Perfect Law
Psalm 19
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament[a] proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
4 yet their voice[b] goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In the heavens[c] he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hid from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent;[d]
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
A friend shared a brief narrative by writer, Anne Lamott, addressing the difficulties we face in life. The phrase that lit me up was Lamott’s assertion that “grace bats last.” Loving the allusion to baseball, I am also reminded of Yogi Berra’s famous line, “It ain’t over until it’s over!” In baseball, a team’s chances to win aren’t over until their last batter steps to the plate. For the believer facing challenges, it is essential to remember that GRACE BATS LAST!
What does this have to do with Psalm 19, our lection passage for this weekend? Everything! Note the verse I have highlighted in the text—“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” What IS the purpose of the law of God? Scholars and preachers have bounced this one around since these texts were written down, and I’m sure they were doing it in the days of the oral tradition, as well. I believe there is a difference between “laws” and the “law of the Lord.” People write laws to guard individual freedoms and keep powerful entities in check. Laws are written to define property, protect the innocent from harm by less responsible citizens, and to codify state, regional, or local cultural norms. But what of the “law of the Lord”?
This Psalm says the law of the Lord “revives the soul.” God’s law has a greater purpose than to provide boundaries and state punitive measures, as much of human laws do. God’s law is spiritual, first and foremost. It is for the good of the soul. Psalm 19 says it “makes wise the simple,” “rejoices the heart,” “enlightens the eyes,” and is “true and righteous.” Human laws are impossible to define as “true”—they are enacted by some body, and just “become,” but who is to say they are “true”? The truth of God’s law may be found in the purpose of God’s law.
First, God’s law “establishes” the soul as the center of exchange between God and humanity. Then, God’s law enlightens, adds joy, and gives wisdom. God’s law fosters relationships—righteous relationships—between God and us, and between ourselves and the other. If we keep the Psalm 19 “purpose” of God’s law in focus, we may find ourselves reevaluating the long lists of laws we find in scripture. Our human tendency is to look at these “does and don’ts” in the same way we look at human law. Human law tends to be rather cut and dried: obey them and be left alone; violate them and risk enforcement. God’s laws are about forming and keeping righteous (“right) relationships. They are given to help create harmonious, peaceful community, but not by just drawing boundaries. God’s laws proactively seek to feed the soul of the person as WELL as the community, at large. The law of the Lord is not in place to “bless” or satisfy GOD. God’s law is to bless humanity with peace in the soul, righteousness in relationships, and harmony in the community.
Let us take a quick look at the “Top Ten” of God’s law—the Ten Commandments. The first four commandments are:
1. No other gods
2. No graven images
3. No taking God’s name in vain
4. Remembering the Sabbath
These seem to be things that would “bless” or honor God, and while keeping them certainly DOES honor God, if we remember that the central purpose of God’s law is righteous relationships and building healthy human community, we would do well to view these as things to focus on in order to bind a people together in one heart and one mind. Centering community life on Yahweh gives the people of God a common value. Having multiple gods—especially human-formed ones—divides the community. Using Yahweh’s name as an insult or as a profane utterance offends the community and belittles its core value. Ignoring the sabbath has multiple negative results for the individual as well as the community. We all need the “day of rest,” and the stresses and tensions of our contemporary 24/7 society illustrate this only too well. The first four commandments are more about US than about God. As we learn from Psalm 22, God can take the “heat,” but people and the communities they form are very, very fragile, often balancing on a few shared norms or values. Among a people where a relationship with God is that central focus, commandments 1-4 seek to hold the center together.
Commandment number five is unique:
5. Honor your father and mother
We could write hundreds of sermons on what it means to “honor” our parents, but I believe God gave this “law” to stitch together not just the current population of the human community, but the generations, as well. “Honoring” the ones who have propagated both the physical AND the spiritual future of the community venerates their vital role, cares for their “aging out” years, and plants important values in the children, the grandchildren, and all future generations. Again, it’s about a healthy community and loving family relationships, not just about “appeasing” God. Our American society has done a poor job with this. Social Security is the best we could come up with? And even THIS is paid for those who will later benefit from it. As a recent retiree, I can say that even with the Medicare program as a “benefit,” having to pay for Part B of Medicare as well as the cost for an advantage plan that covers some of the huge gaps between what Medicare covers and the actual costs of health services, is a huge hit to our retirement budget. And if you listen to some in the Congress, you hear them call these programs “entitlements,” ignoring the fiscal participation of those in the workforce, and regularly looking for ways to “roll back” or cut these programs to “balance” the federal budget. And these programs make little to no provision for elderly Americans who eventually need fulltime care, somewhere between 40 and 50 percent of us! No, we are not too good with the fifth commandment.
The remaining commandments are:
6. No killing
7. No adultery
8. No stealing
9. No bearing false witness against our neighbor
10.No coveting of neighbor’s “stuff”
Violate these, and community breaks down rapidly, not to even address what happens within the soul of the perpetrator. If indeed God’s laws are for the “reviving of the soul” and for forming and perpetuating peaceful and harmonious community—we might call this the Kingdom of God—the penalties for ignoring or breaking them is self-actualized. Doesn’t this remind you of what Jesus said—“What you sow you will most assuredly reap”?
If we err in our understanding and application of the Law of the Lord, we do so when we believe these laws are in place to “protect” or “honor” God. They are not. They are all given in an attempt to create the Peaceable Kingdom God envisioned when God created the world. They are designed to return us to Eden. And Jesus came to offer forgiveness to humanity for our terminal selfishness that leads to community-busting sin, and to “update” God’s law by stating it all so simply: Love God, Love neighbor.
If you buy this theological view, you must be most depressed at this point, given how poorly we in the human community, and most especially in the American corner of it, are faring with using God’s law to find redemption, peace, wisdom, and building a joyful, harmonious community. But remember what Anne Lamott wrote: GRACE BATS LAST. God did not just give us God’s law and walk away. Through the agency of God’s Holy Spirit, through the redemption offered through Jesus Christ, and by renewing our knowledge and application of the Law of the Lord, Grace WILL prevail. When Jesus said things like “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” and “The Kingdom of God is within you,” I believe this is what he was talking about. It may seem far away right now, but with God ALL THINGS are possible. We just have to want it and be willing to partner with God and God’s law FOR it. This desire for righteous relationships across the board is what brings the psalmist to write that God’s law is “more to be desired than gold and sweeter than honey.”
May our souls be revived by the Law of the Lord; may we join our hearts in the common purpose of revealing the Kingdom of God in our midst, and may we not forget that even when things look bleak, GRACE BATS LAST. Amen!
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