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It’s so good to return to the Psalms. For me, I’m excited to be working through my favorite Psalm of them all, 119. At our present rate of one every ten weeks, it will take almost 4 years to get through the longest Psalm of them all, but we will do it 8 verses at a time, each group representing a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Today we arrive at Gimel.

For our reflection today, I want us pause and reflect on how we’ve been following Paul’s deconstruction of religion in the book of Romans. He quoted David in the Psalms in last week’s post, and there is something we can gain about Paul’s framework that becomes visible in these writings. The Psalmist loves the Word of God, the Law of the lord, the precepts, commandments, counsel, testimonies, and rules that God gives. If one isn’t careful, we can assume that David is in love with religion, but that would only be a surface level observation. The Psalms capture a soul that is in love with God, and that is in a relationship with God. The Psalmist as the beloved knows God loves him because God has spoken. God communicates. God relates. God has a voice that can be heard, discerned or at least perceived. Furthermore, as this soul has heard and trusted this voice, the Psalmist’s life is benefitted, is healed, is satisfied at the deepest level.

This has been my experience as well. People often say they believe in God or at least some Higher being. I often ask them if they say this, “Has this Higher Being said anything? If so, how did this being say it? How did you know it was such a being?” This usually exposes a gap, where assumption has masqueraded as faith, and feelings displace reason. This is why I’m tenaciously tethered to the scripture. It’s not that I love the Bible so much as I love the voice of God that comes through it. It is among the oldest books in human history. It is a collaboration of dozens of authors over hundreds of years each claiming that the words are divinely inspired and reflect the “Logos” the “Sophia” of the God. It is divine revelation. As a claim, this is one that needs to be explored. As I’ve done so, I find myself, joining the Psalmist and falling in love, over and over again, with the counsel, wisdom and word of God. I trust it and as a result, my life and that of my circles have all been blessed.

¹⁷ Deal bountifully with your servant,
    that I may live and keep your word.
¹⁸ Open my eyes, that I may behold
    wondrous things out of your law.

Any exploration of any part of our cosmos, whether it be a telescope or a microscope, beholds a wonder and a design that integrates all things, despite our ability to fully understand it. The law of gravity and the law of love are not distinct, but equally trustworthy laws of God. Just as sure as an object falls at a very specific rate, so a person falls in an equally predictable fashion when in the gravity of love. Science and theology do not compete, but are equally the evidence of a cosmos comprised of both physical and non-physical reality. The Psalmist sees the wonder that emerges out of God’s law, because of its reality.

¹⁹ I am a sojourner on the earth;
    hide not your commandments from me!
²⁰ My soul is consumed with longing
    for your rules at all times.

In God, we all have access to all the answers to every question from every experience in life. Most reject this idea. Most want to be free of God’s commands. But it only takes a few of these unconventional answers to be experienced before we are set on a course whereby we become desperately hungry for God’s direction. One sip creates an unescapable thirst that is only satisfied when God speaks.

²¹ You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
    who wander from your commandments.
²² Take away from me scorn and contempt,
    for I have kept your testimonies.
²³ Even though princes sit plotting against me,
    your servant will meditate on your statutes.
²⁴ Your testimonies are my delight;
    they are my counselors.

We live in a world that does not understand the love of God, and has little to no hunger for His revelation, His word, and His voice. It would seem that many have no sense of this voice, or if they do, it has been so greatly muffled under the pile of distraction, worry, and pride heaped upon it. Whether we have never apprehended the Sophia or Logos, or whether we have heard it but simply refused to apply it, both result in a commensurate loss of truth and a corresponding fictional existence in and from some version of suffering…which we seem to prefer. As a result, most of us no longer know who we truly are, yet are more desperate than ever to find our self. We no longer know what we want. We let our appetites set our agendas, because we have forsaken the voice of God.

It is my prayer and hope for all of us today, that we could find at least five minutes to sit still. When in silence, pay attention to what is happening inside you…it’s called conscious awareness. Ask God to speak to you. And when something comes to you, observe it, don’t doubt it. Dust off your sacred text, the ancient words which contain the Word, which reflect the deeper, hidden, Sophia that is shared among all of humanity. Reconnect. Sit still. Resist the urge to squirm or get busy. Be quiet. Just be. Listen to the still, small voice. That isn’t you speaking. It is what this Psalmist is talking about. Then whatever, the voice says, through the means that are given, obey it. Follow it. Do it. Do not break faith with your awakened heart. In no time, as you reflect on your life as it is being redeemed, you’ll be weeping as I do, when I read these words…for behind and through and surrounding them is true life.

Shalom.