Psalm 119:97-104
Preaching
A Journey Through the Psalms: Reflections for Worried Hearts and Troubled Times
Preaching the Psalms Cycles A, B, C
Object:
A devotee of the writings of the apostle Paul might look at such a psalm as this and shake his head while making a clucking sound with their tongue. One can almost hear Paul's refutation of law even as love for that law is pronounced herein. But Paul's call for grace alone notwithstanding, the law is wonderful.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said that the law couldn't keep someone from hating him, but it could keep them from lynching him. Law has its place. God's law has its place as well. The Ten Commandments for example, remain pretty much intact in our civil law today, though one must admit that the adultery thing has kind of slipped. Still, though, we recognize almost universally the laws that forbid us to kill, steal, and even lie. Indeed, at this writing there is a government official looking at serious jail time because of telling lies about his actions.
The ability for the human community to come together and acknowledge some of the universal realities that make life livable really is quite remarkable. Imperfect, certainly, but still a thing of wonder. The law of the Lord is indeed a thing of beauty. It is not a club to be used to coerce, but rather something prayerful to meditate upon (v. 1) all the day long. The law puts furniture in the room of our humanity. It gives us something to sit upon. It decorates the halls and puts rails on the stairway.
Even the Lord's law, however, needs to change from time to time. Look at the Deuteronomic code. We have pretty much abandoned stoning people for adultery, and though we still decry it, most of us are glad the stones have been left on the street. Other laws, too, have changed. From slavery to dietetic laws, we have learned, with the old hymn "Once To Every Man And Nation," that "time makes ancient good uncouth."
God's law is like creation. It is organic, dynamic, changing, and fluid. We run into problems when we forget this and try to make the law into rigid, unchanging pillars. In fact, humans run into trouble when they try to resist change in general. Change is one of God's most basic laws. Change is built into all creation. It is part and parcel of all that exists. Yet, humans, in their insecurity and desire for a false sense of stability, try to resist it. From church to state to nature itself, we resist it. And yet it comes. Change is part of the ineffable will of God.
We come to the beauty of God's law. We arrive at the wonder of it all and come at last to a meditation on the changing immutability of an incredible God.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said that the law couldn't keep someone from hating him, but it could keep them from lynching him. Law has its place. God's law has its place as well. The Ten Commandments for example, remain pretty much intact in our civil law today, though one must admit that the adultery thing has kind of slipped. Still, though, we recognize almost universally the laws that forbid us to kill, steal, and even lie. Indeed, at this writing there is a government official looking at serious jail time because of telling lies about his actions.
The ability for the human community to come together and acknowledge some of the universal realities that make life livable really is quite remarkable. Imperfect, certainly, but still a thing of wonder. The law of the Lord is indeed a thing of beauty. It is not a club to be used to coerce, but rather something prayerful to meditate upon (v. 1) all the day long. The law puts furniture in the room of our humanity. It gives us something to sit upon. It decorates the halls and puts rails on the stairway.
Even the Lord's law, however, needs to change from time to time. Look at the Deuteronomic code. We have pretty much abandoned stoning people for adultery, and though we still decry it, most of us are glad the stones have been left on the street. Other laws, too, have changed. From slavery to dietetic laws, we have learned, with the old hymn "Once To Every Man And Nation," that "time makes ancient good uncouth."
God's law is like creation. It is organic, dynamic, changing, and fluid. We run into problems when we forget this and try to make the law into rigid, unchanging pillars. In fact, humans run into trouble when they try to resist change in general. Change is one of God's most basic laws. Change is built into all creation. It is part and parcel of all that exists. Yet, humans, in their insecurity and desire for a false sense of stability, try to resist it. From church to state to nature itself, we resist it. And yet it comes. Change is part of the ineffable will of God.
We come to the beauty of God's law. We arrive at the wonder of it all and come at last to a meditation on the changing immutability of an incredible God.
