The arrogant mock me
unmercifully, but I do not turn from your law. I remember, Lord, your ancient laws, and I find
comfort in them. Indignation grips me because of the wicked, who
have forsaken your law (Psalm 119:51-53)
“You and your sons are not to drink wine or
other fermented drink whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will
die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, so that you can
distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, and
so you can teach the Israelites all the decrees the Lord has given them through Moses.” (Leviticus 10:9-11)
I started out the morning looking for a verse about comfort because right now, I feel the need for someone to build a fort around me. Once again, life is being a little overwhelming. When I found the verses in Psalm 119, my thoughts moved first in one slightly different direction, and then in another completely different direction. I’m being a little tangential this morning.
The first thought was “how do ancient laws” help me with the repeated crises of Dad’s dementia and physical problems? Where in Leviticus or Deuteronomy does it tell me what to do when Dad’s dementia makes him a danger to himself? Somehow “honor your father…” doesn’t clarify things. What does clarify things a little is the idea that God has more than one kind of law. There is the revealed law, like the Mosaic code set forth in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, but there is also the natural law.
Right now, it’s the natural law that is providing some comfort. His condition isn’t going to last forever. It will get worse, but it won’t last forever. There are natural limits. The ancient laws of reality do build a fort around one. I’ve known this in other areas. Some people think we need to “change with the times” and there is some truth to it, but not as much as some people believe. God didn’t set up the ancient laws arbitrarily. There are ways that we are designed to function, and ways we are not. Our society wants to throw off all restraints and do whatever they want, but the reality is that what has been the basis of society for hundreds of years has been so because it works for the benefit of most individuals and for society as a whole. The ancient laws do comfort. They provide a fortress that protects us from the raging winds of gratuitous change.
The second thought from the passage had to do with the indignation that gripped David as the result of the wickedness of others. I think it entirely right that we should be indignant about wickedness, but there is another issue: uncleanness. The ancient laws had a lot to say about both, and it seems obvious that the two are not the same. Touching a dead body made one unclean. Killing someone is wicked. We intuitively understand the difference in that case. But as we look back at the Old Testament Law, sometimes we seem to think that laws about cleanliness have to do with wickedness. It’s something I think I need to think a bit more about.
I started out the morning looking for a verse about comfort because right now, I feel the need for someone to build a fort around me. Once again, life is being a little overwhelming. When I found the verses in Psalm 119, my thoughts moved first in one slightly different direction, and then in another completely different direction. I’m being a little tangential this morning.
The first thought was “how do ancient laws” help me with the repeated crises of Dad’s dementia and physical problems? Where in Leviticus or Deuteronomy does it tell me what to do when Dad’s dementia makes him a danger to himself? Somehow “honor your father…” doesn’t clarify things. What does clarify things a little is the idea that God has more than one kind of law. There is the revealed law, like the Mosaic code set forth in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, but there is also the natural law.
Right now, it’s the natural law that is providing some comfort. His condition isn’t going to last forever. It will get worse, but it won’t last forever. There are natural limits. The ancient laws of reality do build a fort around one. I’ve known this in other areas. Some people think we need to “change with the times” and there is some truth to it, but not as much as some people believe. God didn’t set up the ancient laws arbitrarily. There are ways that we are designed to function, and ways we are not. Our society wants to throw off all restraints and do whatever they want, but the reality is that what has been the basis of society for hundreds of years has been so because it works for the benefit of most individuals and for society as a whole. The ancient laws do comfort. They provide a fortress that protects us from the raging winds of gratuitous change.
The second thought from the passage had to do with the indignation that gripped David as the result of the wickedness of others. I think it entirely right that we should be indignant about wickedness, but there is another issue: uncleanness. The ancient laws had a lot to say about both, and it seems obvious that the two are not the same. Touching a dead body made one unclean. Killing someone is wicked. We intuitively understand the difference in that case. But as we look back at the Old Testament Law, sometimes we seem to think that laws about cleanliness have to do with wickedness. It’s something I think I need to think a bit more about.
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