A Thought

“Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them.  The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.  I opened my mouth and panted, for I longed for Your commandments.  Look upon me and be merciful to me, as Your custom is toward those who love Your name.”  Psalm 119:129-132

It is important for Christians to look upon the Torah (the “law”) in a new light within what has become a seriously fractured Church that is far from “universal” and especially considering what many see as a “contrast” between St. Paul’s seeming insistence that the law “condemns” and the psalmist’s “panting for the commandments”.  It seems obvious the psalmist does not consider the Lord’s law burdensome; why, then, do we Christians?  The psalmist reads the Law in light of the Covenant, the eternal Promise of the Lord whose “merciful custom” is to bless those who abide by the Lord’s word which is, in fact, The Law.  In fact the Law is the terms of the Covenant, the agreement by which the people of faith are truly bound together as a “nation under God”.

It is easy and true enough to say we are saved by faith through grace just as it is written, but faith requires more than acknowledging a simple concept or surrendering to an emotional moment.  Faith requires a commitment that goes beyond the moment, and faith understands it is the Lord’s word that sustains us when, as the psalmist often laments, the world is against us.  It is the Law that reminds us who we are.  It is the Law that reminds us who the Lord is and what He expects from His people.  And it is the Law that gives the certain promise of divine protection even when we think the world is getting the best of us.

We must not dismiss the Law as “old”.  Rather we must rediscover the Law that “gives light … and understanding”.  And we must not stop searching and striving until, like the psalmist, we are “panting with longing” for the Lord’s commandments rather than looking for a way out.

Blessings,

Michael