Gimmel -- Psalm 119:17-24 Advent Blog Day 3

The third letter of the Hebrew alphabet is the letter "Gimmel".  It is said that the neck of a camel resembles this letter and it so happens that the noun Gamal means "camel".  We all know that camels are definitely fitted for desert travel with their on-board water storage systems, high traction feet, and weird jointed knees.  In the Hebrew Scriptures, the camel was an animal of high value (for the aforementioned qualities minus the knee bit) used for riding and as a beast of burden but was forbidden for food (likely for its evil disposition -- no not really, see Leviticus 11:4).  It is also interesting to note that the verb Gamal means "recompense" denoting the idea of bringing to completion, rewarding (for good or bad), or dealing bountifully.  This last meaning is seen clearly in the text, to which we now turn:
        
         Deal kindly with Your servant, that I may live to keep Your word.
         Open my eyes, that I may perceive the wonders of Your teaching.
         I am only a sojourner in the land; do not hide Your commandments from me.
         My soul is consumed with longing for Your rules at all times.
         You blast the accursed insolent ones who stray from Your commandments.
         Take away from me taunt and abuse, because I observe Your decrees.
         Though princes meet and speak against me, Your servant studies Your laws.
         For Your decrees are my delight, my intimate companions.

     I am struck immediately by the first verse: "Deal kindly with Your servant, that I may live to keep Your word."  If someone were to ask anyone "Why should I let you live?" you can imagine the answers that might be given: everything from "true love" (remember the movie?) to "but I have to do/go/be . . . fill in the blank."  The writer of this Psalm, however, says that he must be allowed to live--and indeed begs God to deal bountifully with him--for the sole reason that he might keep on keeping God's Word!  Again, wow!  This shock is even more amazing when one considers that this outlook on life is not "strange" or only for the "really dedicated disciple" but is considered to be the normative outlook on life!  This means we are all a bunch of weirdos for not thinking this way.
     The second verse is one of my favorite verses in the Bible for it is a prayer for God to "open our eyes that we may perceive the wonders of Your teaching".  The fact is God's Word is wonderful and contains astounding wonders for the one who would open its pages and take it in.  If the God of Heaven, the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the Alpha and Omega wishes to make Himself known to us through the pages of the Bible it would be wise for the one approaching it to pray that our finite eyes be opened each day of our journey through life so that we may catch a glimpse of, observe, take note of, and be amazed at the infinite! 
     One can go for a long time without food, but only for a short while without water--especially in the presence of strenuous activity.  The Bible often refers to itself with "water" motifs.  It is the indispensable piece of equipment we must carry with us on our journey through life.  Much like the camel is the perfect means of desert transport (it doesn't need a road remember) God's Word is the living source of nourishment for that part of us that will never die as we fulfill our role as sojourners in a country that is not our final destination.  We may find, as the Psalmist apparently did, we suffer taunts, abuse, and even intrigue and betrayal from our insistence on relying only on God's Word and for the time we spend in encaptured by it, but God's laws and decrees are to be our "intimate companions."  Woe unto us for making eBay, Craigslist, and other such things our intimate companions and not the very word of the Living God!
     So may God's Word capture our hearts and take us prisoner.  May we live out our days enthralled with the wonders of God's Teachings and Decrees!  When we pack our bags and hit the road of life may we take along our only trustworthy traveling companion--not the camel--but God's Word!  May we not be satisfied by the surface and eagerly look for the wonders and delights found therein.  May we not forget that we are indeed "strangers in a strange land" and that this world is not our home.


     Here is a link to a song I think fits with this entry.

Jewish Publication Society, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1985), Ps 119:16–24.