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
4 Comments:
I'm so glad you posted this, since I missed all the discussions. I look forward to the comments that will soon be, I'm sure.
By
Unknown, at 2:53 PM
Hey Hannah,
Great to hear from you. I really appreciate your thoughts here. You quite perfectly said what I was trying to get at.
Megan has been a huge help to me in discovering a whole new understanding of the goodness of God. Your insights into the Law are very much at the heart of this.
Dudley Hall--the guy who puts out those little teachings that I post on SomethingMore from time to time--put it this way: Jesus would have been recognized by Abraham, by Moses, by Joshua, by David, etc. The suggestion is, of course, that these guys understood something about the Law that most of us never get.
Rereading I and II Samuel have helped me with Psalm 119--since David is credited with many of the Psalms. I was really impacted by David's response to God when Uzzah was killed for touching the Ark of the Covenant (II Samuel 6:6-15).
The short of it is that David was deeply troubled with God for killing Uzzah--a good man--for reaching out to stabalize the Ark after the oxen stumbled. David lamented, and doubted the goodness of God. Because of this, David left the ark at the house of Obed-edom for three months, until he heard that God was blessing the snot out of Obed-edom and his family. This is when David goes and gets the ark and takes his outer clothes off and dances with all of his might before it, as they roll it through the streets of the City of David.
It seems to me that David was troubled by the wrath of God. David, who had been chased around by Saul. David who had single-handedly defeated Goliath. David--a man so humble and virtuous that one cannot mistake his whole-heart pursuit of God.
...just some thoughts
jdr
By
Josh, at 1:49 PM
Lately, I have bee discovering the goodness of God through his laws. If one looks beyond the surface to see the depth of each law and understand it will uncover and expose. Every sin comes out of a lie and a brokeness. By measuring myself to the law of God I then become very aware of the areas where I am not aligned with God.
It is so freeing to realize that the law is not a hoop for me to jump through for approval. Instead, it is a way for me to obtain more of that sweet intimacy that I so long for. Then the law seems like such a blessing.
Thanks guys for the conversation. You guys are such an awesome group.
By
Shiran, at 12:59 PM
I have felt for some time that I have had very similar paths of growth as you (Shiran). I just want you to know that I am really registering what you say. The law does expose my broken parts--and though there is a resistance to this exposure, I know in the deeper parts of me that the resistence is part of the brokenness. Shame tells me to just hide everything.
But then there is this intimacy that you spoke of. It is the created being's discovery that the creator is fully good. It is the created being discovering that he was, in fact, built. designed. MADE. It was CREATED.
To think of myself as created always startles me.
Then to hear the voice of my creator shakes my very core. His voice makes my weep for joy. For I am always supprised that he is good. I always feel MORE CREATED when he is speaking to me directly. I feel more real.
I guess I have wandered off into trying to describe intimacy. But that is where we started. The Law, exposing our need for being fixed causes us to throw our broken wooden bodies at the feet of the Great Craftsman. And his voice heals us--recreates us. And in this place, we discover a whole other chamber in the temple of the Law. It is a secret chamber, and in it is joy and peace and kindness and mercy and compassion and grace and Perfect Liberty.
For the pure, all things are pure.
...just some thoughts
jdr
By
Josh, at 11:06 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home