Psalm 119: A Lamp to My Feet
Your word is a lamp to my feet
Psalm 119:105
and a light to my path.
The morning psalm for December 4, 2019 was Psalm 119:1-24.
Psalm 119 is all about The Law. “I love your Law.” “Teach me your commandments.” “I delight in your statutes.”
I have not been attracted to this psalm. It reminds me of the legalism and rule-based understanding of religion that I grew up with.
It is the longest psalm – 176 verses – each consisting of a couplet on The Law. Because of its length it is almost never read or sung in its entirety.
It is hard to pin down; there is nothing in Psalm 119 that describes any concrete action one can take. Short on specifics, there are numerous synonyms for The Law as a general principle: commandments, word, decrees, precepts, ordinances, statutes, ways.
Even with these hurdles, I think there is a profitable way to read Psalm 119. What if these “commandments” were not just rules that would put us in jail if we broke them? Suppose we were to read them as guidance for the best way to live in the world. The Law is a totem (an emblem or a symbol) of the Three space on the Enneagram, whose virtue is Truth.
In one sense, a law is just a description of how things are. (Gravity. It isn’t just a good idea. It’s the law!) A law establishes a general principle out of particular observations and tells us the truth about something. All this type of law requires is acceptance. If it’s raining out, it’s raining out. All the rain asks us is to accept it. It’s not necessary to like or dislike it. But when the rain is flooding the house through a leaky roof, it does no good to pretend that it’s not raining. We need to see it for what it is in order to respond appropriately.
Three: The Domain of Imagination
Two verses (2 and 19) stood out to me when I read the lectionary Psalm passage.
In verse 2, the psalmist speaks of the desire of the heart; those who yearn after these laws will be fulfilled.
Happy are they who observe his decrees;
Psalm 119:2
and seek after him with all their hearts.
Verse 19 speaks of the alienation we sometimes feel in the world.
I am a stranger here on earth;
Psalm 119:19
do not hide your commandments from me.
What if we rephrase verse 19 with a new reading in mind?
I am a stranger here on earth;
teach me how to find my way.
Another reading might be:
I do not belong here;
do not hide the maps of this place from me.
The Law does not call us to act out a set of rules without deviation and without fail. It invites to cultivate a desire for the truth, to seek to know how things really are. The Law invites us to learn to read the maps of the territory for ourselves. Only then can we know where we need to go and how to give guidance to those who ask.