Retracing Our Steps
How I loved Your teaching. All the day it was my theme. Psalm 119:97 Robert Alter
I loved – We’ve reached the end of the Mem section of this acrostic, but before we continue, we need to recognize a larger pattern. The acrostic is made up of blocks (verses that begin with the same letter). Each of these blocks has an internal logic, and each is connected in some loose way to the other blocks. In this section, the internal logic across the eight verses is worth noting (and now you can go back and see if you can identify the logic within all the other blocks). The Mem section begins with “How I loved Your teaching.” This expression claims that dwelling in God’s Torah (that’s the word for “teaching”) is a continual meditation (oral and mental) of the poet’s life. This sets the stage for the question, “How did this happen?” What was the development that led the poet to a place where God’s Torah as his constant companion? The Mem block answers this question by pointing out the steps it took to get here. But it looks at the steps from the immediate to the foundational, exactly the reverse order we would expect in a personal history. The poet’s perspective in phenomenological, not developmental.
The first step (v. 98) was the immediate and sustained threat of enemies. It’s not the first step in his development. It’s the most proximate step, the closest thing. Because of that threat, he recognized his reliance on the Torah.
The next level (v. 99) was noticing that his teachers educated him to prepare for this trust in Torah. He became wise because of them (as our revised translation demonstrates).
The next, deeper level (v. 100) honors the role of the elders in his development. They provided visual and tactile education which led him to the teacher which led him to preparation in conflict.
The next level, even deeper, (v. 101) was the recognition that his unrestrained path was just like the way of the enemies he now faces. In other words, he used to be just like them. Being repulsed by this discovery is what led him to listen to his elders, learn from his teachers, and prepare to be someone different.
And finally, he discovered that God Himself was at work through all these stages to bring him the smooth life of Torah living (v. 102-103).
And this returns him to the initial step, to a new identity based on the truth of the Torah, not on the false ways of the enemies (v. 104)
With this examination in mind, we can see the connection to the next verse, the first verse of the Nun section, an elaboration of just how deeply Torah has changed him.
Topical Index: Mem, identity, enemies, development, pattern, Psalm 119:97-104
