Theological Journal – November 5 You Can’t Resonate with Psalm 119 Unless . . .

 Psalm 119 (1)

This longest psalm, artfully crafted as an eight-part alphabetic acrostic poem (that is, each section begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet and uses eight main words used for “torah” . . .  corresponding to this eight-fold acrostic; and about 176 of these synonyms for Torah occur in the 176 vv. of the psalm (The Jewish Study Bible: Second Edition [Kindle Location 74340-74342]) has often been believed repetitive, redundant, and boring. That has changed somewhat in more recent times but still, 176 verses about the Torah, the Law of God! How much can, or needs, to be said about it?

Further, in the West we tend to construe law more negatively than not religiously. The prevalent tendency to play law off against grace (as part of an Old Testament vs. New Testament dialectic) in much American Christianity is a parade example. A long, boring, repetitive, legalistic paean to Law is not likely to attract much favorable attention.

Psa.119 itself, closely read, gives the lie to these caricatures. Though formally petitionary it’s treatment of Torah opens it up in illuminating, enlightening, and uplifting ways, making its 176 verses a joy and delight to “meditate” (Psa.1:2) on. As well, its acrostic structure gives it “a form commensurate with the message. The message is that life is reliable and utterly symmetrical when the torah is honored. And so the psalm provides a literary, pedagogical experience of reliability and utter symmetry. A torah-ordered life is as safe, predictable, and complete as is the movement of the psalm" (Walter Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary [Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984], 40).

And my contention is that until, and not until, we can work through these caricatures, cultural trends, or other hindrances to hear this psalm as intended it will remain a closed text for us.

A chief way to “open it up” is attentive or meditative reading. Stephen Chapman explains,

“In this kind of interpretive practice, a reader will notice a rich word or turn of phrase from a poem or a novel, roll it around on the tongue several times, perhaps use it in conversation with others, and commit it to memory. The word or phrase then becomes part of the reader’s lived reality. In fact, such a reader will progressively inhabit the world envisioned by the text, living into it, considering both its similarities to and differences from the world as the reader has previously known and experienced it. Such reading is not only a cultural desideratum but a theological imperative. In Jewish and Christian tradition, reading the Bible has always involved meditating on its words as if each and every one stood ready to disclose a divine message” (Chapman, Stephen B.. 1 Samuel as Christian Scripture (p. 10). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition).

This kind of reading is not for information, though it can be, wrongly, read only for that). It is far more for formation than information. Read for formation we discover a distinctive feature of the psalm: the psalmist describes his relation to Torah as “clinging to it” (vv.25,31). This is “a very strong term, often with sexual connotations (see, e.g., Gen. 2.24; 34.3)” (Kindle loc. 74352-74353) that replaces the normal close relation of the worshiper to YHWH. In other words, Torah replaces or is seen/experienced as a manifestation of God’s own self.

This “exchange” from YHWH himself to Torah happens in many areas in this psalm:

-“Torah,” not God is the source of life (vv. 50, 93;)

-in Psa.18.29//2 Sam. 22.29, God is the psalmist’s “light” but in v. 105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light for my path.”

-God’s “deliverance” comes from his words (v.123) rather than from God himself: “My eyes pine away for Your deliverance, for Your righteous words.”

-v.135 desires God to shine His face on the psalmist (Num.6:25), but he wants this through Torah (v. 135): “Show favor to Your servant [lit. “shine Your Face upon Your servant”], and teach me Your laws.” (see JSB: 74355-74362)

When Torah opens up to us as this sampling of texts indicates, it becomes another way of speaking about our relation to God whose character it reflects and in whose light we must read it. Meditative or appreciative reading is then clearly the most appropriate way to engage it. I once heard meditation described as a cow chewing its cud. It chews it over and over, turning it with its tongue to get all sides, slowly enjoying each morsel. The way one might read a love letter.

That’s how I will attempt to engage each section of this psalm, and I hope you will too. Feel free to share your insights with the rest of us. For I surely have only a limited range of insight and need your help to grow mine.

Next time:  the Aleph section, vv.1-8.