Psalm 119:156

Psalm 119:156

According to Your laws

Verse 149 of the Psalm reads like this, “Hear my voice in accordance with Your love; preserve my life, Lord, according to Your laws.” Here, in v156, we have similar sentiments being expressed as the author is clearly reminding himself, and us, that the Lord’s compassion is great, therefore the Lord will preserve our lives according to His laws.

I confess that I’ve had a job putting myself in the shoes of this godly man, especially as his devotional life was very different from mine! Families in Israel did not possess their own, individual copies of the Scripture or even Torah. These were written on vast scrolls and kept in the Temple, or other holy places. (It is highly unlikely that this Psalm was written after the advent of synagogues. The oldest dated evidence of a synagogue is from the 3rd century BC, but synagogues doubtless have an older history. Some scholars think that the destruction of Solomon’s Temple of Jerusalem in 586 BC gave rise to synagogues after private homes were temporarily used for public worship and religious instruction.) In the light of all of this, the writer of this Psalm either relied on his memory when he considered the laws and commands of the Lord, or maybe he had some simple method of his own for recording some of the basic writings he had learned. Whatever his position, access to God’s Word was limited and maybe that is why it was so treasured. As we have noted previously, the laws of the Lord were not viewed as burdensome but rather a revelation of His love, justice and truth. 

Shouldn’t this cause us to love the Word of God even more? That we have such easy access to it may cause some to become blasé about their Bibles. We can even take His Word with us everywhere nowadays, on our phones. There are Bibles in every bookshop and many Christians have several different versions on their bookshelves. Perhaps we’ve become so nonchalant about this amazing privilege that we’ve lost the awe and wonder of our predecessors. Never forget, this book is the Lord’s personal love letter to you, it is the most valuable thing that you will ever possess! In its pages we will all find evidence of His compassion towards us and He will show us how He preserves our lives according to His laws. 

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