Sunday, October 17, 2010: Psalm 119:97-104; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
My friend Jim was my religion professor during my freshman year of college. He and I reminisce about the book he assigned for the course, William Hordern's Layman's Guide to Protestant Theology. I was new to religious studies and so excited by the book that I got up at 4 a.m. to finish it. The book and the course inspired me to begin serious Bible study and to choose a church vocation.
On the basis of my experience, I understand the excitement of the psalmist. "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" he sings to God. How wonderful to discover God's word! In his love for the law, the psalmist is effusive and sensual; with a few word changes, verse 103 could be said to a lover. He is so consumed with passion that he forgets humility and declares that he is wiser than his enemies and his teachers and elders. He sounds like a youth, confident and slightly full of himself in his understanding and faithfulness. Jesus does want us to have the eagerness and openness of children. But the psalmist also reveals a maturity that eschews youthful experimentation; rather than sowing wild oats, he recognizes that God's commandments and testimonies are all that he needs.
The passage from 2 Timothy addresses youthfulness by harkening back to the lovely assurance of 1:5-7. Timothy is a young man, trained and nurtured by his family. He must rekindle God's gift to him. Paul assures Timothy about the companionship and nurturing quality of the scriptures—God's Spirit inspiring the scriptures yesterday, today and tomorrow.
