Life and the Law
I've been ruminating a bit the past few weeks on Josh's opening to our meditation on Psalm 119. Hi Josh! And I have to admit, I was a little unsure of what he was trying to say initially. Or, if I did understand what he was trying to say, not necessarily agreeing with it. I think I've come around to understanding what he was conveying and even agreeing with it.
So, I'm going to make some broad generalizations about what you said Josh. Because this is what I grasped. I'm certainly open for discussion/clarification.
Josh's introduction dwelt more on the word "happy" in the first(?) verse than on the fact that the psalm was all about the law. Happy as in a well-rounded, family, home, community type happy. See, and I'm still stuck on the fact that, um, hi? Law. All over this psalm. Not quite following.
But as I thought about it more, what I grasped is that when we look at Psalm 119, a psalm extolling the virtues of the law and the need for the law in our lives, there is something beyond the law that we are looking for, reaching for. The law is a means to an end. Not the end itself. We follow the law because it should get us closer to God. We are clean if we have followed God's precepts. Those precepts are given to us in order that we might have happy, fulfilling lives, not for the sake of having random rules to follow. The laws are wonderful in that they show us more of who God is and they help us commune with God better. Still in the end, if we ignore the two most important, those concerning our heart towards God and towards humanity, we are not any better off. In fact we are worse off because we have wasted out time on worthless precepts that might make us outwardly clean, not inwardly clean.
Thoughts? Questions? Am I totally wrong here?
So, I'm going to make some broad generalizations about what you said Josh. Because this is what I grasped. I'm certainly open for discussion/clarification.
Josh's introduction dwelt more on the word "happy" in the first(?) verse than on the fact that the psalm was all about the law. Happy as in a well-rounded, family, home, community type happy. See, and I'm still stuck on the fact that, um, hi? Law. All over this psalm. Not quite following.
But as I thought about it more, what I grasped is that when we look at Psalm 119, a psalm extolling the virtues of the law and the need for the law in our lives, there is something beyond the law that we are looking for, reaching for. The law is a means to an end. Not the end itself. We follow the law because it should get us closer to God. We are clean if we have followed God's precepts. Those precepts are given to us in order that we might have happy, fulfilling lives, not for the sake of having random rules to follow. The laws are wonderful in that they show us more of who God is and they help us commune with God better. Still in the end, if we ignore the two most important, those concerning our heart towards God and towards humanity, we are not any better off. In fact we are worse off because we have wasted out time on worthless precepts that might make us outwardly clean, not inwardly clean.
Thoughts? Questions? Am I totally wrong here?
posted by Hannita at
12:30 AM
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