Psalm 119:15: Looking at God’s Ways

On your precepts will I meditate;
I will look at your ways.

There’s a big difference between meditation and biblical exegesis. I tend to use exegesis to refer to extracting the meaning from a text in the narrow sense of what a particular author meant by a particular statement or passage. Hermeneutics generally refers to the broader process of interpreting and applying scripture. This usage is not universal; frequently you will hear hermeneutics and exegesis used interchangeably.

But meditation lacks these narrow boundaries. As I read these verses, one per day, while I do some of the work of exegesis, such as looking at the words in a good lexicon and checking other uses and reading the context of that particular verse, I really am letting my mind roam through scripture and experience and also asking what the passage suggests to me. I think poetry is particularly well attuned to this kind of thinking, and Psalm 119 even more than most. The author draws in words for God’s instruction that direct us to think of the law/instruction in the broadest possible sense. It is the entire Word that God has for us that is brought into view through the vocabulary.

The root word for “precepts” used here goes back to a root word that is often translated “visit.” A visit can be many things. It can be a time of inspection, a time of reward, a time of fellowship and relationship, or a time of judgment. Now it’s not a good idea to determine the meaning of a word by its etymology, i.e., the forms from which it is derived. I’ve already commented on how the use of the various “law” words in Psalm 119 tend to direct us away from being too specific on a single concept. (Bob MacDonald’s post on this Psalm features consistent translations of the terms so that you can see them scattered through the Psalm.)

But in this case, whether it’s a good idea or not, the etymology of the word for “precepts” led me to think of visiting and relationship (good and bad!), and God in action, rather than as a static lawgiver. After all, the God who said, “I am YHWH your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt …” (Exodus 20:2) is a God of relationships and actions, with creative and saving/restoring acts featured.

As we go through the time of advent, symbolizing in our worship the wait for God to be with us as Immanuel, we can certainly relate to this thought. The God who becomes incarnate in a manger is a God of action, of relationship.

I tend to fellow loosely joined trails in my thinking, and I followed this by focusing on the second half of the verse, looking at God’s ways/actions/behavior. There are many ways to do this. We often approach scripture to discover correct doctrine. There’s nothing wrong with that, but that’s not the whole story. I like to look at scripture for the stories of God’s interaction with people into which we fit these various theological propositions.

For example, another part of my reading today was from 1 Corinthians, in which we have Paul making a huge number of statements that are turned into theological propositions, sometimes in contradiction to the story that surrounds them. Speaking of the stories of scripture after evoking incidents from the Exodus, Paul says, “These things were written to admonish us” (1 Corinthians 10:11). He has just referenced a number of stories.

Thus, I’d add to trying to understand to propositions of scripture a need to understand the stories. I think as we understand those stories, we will often find that we’ve been looking at propositions from entirely the wrong perspective. (A favorite example of this comes from 1 Corinthians 14, and worship that is “decent and in order.” I’ve heard this quoted to criticize a pastor for deviating from the bulletin!)

But there’s another layer or more to go. How about the way in which scripture was composed. There are hints all through scripture of various sources that have been brought together, including the frequently referenced “chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah” cited as sources in 1 & 2 Kings. Interesting that God provides inspired scripture through someone compiling material from official court chronicles and providing commentary.

Then there’s the natural world. Some make great efforts to assure us that special revelation, written scripture, is the more reliable source. Nature, they say, is too easily misinterpreted. Sometimes they even attempt to force the natural world to match their interpretation of scripture.

But the natural world is a direct product of God’s word just as is the written word. I don’t want to detract from the written word, but I think we need to elevate what can be learned from God’s creative activity. The physicist studies some of the most direct products of the mind of God. Or so I suspect!

I’ve wandered far away from what is explicitly stated in the text of the verse. But in the spirit of this Psalm, I think the author might have understood my thinking, should he have had an opportunity, or at least the spirit behind it.

Where does thinking about God’s ways lead you?