TAW – THE TRIAL OF WANDERING

Providence Community Church

Today concludes 22 months of preaching once a month through Ps 119. Each stanza of 8 verses corresponding to the Hebrew alphabet comprises the greatest of all acrostic psalms and perhaps the most extraordinary hymn in all of history. Even the most gifted of church fathers have found its scope and depth intimidating. Augustine said of this song: “As far as I have been able, as far as I have been aided by the Lord, I have treated throughout and expounded this great psalm. A task which more able and learned expositors have performed, or will perform better.” Certainly a worthy confession of any minister given the gravity of Ps 119. We have discovered many patterned intricacies in this song along the way including the presentation of a trial in all 21 stanzas following the 1st. From this, and the repeated refrain of reliance on divine revelation, we have extrapolated a great theme: 'The Word of God is absolutely sufficient for all trials of life this side of glory'. Even the trials of wandering which the psalmist addresses in stanza 22. As the psalmist matures in his walk with God, his humility and pleas for mercy only grow stronger as he acknowledges his propensity to stray from the straight and narrow. Along the way he has referenced the primacy of covenant revelation with recurring terms like: law, testimonies, ways, precepts, statutes, commandments, rules, word, promise, judgements, and justice. In total (by my count) 176 references. One for every verse! From his 1st reference to the Law of God in verse 1, to his vow to remember the Lord's commandments in verse 176, the author of Ps 119 extols the majesty of God revealed via covenant to His elect.