Psalm 1:3 — A tree planted by streams of water
Vocabulary: הָיָה — "be, become, happen." עֵץ — "tree, wood." שָׁתוּל — "planted," Qal passive participle of שָׁתַל. פֶּלֶג — "channel, stream"; plural construct פַּלְגֵי. מַיִם — "waters." פְּרִי — "fruit." נָתַן — "give, yield"; imperfect יִתֵּן. עֵת — "time, season." עָלֶה — "leaf." נָבֵל — "wither, fade." צָלַח (Hiphil הִצְלִיחַ) — "cause to prosper, succeed."
Parsing: וְהָיָה — waw-consecutive + perfect of הָיָה with future force: "and he shall be." כְּעֵץ שָׁתוּל — preposition כְּ־ "like" + noun + Qal passive participle "a tree planted." The passive participle is the form for "X-ed" (Lesson 24). פִּרְיוֹ יִתֵּן בְּעִתּוֹ — "its-fruit it-gives in-its-time" — note the I-nun verb נָתַן assimilates the nun and doubles the tav (Lesson 21). עָלֵהוּ לֹא־יִבּוֹל — "its leaf does not wither." יַצְלִיחַ — Hiphil imperfect 3ms of צָלַח: "he causes to prosper" — used here intransitively for "he prospers."
The image. The tree image is one of the most loaded in the Hebrew Bible (cf. Jer 17:8, Ezek 47:12, Ps 92:13–15). The blessed man is not a self-watering plant; he is planted — passive — by streams. His prosperity is rooted in something he didn't put there. The very passive participle שָׁתוּל tells the whole theology of the psalm: blessedness is given, not made.
Psalm 1:4–5 — The wicked are not so
Vocabulary: כֵּן — "so, thus." מֹץ — "chaff" (the husks blown away when grain is winnowed). נָדַף — "drive, blow away." רוּחַ — "wind, spirit, breath." קוּם — "rise, stand"; imperfect 3mp יָקֻמוּ. מִשְׁפָּט — "judgment." עֵדָה — "congregation, assembly." צַדִּיק — "righteous one."
The contrast. The deep antithesis is now spoken aloud. The righteous are like a tree, rooted, fruitful, leafy — the wicked are like chaff, unrooted, fruitless, scattered. The wicked are weighed in the judgment and found weightless: chaff has no body, only surface. Note the wordplay: the righteous "stand" by Torah (v.1, in inversion); the wicked will not "stand" in the judgment.
Psalm 1:6 — The LORD knows the way of the righteous
Vocabulary: יָדַע — "know" (a covenant-word: not merely cognition but acknowledgement, intimate relation). דֶּרֶךְ — "way." אָבַד — "perish, be lost."
Parsing: יוֹדֵעַ — Qal active participle ms of יָדַע: "knowing." With יְהוָה as subject and דֶּרֶךְ as object: "Yahweh-is-knowing the way..." (durative present). תֹּאבֵד — Qal imperfect 3fs of אָבַד: "she will perish" (matching the feminine noun דֶּרֶךְ).
The closing antithesis. Perfect antithetic parallelism: "the LORD knows the way of the righteous" / "the way of the wicked perishes." The two "ways" of v.1 reach their final destination. To be known by the LORD is to be safe; to be unknown is to vanish like chaff. The psalm ends as it began — with two paths, two destinies, and the reader asked to choose.
What These Two Psalms Show Together
The two psalms make a quiet pair. Psalm 1 puts the question; Psalm 23 names the answer. Psalm 1 sets two ways before the reader and asks: which? Psalm 23 says: the LORD is my shepherd; he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. The "way of the righteous" of Ps 1:6 is the same path the shepherd of Ps 23:3 walks down.
And they make a pair of parallelism. Psalm 1 is built on a strong antithetic structure (righteous vs wicked, tree vs chaff, known vs perishing). Psalm 23 is built on synonymous bicola (green pastures / still waters; rod / staff; goodness / mercy) with a single dramatic break — the second-person address at v.4. Together they exhibit the two main shapes Hebrew poetry takes.
That you can now follow this — that you can read these patterns and not merely be told about them — is the gift of the course you have completed.
Grammar Found in These Twelve Verses
Almost the entire course shows up across these twelve verses. Here is a partial inventory.
| Feature | Example from the psalms | Course reference |
|---|---|---|
| Alphabet, vowels | Every word | Lessons 1–3 |
| Verbless noun-clause | יְהוָה רֹעִי "Yahweh [is] my shepherd" | Lesson 5 |
| Definite article | הָאִישׁ "the man," הָרְשָׁעִים "the wicked" | Lesson 7 |
| Inseparable prepositions | בִּנְאוֹת, לְפָנַי, כְּעֵץ | Lesson 8 |
| Construct chain | בֵּית־יְהוָה "house-of-Yahweh" | Lesson 11 |
| Pronominal suffixes | רֹעִי, נַפְשִׁי, שִׁבְטְךָ, חֶפְצוֹ | Lesson 12 |
| Qal perfect | הָלַךְ, דִּשַּׁנְתָּ, וְשַׁבְתִּי | Lesson 16 |
| Qal imperfect | אֶחְסָר, יֶהְגֶּה, יִרְדְּפוּנִי | Lesson 17 |
| Qal active participle | רֹעֶה, צֹרֵר, יוֹדֵעַ | Lesson 19 |
| Qal passive participle | שָׁתוּל "planted" | Lesson 19 |
| I-nun assimilation | יִתֵּן from נָתַן | Lesson 21 |
| III-he verbs | יֶהְגֶּה from הָגָה, יַעֲשֶׂה from עָשָׂה | Lesson 23 |
| Hollow root + Polel | יְשׁוֹבֵב from שׁוּב | Lesson 22 |
| Piel intensive | יְנַהֲלֵנִי, דִּשַּׁנְתָּ, יְנַחֲמֻנִי | Lesson 25 |
| Hiphil causative | יַרְבִּיצֵנִי, יַנְחֵנִי, יַצְלִיחַ | Lesson 26 |
| Waw-consecutive (weqatal) | וְהָיָה, וְשַׁבְתִּי | Lesson 18 |
| Parallelism (synonymous) | Ps 23:2 "pastures / waters," "lie down / lead" | Lesson 28 |
| Parallelism (antithetic) | Ps 1:6 "righteous / wicked" | Lesson 28 |
A Brief Vocabulary Review
A small representative gathering, drawn from across the course. Read each aloud. You should recognize each on sight by now.
| Hebrew | Translit. | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| בְּרֵאשִׁית | bereshit | in the beginning |
| אֱלֹהִים | elohim | God |
| יְהוָה | YHWH | the LORD (Yahweh) |
| דָּבָר | davar | word, thing, matter |
| תּוֹרָה | torah | law, instruction, Torah |
| בְּרִית | berit | covenant |
| חֶסֶד | chesed | covenant-faithfulness, lovingkindness |
| אֱמֶת | emet | truth, faithfulness |
| שָׁלוֹם | shalom | peace, wholeness |
| צֶדֶק | tsedeq | righteousness |
| מִשְׁפָּט | mishpat | judgment, justice |
| נֶפֶשׁ | nefesh | soul, self, living being |
| רוּחַ | ruach | spirit, wind, breath |
| לֵב / לֵבָב | lev / levav | heart |
| דֶּרֶךְ | derech | way, path |
| מֶלֶךְ | melech | king |
| בַּיִת | bayit | house |
| אִישׁ / אִשָּׁה | ish / ishah | man / woman |
| בֵּן / בַּת | ben / bat | son / daughter |
| אָמַר / דִּבֶּר | amar / dibber | say / speak (Piel) |
| הָלַךְ / יָשַׁב | halach / yashav | walk / sit, dwell |
| יָדַע | yada | know |
| אָהֵב / יָרֵא | ahev / yare | love / fear |
| בָּרָא / עָשָׂה | bara / asah | create / make, do |
What Comes Next
You have finished a beginning. The course has covered the script, the vowel-points, the syllable rules, the noun-system, the verbal system (Qal, Niphal, Piel, Pual, Hiphil, Hophal, Hithpael), the weak roots, the prepositions, the particles, and the basics of Hebrew poetry. With it, you can read straightforward biblical prose with a lexicon, and you can read short psalms aloud with comprehension.
The way forward — if you want to take it — looks like this:
- Read the Hebrew Bible, daily, in small portions. A psalm. A paragraph of Genesis. Five verses of Ruth (a famously gentle book for second-year readers). Use an interlinear or a reader's edition where each rare word is glossed at the bottom of the page (e.g., the BHS Reader's Edition; the Hebrew Reader from Hendrickson; Logos's Reverse Interlinear).
- Build vocabulary deliberately. The 500 most common Hebrew words cover about 80% of the Hebrew Bible. Pratico and Van Pelt's Basics of Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary, organized by frequency, is the standard tool. Twenty new words a week is a steady pace.
- Work through a second-year grammar. The classic intermediate works are Waltke and O'Connor's An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (deep, technical) and Joüon-Muraoka's A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew (encyclopedic). Less imposing: van der Merwe, Naudé, and Kroeze's A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar.
- Drill the paradigms periodically. Verb-tables go cold quickly if not refreshed. A short paradigm review every few weeks keeps the strong verb, the seven stems, and the major weak roots accessible.
- Read aloud. Hebrew is a heard language. The Masoretes preserved a pronunciation, not just a text. Reading aloud — even imperfectly — wires the rhythms of the language into your ear, and Hebrew poetry only fully opens to readers who hear it.
- Sit with the books you love. Make a habit of reading your favorite Psalm, your favorite story, in Hebrew on its anniversary or before you preach it. The Hebrew never wears out.
A Reflection on the Journey
Thirty lessons ago, the Hebrew script was a series of strange marks on a page — beautiful, mysterious, locked. You did not know which way to read; you did not know which marks were letters and which were vowels; you could not have pronounced the first word of the Bible. Today you can read aloud the shepherd psalm in the language King David wrote it in.
That is not a small thing. Learning a sacred language is one of the most counter-cultural acts a modern reader can perform. It says: I will not be content with mediators. I will go to the text itself. I will accept the long, slow, sometimes-thankless work of learning a script and a grammar and a vocabulary, because the words at the end of that work are worth more than the time it costs.
You join a long line. Origen learned Hebrew in the third century so he could compare the Septuagint to the underlying text. Jerome learned Hebrew in his fifties so he could translate the Old Testament iuxta Hebraeos. The Reformers learned Hebrew so they could break the back of medieval translations and put the Bible back into the hands of the church. Modern evangelical scholarship learned Hebrew so the pulpit could be fed from the well, not from a downstream tributary. You are now, in a small way, part of that line. The Masoretes preserved the pointing; the medieval scribes preserved the manuscripts; the Reformers preserved the access; the teachers preserved the grammar; and you have received it.
Use what you have learned. Do not let it cool. Read a verse a day. Read a psalm a week. Read a chapter of Genesis a month. The Hebrew you have learned will pay you back for the rest of your life.