Letters From Home

I am a sojourner on the earth;
hide not your commandments from me!
My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules at all times.

Psalm 119:19-20 ESV

Laws. Commandments. Rules.

How many people can you think of that would make this statement: “My soul is consumed with a longing for your rules at all times”?

Probably not many.

During bible times and now, our societies’ laws, commandments and rules have been crafted here on earth by human beings. While some may even be rooted in Biblical sentiment, they are still fallible. In this context, the last sentence of this psalm’s verse is hard to comprehend.

However, the Psalmist’s previous phrase, “I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!” may give us a better understanding of the spirit of this passage.

Imagine this: you are traveling for years upon years, and while you might see beautiful sights, you desperately long for home.

That’s what’s going on here! This longing stems from the reality that in its current state, the world is not the true home of God’s people.

What the Psalmist continually found was that God’s word, unlike man’s, is infallible and eternal. In this context, we understand how God’s word reads refreshingly like a letter from home. It is transcendent truth enveloped in the Father’s words, and it comes from home.

We are sojourners on earth, and should love God’s word even more than we love our momentary homes. As we read Scripture we find perfect, “wondrous” truth (Psalm 119:18) that deeply resonates within us because it’s from home.

Take a moment to consider your thoughts on the reality of Heaven; an eternity with the Lord. Is your view of God, and the home he has prepared, too small?