25. The Roadmap of our Life

A Meditation of Psalm 119

Psalm 119 is a long meditation about the Holy Scriptures. The psalmist affirms that he/she will rejoice in it, meditate it day and night, treasure it in his/her heart, and walk by it. 

Psalm 119, the longest one in the book of Psalms, has 22 parts of eight verses each. Each of its 22 parts begins with a different letter in the 22 letter Hebrew alphabet. The 8 verses in each part start with the same letter, and thus the psalm has 22x8 = 176 verses in all. All the 8 verses in the first part begin with the first letter, Aleph (equivalent to our A), and in the next part, all the 8 verses begin with the second one, Beth (equivalent to our B), and so on. This literary device is known as acrostic. This device did help the Hebrew reader or singer to memorize the verses and words of this lengthy Psalm. There are a few other psalms that use this device. The Book of Lamentations also uses this device.

Human life is compared to a journey here. It is a journey toward God. God has given us a roadmap—the law of the Lord. Those who follow the roadmap will be safe, and will reach the destination, but those who do not follow the map will go astray. Not only do they go astray, but also they persuade those who follow the right way to deviate from it.

The Psalmist opens up his/her heart fully to God. He/she affirms in the strongest language how dear the roadmap is for him/her. It is compared to a treasure (72), to honey (103), and to a lamp (105). It is more precious than gold and silver, it is sweeter than honey, and it provides light in the dark path of life. It is a shame that some people do not realize this. The thought that they disregard the Law of the Lord makes him/her cry (136).

Psalmist prays for understanding (34) because it is not always easy to understand the roadmap in certain situations. “Open my eyes to see the wondrous things in the law.” (18). Also he/she prays to God to keep him/her safe, especially from those who do not follow the map (134).

Psalm 119 sums up marvelously almost every theme of the individual spirituality of the Bible. It is a prayer for Wisdom throughout, in which the riches of the Bible stand behind every verse. “I treasure your promise in my heart” (11) or “I rejoiced to do your will as though all riches were mine” (14). Important and recurrent is the spirit of repentance: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. It was good for me to be afflicted, to learn your statutes.” (67, 71). It seems that the psalmist is so steeped in the wisdom of the scriptures that he/she alludes to them unconsciously.

By the Law of the Lord, the psalmist means the Torah, the Holy Scriptures of his/her community. It was the condensed wisdom of several generations. It dealt with how people faced the reality of life, how they survived all these years with the shear will to survive, and how their faith in God helped them face life successfully. Someone who accepted it as a roadmap of life could learn immensely from it.

Today we have, available to us in print as well as in electronic media, the wisdom of our ancestors who lived for centuries around the globe. If only we take the time to read and meditate the wisdom of our ancestors, our life will be so much different. That will help us to see our life in a new perspective, and we will be able to live our life more meaningfully. Rather than reading the Holy Scriptures as a daily ritual, we need to look at it as a roadmap of our own life. 


Back to Contents