You don’t need to park your brain on the roadside of faith
More reflections as I transcribe Psalm 119
I’m mostly through Psalm 119 now, which I’m transcribing as part my morning routine (on Wednesdays).
I’m sharing key takeaways here as I write out the Psalm verse by verse, week over week. I hope the reflections bless you in the midst of your busy life.
In my second session, I transcribed verses 33-64.
Rethinking all your friends named Derek
The Hebrew word for way is “derek” which primarily “refers to a physical path or road, but it is also used metaphorically to describe a course of life or mode of action.”1
Derek can denote:
a journey, or
the manner in which one conducts oneself.
It often signifies the moral and spiritual path one chooses.
Depending on the choice, this either reflects obedience or disobedience to God’s commandments.
Strong’s notes that, “In ancient Israel, roads and paths were crucial for travel, trade, and communication. The concept of a ‘way’ was deeply embedded in the culture, symbolizing not only physical journeys but also spiritual and ethical directions.”
We understand this almost without context or explanation in the Christian tradition. We use the word “way” so frequently to describe the sojourn of our life on earth. It’s amazing to see the pathway to the word’s usage being laid out right before our eyes.
David is one of the original people who helped identify and socialize this truth for us. We walk on the concept he helped to flesh out with his writing, and it’s sort of surreal (and a bit meta) to pause and take that in.
He cries, “Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes and I will observe it to the end” (33). This is fascinating to me. David isn’t seeking or hawking “the hidden technique that will change everything for you—do this one thing!” like so many gurus have throughout time, including the present. For him, it’s not about a singular rule or command, but an entire approach to being.
He delights in the path of the commandments—the entirety of what they are, and all they represent, and what they lead him to: salvation, which simultaneously rushes toward him like a giant river as he, too, charges ahead in the direction God sets out. His heart and God’s “steadfast love” collide on this path (41).
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You don’t need to park your brain on the roadside of faith
“Obedience, without understanding, is a form of blindness too.” This powerful line, seared into my heart from William Gibson’s The Miracle Worker, is the essence of verse 34. When I first read that play (in India, as we chased a story for Unveil’s first feature film E for Everyone) that line from the play left an indelible mark.
It’s the story of Helen Keller and her support worker—the blind Annie Sullivan—who helped the deaf, dumb, and mute child understand language. This powerful moment at the end of the play when Helen realizes that the signs Annie taps into her little palm mean something is incredibly potent and emotionally charged.
“Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.”
There’s a wholeness to all this, a mind-heart connection that is essential to the psalmist. This isn’t about mindless acts of obedience, but something engrained, deeply personal, comprehensive and at the very heart of who we are. At the deepest level, and most personal—the heart—there can be an alignment to truth that connects to the mind as well.
Like that moment in Gibson’s play, this moment in scripture is revolutionary. When I was younger, hungrily seeking truth, I often felt cancelled by my desire to understand. As though the mind was a barrier to belief (and certain spiritual leaders seemed to indicate this as true). Of course the mind can get in the way of faith, just like most anything can. But this verse should bring much comfort to any of us who have felt we need to check our brain on the side of the road of faith.
That’s just not true. Instead, we simply need the humility to ask for directions, invite God to help us navigate the pathway of the mind and the heart as well. He connects those great territories within and brings fusion, coherence, wholeness.
I love that.
Turning, turning, turning….
My last observation for this reflection on Psalm 119: 33-64 is the repeated use of the word turning. There are four turns marked out on the map of life that David highlights.
He asks God to turn his:
Heart to God's decrees and away from selfish gain (36).
Eyes from looking at vanities, desiring instead a life in God’s ways (37).
Way from the disgrace that he dreads, since God’s ordinances are good (39).
Feet to God’s decrees when he thinks of God’s ways (59).
I looked into the word for turn used in the Hebrew, and it opens up the meaning of these passages for me.
Abar means to “pass by” or to “pass over or through something” such as crossing a river or moving to another place. It can also imply an act of transgression or violating the law.
And it evokes the most significant moment in Israel’s history so often on David’s mind. Crossing over or passing through was the main redemptive paradigm for David and his people. It recalls the incredible moment when the entire nation passed through the Red Sea on dry ground, escaping the enslavement of Egypt. And it recalls when they did the same at the Jordan, leaving the desert once for all and crossing into the Promise Land.
David wants his heart, eyes, feet, and the direction of his life to avoid sinking into transgression. He needs God’s help to turn his whole self always toward the empowering precepts that will continually help him navigate the things that enslave, the very things that will propel him forward in the promise.
Throwaway thought
I thought my reflection was done, but I had to include this. It’s, perhaps, my favourite moment in the Psalm so far.
Your statutes have been my songs
wherever I make my home (54)
Home is where the LORD is.
Isn’t that beautiful? That’s how I read it, at least. You could live in a hole in a rock. A palace made for a king. A field with the sheep. A quiet village in a forgotten province. David lived in all these places. And because he had God’s word, and made it his song, he was at home.
I highly recommend that you give transcription a try. Pick a Bible verse or a favourite passage of writing from a worthy text.
Let me know how it goes!