PSALM 119

 Q: In reading Psalm 119, I am struck with how much this Psalm seems to be totally directed toward a Jewish audience who is focused on faithfully obeying the law, and yet some teachers (Kay Arthur, specifically) seem to have an entire ministry aimed at Christian ladies and teaching them the “precepts” concept. Numerous times in the Psalm the author says that his hope or salvation is dependent upon his obedience to the ordinances or commandments or laws of God. As a Christian, my only hope is faith in the grace of God! Am I missing something here?

Several points need to be made here in order to put this psalm in its context. First is the fact that Psalm 119 is structured as 22 separate psalms, all in praise of torah (God's law) and each one of which contains 8 different occurrences of torah, its Hebrews synonyms and near-synonyms. These words are variously translated into English as law, statutes, ways, precepts, decrees, commands, word, promise, salvation, love, righteous law, etc. So right away you can see that the Hebrew concept for law was a lot broader than we use today.

Even the word torah itself had a broad meaning to the Hebrew mind, as the Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (Vol. 4, p. 893, 897) explains:

“Generally speaking, tora designates some divine standard of conduct for God's people. The term is not limited to cultic or ceremonial matters, but also includes civil/social law, and eventually the narrative portions of the Pentateuch as well... If one were to attempt to capture the essence of tora in the OT, “instruction” or “teaching,” rather than “law” with its particular modern connotations, may be terms that best do justice to the variety of uses...It is important to see that tora encompasses not only specific legal or moral instruction, but also a historical review of Israel's past.”

Next, I would argue (although others might disagree) that there really are no portions of Psalm 119 that teach an eternal salvation by works. Verse 17 specifically says “Be good to your servant while I live.” The various longings for God's salvation found in the psalm are in the context of salvation from enemies on earth, not eternal salvation. For example, see verses 94-95: “Save me, for I am yours; I have sought out your precepts. The wicked are waiting to destroy me but I will ponder your statutes.” I see no verses that directly teach salvation in an eternal sense is dependent on one's obedience to the specific ceremonial and moral commands of the Old Testament.

With the broader concept of “law” in mind, it is now easy to see how the Psalmist could talk about loving it and seeking it out. He is diligently trying to seek out God's word and follow it in order to please Him, and only secondarily for any personal benefits he might gain from such obedience. In that respect, there is no real difference between a Christian's attitude today toward God's Word. We first diligently study the Bible, OT and NT, to discern what it tells us in terms of God's nature and what He expects of us. And then through the power of the Holy Spirit, we attempt to follow in the correct path, not to earn the salvation we have already attained through grace, but to please Him and lead a fulfilling life here on earth. So there is no contradiction between Ps. 119 and NT teachings. The only difference is that we perhaps have a clearer perspective on the eternal implications of God's word than the Psalmist did.

Kay Arthur's Precepts approach to Scripture is a very sound one based on the use of inductive study methods to carefully consider both OT and NT passages to determine what God is teaching us through them (and thus the name “precepts,” also used as one of the synonyms in Ps. 119 for law or instruction). However, her specific use of the motto "precept upon precept" actually comes from Isaiah 28:9-13 is a little more dubious. It is another example of how we often appropriate words from the Bible and apply them in a totally different context, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.