Psalm 119:66 – Teach Me
Beauty, order, and knowledge teach me,
for I have put my trust in your commands.
I went straight off on a rabbit trail thinking about this verse, because those first three words cover a very large area. They have overlapping semantic ranges, and a variety of possible glosses. I tried to choose three words to would combine the senses. As I read the three words they convey a combined sense of learning to see knowledge for multiple angles, looking for beauty, order, and data with understanding.
We often see religious instruction as a matter for the church and for Bible study, while everything else is a secular activity. This is not the view that would have been held generally by those in Bible times. With God as the creator, everything is seen as part of God’s creation. So when you study the things in nature, you are studying divine beauty, order, and information.
There is a danger in this sort of thinking, but let me say that we are always in danger when we study. Danger that we will quick seeking these three and start trying to force the information to take shapes of our own desires. Thus religion has often tried to control scientific research by reference to their interpretations of scripture.
Thinking that scripture and also all of reality come from God, doesn’t mean that scripture teaches us about everything. Scripture should teach us to be truthful, to seek accurate knowledge, and then also to deal with that knowledge responsibly. It does not claim to be a text on any field of science. Rather, it points to a creator who created things and established an order for them such that objective study is possible.
We miss that order when we try to force these elements to fit into a pre-conceived scheme and refuse to acknowledge what’s there.
Recently there has been increasing skepticism of traditional sources of news and other data. This skepticism, in itself, is good. We should be skeptical of popular and official story lines. The problem is that we have all too frequently gone from a source that has failed in some ways to sources that don’t even attempt to be accurate. We judge the accuracy of the information by how pleasing it is to us.
You may think I’m talking about current American politics. And I am, but not only that. I’m talking about the way we have handled scripture for a very long time. We step away from traditional institutions of the faith because they have failed us in some way. Martin Luther was driven to his break with church authority by very real problems. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before he and other reformers were ready to deny the journey to others. Having found a better place, they found it more comfortable and they felt the need to defend it
But when we find our new comfort zone theologically and we fail to be constantly corrected by God’s Word and God’s Spirit. It’s a truthful Spirit, and doesn’t like us to lie, even, or especially, to ourselves.
Whether you’re studying cutting edge scientific theories, reading the newspaper, or studying scripture, always beware of the comfortable rut and the safe, unchallenging mental vacation spot.
Take the time to study, to meditate, and yes, to pray. Take time to listen. Be challenged. Be correctable, but only by solid material.
There’s a beauty awaiting the determined traveler along paths of knowledge. Determine to take that journey!
(Featured image generated by Jetpack AI.)
