Yodh

⁷³ You made me; you created me.
    Now give me the sense to follow your commands.
⁷⁴ May all who fear you find in me a cause for joy,
    for I have put my hope in your word.
⁷⁵ I know, O Lord, that your regulations are fair;
    you disciplined me because I needed it.
⁷⁶ Now let your unfailing love comfort me,
    just as you promised me, your servant.
⁷⁷ Surround me with your tender mercies so I may live,
    for your instructions are my delight.
⁷⁸ Bring disgrace upon the arrogant people who lied about me;
    meanwhile, I will concentrate on your commandments.
⁷⁹ Let me be united with all who fear you,
    with those who know your laws.
⁸⁰ May I be blameless in keeping your decrees;
    then I will never be ashamed.

Psalm 119:73-80

Dear God, I wonder how this psalmists would have defined your “commands.” Is he referring to all of the meticulous laws and being pious, or is he looking at the bigger picture. Would he have been the type to come to Jesus, ask what it is to be saved, and then claimed to have kept all of the commands. Would Jesus ask him to sell all he has, give it to the poor, and then come and follow him? In the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Mark 10:17-27, Jesus loved the man. That is often forgotten. He loved his earnestness. He loved his zeal. He loved his obedience. To obey is better than to sacrifice. So why did Jesus raise the bar on him beyond the law? It makes me think of the part of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said the series of, “You have heard it said …, but I say…” This psalmist and passionate about following you and loving you. I appreciate him for that. I would love for that to be said of me. But if it were true, would there still be something more I owe you?

• ⁷³ You made me; you created me. Now give me the sense to follow your commands. – I owe you everything. You are my creator. I am your created. And I am at the lower end of your creation at that. Even the lowest angel in heaven is far greater than me. I’m just this man on earth who has some amount of reason and thought. Who am I to think I am more than I am? But you are God. Give me the sense to follow your commands.
• ⁷⁴ May all who fear you find in me a cause for joy, for I have put my hope in your word. – Accountability isn’t in here, but I can see it in the subtext, for me at least. I want “all who fear you” to be my tribe. My friends. My support. And my accountability. I pray that those I know and respect will know me and hold me accountable, but that starts with me making myself known to them. Help me to be completely known, warts and all.
• ⁷⁵ I know, O Lord, that your regulations are fair; you disciplined me because I needed it. – When I first read this verse as part of the passage this morning, I asked myself if I’ve ever considered any event in my life to be discipline from you. I don’t think I have. Should I have? I’ve certainly seen you take challenges in my life, including terrible mistakes I’ve made, and used them as opportunities to teach me. I’ve learned a lot. But I think they natural consequences of my sin are quite enough punishment. I wonder if this is the difference between how the psalmist saw you and how Jesus taught us to see you. The ultimate punishment will be exclusion from your presence in the end, but even that is more a natural consequence of our choices and not what you want to happen.
• ⁷⁶ Now let your unfailing love comfort me, just as you promised me, your servant. – Yes. I like the idea of claiming your comfort. Again, going back to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said those who mourn are blessed because they will be comforted. There are times when I really need your comfort. But there are also times when I just simply feel sorry for myself. At those times, I am slowly learning from you to care more about others and the pain they are in than myself.
• ⁷⁷ Surround me with your tender mercies so I may live, for your instructions are my delight. – For those before Jesus, they didn’t have this blanket understanding of your grace or the comfort of it. I appreciate your tender mercy and reconciliation through Jesus so that I might live–both on this earth and past it.
• ⁷⁸ Bring disgrace upon the arrogant people who lied about me; meanwhile, I will concentrate on your commandments. – It’s always these types of verses in psalms that catch me off guard. If people are enemies of mine, I suppose I don’t care about their outcomes. I only care if they are enemies of yours–especially if they claim to be of you and then act apart from you. If they are doing that, the bring all of the disgrace upon them you can muster so that they might not misrepresent you and your name.
• ⁷⁹ Let me be united with all who fear you, with those who know your laws. – This kind of goes back to that accountability I was talking about earlier. About being known by my tribe. Being one with them under you so that we might bring you joy and glory.
• ⁸⁰ May I be blameless in keeping your decrees; then I will never be ashamed. – A clear conscience is an amazing thing. I’ve had a guilty conscience. I’ve had a clear conscience. There’s no comparison. Father, help me to live with a clear conscience, repenting to you and accepting your grace when I am wrong, and repenting to others when I need to as well.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen