Psalm 119:57-64
A Psalm of the Glories of God’s Law.
You are my portion, O Lord;
I have promised to keep your words.
I entreat you with all my heart:
be merciful to me according to your promise.
I have considered my ways,
and turned my feet toward your decrees;
I hasten and do not delay
to keep your commandments.
Though the cords of the wicked entangle me,
I do not forget your teaching.
At midnight I will rise to give you thanks,
for your righteous judgments.
I am a companion of all who fear you,
and of those who keep your commandments.
Your love, O Lord, fills the earth;
teach me your statutes.
Meditation
When I was getting ready for seminary, someone advised me to try to learn the Hebrew and Greek alphabets before I actually went to seminary, to save myself the stress of trying to learn them while already having homework about things like verb tenses and grammar. I tried. I tried learning the Hebrew alphabet on my own, for an entire summer. I gave up. It was so hard to put the image with the sound. Then one day I was wandering around my house and I remembered something I’d heard in a video—years ago, when my children were small. I searched and searched, and finally—there it was. I popped it in the player. And this is what I’d remembered and found.
(Singing)
Alef, Bait, [Bait]…
Gimmel, Dalet, Hay…
Vav, Zayin, Chet, Tet…
Yud, Qaf, Lammed…
Mem, Nun, Samech…
Ayin, Pey, [Fey]…
Tsadi, Kof, Resh…
Sin, Shin, Tav.
That is the Hebrew alphabet song, and I’m not ashamed to tell you I learned it from Barney. Yes, that Barney. The purple dinosaur. Very educational.
Today we are reading a brief selection from the longest Psalm in the Bible—in fact, at 176 verses, the longest chapter of any book in the Bible. And here’s why the alphabet: The Psalm is written as an acrostic. Each section begins with a different letter of the alphabet. Just like that little song, it’s a teaching tool, probably developed for the education of young boys in the Temple.
Our section begins with Chet (ח), the word, “chalaqi.” It means, “my portion.” You are my portion, O God, the psalmist sings, when they get to this part of the alphabet. It’s a kind of a funny way to talk about God, a way we might not typically use. Another psalm says, “You are my portion and cup.” And the meaning becomes clearer. You, O God, I feast upon. You, O Lord, are enough for me.
In this part of the psalm, we are encountering a celebration of the “enoughness” of God. Given that we believe God is the God of everyone and everything, it’s a funny thing to say. But you know how it is. It’s easy to forget… God is, and isn’t, enough. God is enough on Sunday morning, but not always on Wednesday afternoon, when the pressure of the deadline is upon us, say, or the kids are on our last nerve, or the dog just seems to want to prove he can make us jump up from dinner every time he whines by the door. But the question persists. Can God be enough to help us not to lose it, in the midst of our day to day stresses?
The psalmist goes on. God’s law is beautiful, they sing. It’s a sign, surely, of God’s love. Again, not how most of us would think about it. So here’s an image to help: I think of it like the bumpers at the bowling alley.
You know how, when you take little kids bowling, they usually direct you to the lane with the bumpers? And the purpose of the bumpers is to spare the kids the discouragement of watching their ball go right into the gutter. Nowheresville. To encourage them that, with practice, good form becomes a habit, until they don’t need the bumpers any more.
The law is a little like that. Bumpers, setting the parameters of the lives we lead. Not meant for punishment. Meant for love. To help us understand the boundaries. To keep us safe. To keep our neighbors safe. God gives us the law because God loves our neighbor; and God gives our neighbor the law, because God loves us. (Rolf Jacobson)
Because, in God’s way of abundance, we have enough… we have been given enough, and our God is enough… the God who is kind enough to provide us with the bumpers that keep us on the path we are called to walk. The God who is loving enough not to want us to send the important things into the gutter, but who wants us to thrive. To be well. To know that we are loved.
Thanks be to God. Amen.