The Benefits of the "Law" of the Most High

Oh, how I love your Law!

I meditate on it all day long.

Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,*

for they are ever with me.

I have more insight than all my teachers,

for I meditate on your statutes.

I have more understanding than the elders,

for I obey your precepts.

I have kept my feet from every evil path

so that I might obey your word.

I have not departed from your laws,

for you yourself have taught me.

How sweet are your promises to my taste,

sweeter than honey to my mouth!

I gain understanding from your precepts;

therefore I hate every wrong path.

 

Psalm 119 is the longest psalm in the Bible.  In fact, Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible.  The poem is an acrostic, meaning that each verse is based on one letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  Each line of that verse begins with the same letter, and the entire psalm is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving for the "Law of the Lord."

 

When the biblical writers speak of the "Law," they do not refer to a set of rules and commands to be obeyed as we would think of Law.  Rather, they are referring to the instruction, the teaching, the enlightenment of God to mankind.  This teaching includes the 10 Commandments, but goes far beyond ten rules to actual conversation with God. 

 

When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting -- the Tabernacle--- in the desert, his face shone like the sun as he conversed with God "face to face, as a man speaks to his friend."  He was so radiant that he had to cover his face when he emerged from the tent, because the Israelites could not behold the glory.  All of that reminds us of the Transfiguration of Jesus on the Mount of Olives.  Abraham Heschel translates the starred verse above as "Thy statutes are Thy converse with me."  In other words, when we read and study and pray the Word of God, God Himself teaches us through the Holy Spirit, as the underlined verse above makes clear.  It is not simply that we are reading words in a book, but that our spirit is receiving instruction from God.

 

In the section of Psalm 119 quoted above (vv. 97-104), just as in the rest of the psalm, there are a number of synonyms for the word "Law:"  command, decrees, precepts, word, and promise.  It is interesting to take any section of this psalm and to note all the variations on "instruction, word, or law" in that section.  What is even more interesting, however, is to note in any section the benefits that come to the person who "attends" "listens" "obeys," or "hears" the Word of the Law.  In this one section alone, the recipient of God's Law:

• is wiser than his enemies
• has more insight than all his teachers (we are reminded of the 12-year-old Jesus listening and asking questions in the Temple.)
• has more understanding than the elders
• keeps his feet from every evil path
• does not depart from God's laws
• finds them sweeter than honey
• gains understanding from the precepts
• and therefore hates every wrong path

While Psalm 119 is rather long to plow through at one sitting, it can be a rich and fruitful experience to take one section at a time for prayer, study, and analysis.  What are the benefits that come to the one listening to instruction from the Most High?  What synonyms correlate with the word "Law"?  How does God teach us?  Someone once said, "God comes to us disguised as our life."  What in our life holds the promise of instruction for us at the moment?

 

Would that every one of us could exclaim with the Psalmist:  Oh, how I love your Law!