Psalm 119:169 – Understanding

Let my cry come before you LORD.
Give me understanding according to your word.

This is the first verse of the last section of Psalm 119. There are 22 sections, each with 8 verses and all the verses start with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. We’re not at ‘tau’ or ‘tav’, the last letter. Just eight more posts to go in this series!

Some translations (REB, for example) specify this as a cry of joy, but the Hebrew word used for “cry” can be either a cry of lament or of joy, and I see nothing in the context to indicate which it is.

What I find most interesting is that when this cry comes before God, the request is for understanding. Many of us think we want understanding, but I think we often are less anxious for understanding than we might claim. Understanding is not always fun. There’s the humorous twist on a common saying, “The person who is not losing their head probably doesn’t understand the situation.”

Complete understanding would likely be a burden. Since I don’t have complete understanding–at least I understand that much about the situation!–I can’t tell you for sure. But I’ve found that quite frequently more understanding doesn’t make it easier to deal with whatever’s going on. Sometimes what we’d prefer is an explanation that makes everything seem to make sense, even if it doesn’t actually do so.

An example of this is “overthinking.” I’m personally and experientially acquainted with this phenomenon. It’s a serious problem for me. I’ll find myself unable to make a decision because I’ve spent too much time trying to understand all possible options and all possible errors. By the time I’m done, no option seems workable.

Now overthinking does not necessarily mean “overunderstanding”. There’s no guarantee that extended time spent thinking will result in better decisions. In fact, in can be one way of not understanding. It also leads to one way of avoiding action and responsibility. One decides that the situation is so tangled that one cannot be expected to take rational action.

One very difficult burden of understanding is that it can force us to realize that comfortable patterns of thinking and acting are not going to bring the desired results. I recall this in more than one business decision I’ve made. I’ve recognized that things were going badly and then gone to some trouble to analyze the situation. Often–very often–that results in discovering that some practice I’ve become comfortable with is simply never going to produce the desired results. But I like that way of doing things! It’s a project I don’t want to dump, or some other project I don’t want to give a higher priority.

And then comes understanding in the form of spreadsheets and logical charts. The current course of action is never, ever going to work. I’ve been following it for weeks or months, but there’s no fixing it except to admit I was wrong and change course.

I’m reminded of James 1:5: “If anyone lacks wisdom, he should ask God and it will be given to him …” Pretty clear and absolute, right? No condition stated. This prayer will be answered. “God give me wisdom.” “OK, you’ve got it.” And then we go stumbling on our way, or at least I do, still doing stupid stuff.

Wisdom is a bit like the gift of a toolkit. You have to use it. You have to let it change you. And that’s not so easy. So God is a generous giver. Are you a generous receiver?

Receiving wisdom is a great deal like repentance. You have to change. I believe repentance is not a one time event, but an attitude. It’s something that sticks with us. It comes from a realization that we are very often wrong and always need to be willing to examine ourselves, find the error, and change course. Repenting once doesn’t do it. You have to become a repenter.

So what are you going to repent of today? Or how many whats?

(Featured image generated by Jetpack AI.)