Wednesday 20 July 2016

Background

Psalm 119 is the longest psalm in the collection and is anaffirmation of God's law (the Torah).

It has a very disciplined structure which is only evident in theoriginal Hebrew. The first eight lines all begin with the firstletter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second eight lines with thesecond letter and so on. The scholar Walter Bruggemann suggeststhat "it is likely that the psalm is written in this tightlydisciplined fashion so that the 'medium' is a match for the'message'". In other words a life which obeys the law is one thatis in order and disciplined, just like the order and discipline ofthe psalm.

Today's passage is two of those eight-verse acroustics.

The first (verses 97-104) is a reflection on how the God's lawbrings about wisdom. But it is more than theoretical. The law givesthe writer "understanding than all [their] teachers" (v. 99), butit also also requires discipline (see verse 101). The result thoughis sweet - "sweeter than honey to my mouth" (v. 103).

In the second part, God's law is also practical - "a lamp to myfeet and a light to my path". The word shows "what is safe, what iswise - that is, how to act and what to do" (Walter Bruggemannagain). The writer acknowledges that they have control over theirown life (verses 109-112), but with that responsibility comes riskand danger. It is through the law that one can steer one's waythrough.

To Ponder

• By what law or principles do you live your life?

• Verse 105 was used as the title for a Methodist Conference report on the nature andauthority of the Bible. How do you read the Bible in terms of itsauthority?

• How do the words of John's Gospel, "The word became flesh andlived among us" (John 1:14) affect how you may read today'spassage?