Catechesis Notes for the Week — Psalm 119: Zayin and Heth—Meditations upon God’s Word—The Zayin section of psalm 119 calls upon the Lord to remember his servant based on the Word upon which God has caused the believer to trust. The comfort of every Christian is the absolute trustworthiness of the Lord. He keeps His promises. In this section, word, law, judgments, statutes, and precepts are references to God’s Word. He remembers us in our affliction according to the promises of His Word. God’s judgments of old comfort the Christian as we see the Lord’s faithfulness clearly demonstrated countless times throughout salvation history. Though gripped at times by fear, yet His statutes give us a song to sing on our earthly pilgrimage. Every day the psalmist closes his eyes in prayer, remembering the name of the Lord and trusting in His precepts. The Heth section of psalm 119 teaches us that the Lord comes to us through His Word. He is the content of the Word. To trust in the Word of God is to trust in Jesus and to cling to Him for all of life and salvation. This section extols the baptismal life of daily contrition and repentance in which we die to sin and flee to the Lord for forgiveness and renewal. This is what it means to “keep His words…commandments…and precepts.” It is not that we have no sin, but in the spiritual warfare we are constantly returning to the Lord in repentance. By His mercy and forgiveness, we are raised up and refreshed. The earth is full of the Lord’s mercy in the preaching of the Gospel. To be “taught His statutes” is to be tutored by the Word to learn to believe in His mercy as the fountain and strength for our lives. In this section, words, word, testimonies, commandments, law, righteous judgments, precepts, and statutes are the references to God’s Word.

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