Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. – Psalm 119:97

Today's Scripture Reading (September 3, 2022): Psalm 119:97-144

In the 1964 Musical "Fiddler on the Roof," Tevye, the story's protagonist, laments his lack of money and, therefore, his lack of time. And Tevye daydreams of what life might be like if he were a rich man. In the song "If I Were a Rich Man," Tevye makes this observation.

If I were rich I'd have the time that I lack

To sit in the synagogue and pray

And maybe have a seat by the Eastern Wall

And I'd discuss the Holy Books with the

Learned men seven hours every day

And that would be the sweetest thing of all.

It is a very real lament. Sometimes the demands of religion seem to take all our time and effort. The Pharisees in Jesus's day had left the things of life behind, dedicating all of their hours to keeping the law. It was a dedication to the law that the common people honored, giving the Pharisees an exalted position among the people. But the common folk also recognized such adherence to the law was beyond the abilities of the poor who had to work to obtain the necessities of life. Tevye's lament is that, as a poor man, he didn't have the time required to study the Holy Books and, by extension, the time to keep all of the Jewish law. He did his best, but keeping the law was too hard for someone like him, who was poor and needed to work all day long.

The Psalmist comments that he loves God's law and meditates on it all day long. I am sure Tevye would respond that he wishes he was able to do such a thing, but life kept him busy, too busy to sit around discussing the Holy Books.

The Apostle Paul makes a similar declaration. He tells the Thessalonian church to ^"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Tevye would probably look at Paul and ask, how am I to do that? If I were a rich man, maybe, but I am not.

It has been something that I have struggled with most of my life. How can I meditate on God's law all day? How can I pray continually, rejoicing and giving thanks in all circumstances? There are other things that I need to do. (Today, it is a couple of insurance documents that loom in my future, something that I find difficult to be thankful for.) But I have learned that it is possible to live my life reflecting God's law and to go through my day praying and talking to God as I am doing other things (although I don't recommend closing your eyes in prayer while driving). Our goal should be to know the Scripture well enough that it makes inroads into our days' mundane and frustrating moments. I am not perfect in these pursuits, not yet. But maybe at some point, with God's help, I will also exclaim with the Psalmist that I meditate on the law all day long. And that will be reason enough to praise God in all circumstances, even if I am not a rich man.

Today's Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:145-176