Put Down Your Phone, Write Out a PsalmSample

You don’t need to park your brain on the roadside of faith

“Obedience, without understanding, is a form of blindness too.” This powerful line, seared into my heart from William Gibson’s The Miracle Worker, is the essence of this Psalm.

It’s the story of Helen Keller and her support worker—the blind Annie Sullivan—who helped the deaf, dumb, and mute child understand language. This powerful moment at the end of the play, when Helen realizes that the signs Annie taps into the palm of her little hand mean something. is incredibly potent and emotionally charged.

Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart, we read yesterday in Psalm 119:34 (NRSV).

There’s a wholeness to all this, a mind-heart connection that is essential to the psalmist. The life of faith isn’t about mindless acts of obedience, but something engrained, deeply personal, and at the very heart of who we are. At the deepest level, and most personal—the heart—there can be an alignment to truth that connects to the mind as well.

Like that moment in Gibson’s play, this moment in scripture is revolutionary.

When I was younger, hungrily seeking truth, I often felt cancelled by my desire to understand. As though the mind was a barrier to belief. Of course, the mind can get in the way of faith, just like most anything can. But this verse should bring much comfort to any of us who have felt we need to check our brains on the side of the road of faith.

That’s just not true. Instead, we simply need the humility to ask for directions, invite God to help us navigate the pathway of the mind and the heart as well. He connects those great territories within and brings fusion, coherence, and wholeness.

Turning, turning, turning….

As you reflect on this passage, notice the repeated use of the word turning. There are four turns marked out on the map of life that David highlights.

He asks God to turn his:

• Heart to God's decrees and away from selfish gain (36).
• Eyes from looking at vanities, desiring instead a life in God’s ways (37).
• Way from the disgrace that he dreads, since God’s ordinances are good (39).
• Feet to God’s decrees when he thinks of God’s ways (59).

The word for turn used in the Hebrew, opens up the meaning of these passages. Abar means to “pass by” or to “pass over or through something,” such as crossing a river or moving to another place. It can also imply an act of transgression or violating the law.

And it evokes the most significant moment in Israel’s history so often on David’s mind. Crossing over or passing through was the main redemptive paradigm for David and his people. It recalls the incredible moment when the entire nation passed through the Red Sea on dry ground, escaping the enslavement of Egypt. And it recalls when they did the same at the Jordan, leaving the desert once for all and crossing into the Promise Land.

David wants his heart, eyes, feet, and the direction of his life to avoid sinking into transgression. He needs God’s help to turn his whole self always toward the empowering precepts that will continually help him navigate the things that enslave, the very things that will propel him forward in the promise.

Action steps

• Take time to write out Psalm 119: 33-62 verse by verse.
• Get a journal or some paper and a pen.
• Put your phone in a drawer or another room.
• Get a physical Bible (so you won't get distracted by anything else).
• Reflect on what God is highlighting for you.