Psalm 119:97-112
Psalm 119, Day 7. Yesterday the psalmist had four verses in one stanza on affliction. Today he has four verses in one stanza devoted to knowledge/understanding (Ps. 119:98,99,100,104). Knowledge makes him wiser than his enemies, his teachers, and the aged. All this through following and keeping the Law. A good plan…!
So what does it mean to “keep” the Law? My guess is that for most of us, our first thought is that it means to “obey” the Law. I have no doubt that that is a good chunk of the meaning of “keep”. But I’d also like to suggest a further meaning: to “guard”, “protect”, or even “treasure”.
Think for a moment of a medieval castle. You’ve got the outer walls, perhaps surrounded by a moat — all meant to protect the inhabitants of the castle. But that’s not all there is. Within the castle is another, even more secure structure, a stronghold into which one would fall back in the event the outer defenses are breached. This inner stronghold is called — you guessed it — “the keep”. That’s where the most important people or things — the real treasure — would be … kept.
It seems to me that outwardly obeying the Law is akin to maintaining the moat and the outer walls of the castle, which is certainly important. But keeping the Law goes deeper, like guarding it as treasure deep within the strongest part of the castle, the keep.
So how do we regard God’s Law (or decrees, or Word, or precepts, or ways, or…)? Do we treasure the Law? Do we guard it? Do we bury it deep within our hearts? Do we work to understand it and follow it? Do we keep it?
I love these images of “keeping” the law, John!