What’s the Difference?

From Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.  Psalm 119:104  NASB

Get understanding – What does it mean to “get understanding.”  In our word-intensive, dictionary-based culture, we would probably say that it means to gather useful information.  For that we can (sometimes) just Google.  What’s delivered is information, but that isn’t “understanding” in the Hebrew sense.  Neither, by the way, is the application of all that information.  We might say, “He understands how a four-cylinder engine works,” but we wouldn’t use the Hebrew verb bîn.  Why?  Because bîn is about discernment, knowing the difference between one thing and another, in particular, discerning the difference between good and evil.  We don’t get an open-access library card from God’s precepts.  Praying will not make you smarter.  The “Spirit” probably won’t help you on the next exam.  But you will gain something far more valuable.  You will be able to determine the application of God’s piqqûdîm.  In other words, you’ll sense the direction of God’s oversight.  Just remember—

While understanding is a gift of God, it does not come automatically. The possession of it requires a persistent diligence. It is more than IQ; it connotes character. One is at fault if he doesn’t have it and in fact, not to pursue it will incur God’s punishment (Prov 2:1f; Ruth 1:21f.). When one acts on the objective presentations of God’s revelation, he will attain the ideal of the significance of understanding.^[1]

We should also notice that the verb is not a  once-and-for-all act.  It is an imperfect, that is, a continuing action yet unfinished.  It’s a life-long discipline, a daily routine, a constant sensitivity to piqqûdîm.  What does this mean?  Well, unfortunately, it means that there isn’t any handbook.  Some religious approaches subscribe to the idea that once we have all the instructions in our pocket, we need only apply them in each situation.  But this doesn’t seem to be the case with piqqûdîm.  In fact, we might even say that biblical ethics are situational.  Oh, don’t despair or go crazy.  I know we all want absolutes, and certainly the Bible provides some, but the truth is that often, very often it seems, we are presented with circumstances where the proper action isn’t obvious, where the landscape is a lot more gray than black and white.  It’s called human living.  That’s where sensitivity to piqqûdîm is essential.  But it isn’t a “download.”  It comes about through years of practice (and mistakes).  God’s oversight is always there, but our ability to feel it is an acquired taste.

As a result of this long journey in the same direction, we learn to hate what is false.  Actually, the verse says “every false way,” that is, every path that is based on an empty promise, a broken commitment, or a lie.  When we’ve been in training for a while, we discover a kind of hidden sense about these things.  We know (but we might not know how we know) that something isn’t quite right.  That’s called tacit knowledge, and that’s what piqqûdîm is supposed to produce.  Can you feel it?

Topical Index: piqqûdîm, oversight, precepts, bin, understanding, discernment, Psalm 119:104

^[1] Goldberg, L. (1999). 239 בִּין. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 104). Moody Press.