Week 18 Psalm 119
The psalm starts out: happy are people of integrity, who follow the law of the Lord. Happy are those who obey his decrees and search for him with all their hearts.
I recall from other places this idea of being all-in with the Lord…this searching with-my-whole-heart. But the thing that jumps out at me today is the happiness part.
Not all bibles use the word happy. But there’s other words and phrases that back-up the idea. I should feel delight pleasure desire eagerness joy when I come to my reading. It’s the music of my life. Joy & sweetness & hope are all part of the mix. Love: how I love your law! I think about it all day long. And longing: I long to obey your commandments.
I feel a bit apprehensive about some of the language. It seems excessive and it worries me that the Emotional Response Standards are out-of-reach.
I also notice many references in 119 to people who hate the law of the Lord – they’re oppositional arrogant adversarial contemptuous. The Lord’s law is abhorrent. So this reminds me that there’s a kind of continuum. A pole to the extreme left – The Haters. And on the extreme right – The Lovers. I’m somewhere along that line. Not at the far-right location 119 talks about. But not an adversary either.
My orientation is to the right.
I’ll have to be satisfied today knowing I’m moving in my preferred direction. Even if I’m in the slow-lane.
Note: quotes from Psalm 119:1-2 54 97 40 (NLT)