The Straight and Narrow

I will give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.  Psalm 119:7   NASB

Uprightness – It’s not a familiar English word although we have no trouble reading it.  But what exactly does “uprightness” mean?  Alter translates yōšer as “honest.”  That’s better if we understand the literal meaning of the term.

Literally. “To go straight or direct in the way” (I Sam 6:12), but more frequently in the intensive (Piel) “to make (a way) straight,” i.e. direct and level and free from obstacles, as when preparing to receive a royal visitor. This is the work of God for man (Prov 3:6 KJV “direct”), but also of man for God . . .Uprightness as the manner of life is a characteristic of the blameless (Prov 11:5) and of the man of discernment (Ps 119:128, “I have lived uprightly”). Thus the fact that God has made man upright (Eccl 7:29) is probably to be interpreted as granting him the ability to recognize the divine law, rather than some inborn character as honest or straightforward (so neb)^[1]

Maybe “honest” isn’t quite enough, but it’s certainly clearer than “uprightness.”  What the poet describes as trueheartedness.  Not just honest, but deliberate integrity; a full-fledged desire for the straight and narrow.

Consider the reaction to this dedicated and restricted life.  Thanksgiving!  Wow, that’s exactly the opposite of what we usually think about ethical strictures.  We believe that freedom is the watchword of humanity, and that means choosing my own way.  We don’t want a set of rules to tell us how we should act in every facet of our lives.  We’re thoroughly Greek in our Western ethics.  What matters is determining what’s best based on rational considerations.  Legislative requirements, even if they come from God, should make sense.  After all, why would I submit to limits  or stipulations without explanation?  What matters in the Greco-Roman world is my cognitive assent.  How could I ever thank God for limitations that don’t make sense to me?

And with that question, you should hear the serpent whispering to the woman in the Garden.

The poet rightly proclaims his gratitude for God’s judgments.  His ethical foundation is not human cognition.  It is divine graciousness.  He trusts God, even if he doesn’t understand.  This is particularly important when we realize that “judgments” (singular mišpāṭ) include all the functions of the divine governance of the universe.  For this we need a rather long explanation:

The primary sense of šāpaṭ is to exercise the processes of government. Since, however, the ancients did not always divide the functions of government, as most modern governments do, between legislative, executive, and judicial functions (and departments) the common translation, “to judge,” misleads us. For, the word, judge, as šāpaṭ is usually translated, in modern English, means to exercise only the judicial function of government. Unless one wishes in a context of government—civil, religious, or otherwise—consistently to translate as “to govern or rule,” the interpreter must seek more specialized words to translate a word of such broad meaning in the modern world scene. For the participle NIV uses “leader.”

The meaning of šāpaṭ is further complicated by the fact that although the ancients knew full well what law—whether civil, religious, domestic or otherwise—was, they did not think of themselves as ruled by laws rather than by men as modern people like to suppose themselves to be. The centering of law, rulership, government in a man was deeply ingrained. “The administration of justice in all early eastern nations, as among the Arabs of the desert to this day, rests with the patriarchal seniors … Such … would have the requisite leisure, would be able to make their decisions respected, and through the wider intercourse of superior station would decide with fuller experience and riper reflection.”^[2]

What this means is that our author is grateful for God’s punishments as well as His blessings.  He’s grateful for any actionthat keeps him on the straight and narrow.

Are you?

Topical Index: yōšer, upright, honest, truehearted, mišpāṭ, judgment, šāpaṭ, Psalm 119:7

^[1] Wiseman, D. J. (1999). 930 יָשַׁר. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 417). Moody Press.

^[2] Culver, R. D. (1999). 2443 שָׁפַט. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 947). Moody Press.