by Lara D. Capparuccia
Some thoughts from Psalm 119
The book of Psalms has several recurring themes, one of which is delight in the Law (or Word) of God. In fact, the whole book begins with this idea as Psalm 1:1-2 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.” There are verses throughout the book that echo this idea, but chapter 119 – which is the longest psalm and, in fact, the longest chapter in the whole Bible with 176 verses – celebrates the gift of God’s law.
Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem (a familiar Hebrew literary tool.) It is divided into 22 stanzas of 8 lines (verses) each. Each stanza represents a letter of the Hebrew alphabet (in order), and each line of the stanza begins with that letter. In most Bibles, each section is labeled with the Hebrew letter (ex. Aleph, Beth, Gimel, etc.) When my son Gabriel was a senior in high school, we did a study on Psalm 119. One of his assignments was to try to write an 8-line stanza in the form of the stanzas from the psalm. He wrote:
God, show me the way I should go.
Go not far from me but stay near always.
Good, not evil, comes from staying on Your paths.
Great is Your Word. We should follow without fail.
Give me the wisdom to follow in Your ways.
Glad are we when we see Your works.
Give us the vision to see Your great works.
God, keep us in the way we should go, always.
Almost every line of Psalm 119 makes a reference to the word of God, using various synonyms such as Law, Testimonies, Precepts, Statutes, Commandments, Judgements, Word. These synonyms may vary, of course, according to the translation; but the idea is certainly consistent. The nuance of meaning in the various words helps us to grasp more fully the holistic meaning of the psalmist’s love for God’s Word and its impact on the life of the believer. The English Standard Version Devotional Psalter states, “Although no one keeps God’s law perfectly, and in fact we abuse it through legalism and works righteousness, the Psalmist reminds us throughout this lengthy psalm of the delight that the law should be for the child of God…Having redeemed His people and brought us through grace into relationship with Him, God now lovingly instructs us in the way to enjoy fullness of life.” (c. 2001, Crossway) It is often said that being a Christian means giving up fun; that God is a meanie who just wants to ruin our fun with all His stuffy rules. In reality, God knows much better than we ever can the realities of life and consequences of behavior and choices. His law is for our good and His glory! C. S. Lewis, in his consistently insightful way, wrote to a friend, “I think we may be quite rid of the old haunting suspicion (it raises its head in every temptation) that there is something else than God – some other country into which He forbids us to trespass – some kind of delight which He ‘doesn’t appreciate’ or just chooses to forbid, but which would be real delight if only we were allowed to get it. The thing just isn’t there. Whatever we desire is either what God is trying to give us as quickly as He can, or else a false picture of what He is trying to give us – a false picture which would not attract us for a moment if we saw the real thing.”
C. S. Lewis also presents a very good perspective on Psalm 119 in his book Reflections on the Psalms. Chapter VI, entitled “Sweeter than Honey”, is dedicated to this one psalm. (I’m not sure if we have it in the church library, but if not and anyone is interested in reading it, I will be glad to make a copy of this short chapter.) In it he states, in reference to God’s Law being “true, upright, faithful…” (v. 88, 137, 142) that “in the Law you find the ‘real’ or ‘correct’ or stable, well-grounded, directions for living.” As we see throughout this psalm (and we are told at the very beginning of the book in Psalm 1:1), we are “blessed” if we live in God’s law (119:1, 2, 56…) Mind you, this is not the same as being “saved”, as expounded upon by Paul and James (Ephesians 2:8-9, James 2:14-26, etc.) The blessings of following God’s law are for His elect – those who are saved. This is sanctification as opposed to justification.
Psalm 119 encourages and even urges study, memorization, and obedience to God’s word. We are very blessed in our culture to have the Scripture readily available, both for personal reading and for hearing and discussing in church and small group settings. However, we would do well to remember that it has not always been this way and may not be in the future, and it is not the case in all places around the world today. In the book of Amos, the prophet warned, “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord God, ‘When I will send a famine on the land. Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord. And people will stagger from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.’” Whether Amos was referring to the time that the Law was lost before being rediscovered in the time of Josiah or to a dark time in the past or to sometime in our future, we should heed these words as a reminder and a challenge to “hide God’s word in our hearts” (v. 11) to keep us from sin and to be a source of spiritual nourishment to us and to others as we are able to share it.
A beautiful synopsis of this psalm can be found in Words of Wisdom (c. 1998, Explorer’s Bible Study.) “Psalm 119 is not like a string of pearls in a necklace running smoothly along the same fiber, but instead like a treasure chest in which anything pulled out has a beauty and worth all its own, though unrelated to the rest. Each verse can stand alone, giving a warning, a praise, a promise, or a truth about the word of God.” I truly love this Psalm, and some of my favorite “treasures” are verses 5, 9, 11, 18, 28, 32, 37, 43, 53, 73, 90, 100, 103, 104, 105, 113, 114, 128, 135-136, and 169-176.
May God richly bless you and reveal Himself to you as you continue to read and study His word. Happy new year!
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