O Most High, I Love Your Commands
With 176 verses, Psalm 119 is the longest of the psalms. Another consulted source states there are 172 verses. Regardless, the psalm praises the Torah, God’s law, and the joys found in observing it completely and faithfully. The psalm uses eight terms for the law: commands, decrees, law, ordinances, precepts, statutes, way(path), words. The law was never viewed as a burden but rather as God’s divine will for those who love God. The verses chosen for this Sunday’s responsorial psalm suggest that the law is a treasure of great price and rich reward, a guide to discernment of what is good and true, a storeroom of wisdom old and new. As we spend time praying this psalm, do we see it as a list of “dos and don’ts” putting limits on us or a guidebook to live as God wishes us to live?
O God, my part is to do your word.
Your law is better than untold wealth.
Comfort me with your love, just as you promised.
Shower my life with tenderness, for I delight in your law.
I love your commands more than gold.
I follow your precepts, I hate every false path.
Wonderful are your decrees, I guard them with my life.
Unfold your word, enlighten the simple.
[verses adapted from The Psalter © 1995, Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications.]