I wanted to say a few words about the nature of Scripture this week. Psalm 119 is about the saving nature of God’s Word and the Christian’s relationship with God’s Word. The first 8 verses are illustrative of the entire Psalm. Verse 1 summarizes the main point this way, “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord (ESV).” So, the main point is about the blessed or happy life of a Christian. The Scripture says that a Christian’s life is happy because it’s a life walking in the law of the Lord. 

The question that immediately arises is this: Why does walking in the law of the Lord make someone happy? Ice cream, new cars, and a job raise make us happy - but we have doubts about the law. The Scripture explains. 

Six different words are used as synonyms for “law” in verses 1-8. They are ways, testimonies, precepts, commandments, rules or decrees, and statutes.  These words are not identical, but all carry the same basic idea of the written, authoritative, saving speech of God. These six different words are repeated in each stanza of Psalm 119. Together they communicate the fullness what Christians possess in God’s Word. 

This is important because Christians can easily relegate God’s Word to Sunday services and ignore it Monday-Friday. Or just as often Christians can lose hope that God’s Word is relevant to their problems in marriage, singleness, school, work, chronic sickness, depression, infertility, or addiction. In Israel God’s law applied to everything even down to making sure guests were safe in your home or doing agriculture in a way that remembered the poor. The six different synonyms for law emphasized this - that in every moment God’s Word was relevant. 

In addition to applying to every circumstance, the six different synonyms emphasize the fullness of salvation that was revealed in God’s law to Israel. Since the true Israel now has been revealed in Christ, Christians get to see the fullness of salvation looking back at God’s revelation to Israel. To put it all together, God’s law makes Christians happy because in it they possess the fullness of salvation in Christ which applies in every circumstance of their life. 

So how does a Christian approach such life-giving wisdom? Verses 1-8 use five different verbs to answer this question. A Christian walks in the law, keeps it, seeks the Lord in it, fixes their eyes on it, and learns it. It’s not surprising that a Christian is so dedicated to God’s Word, it’s their happy life! In it their whole heart finds rest. It takes away their shame and in it they find closeness to God even in the hardest moments of life. Verse 25 reminds us “My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word! (ESV)”