The law of Moses and life: I will never forget your guiding principles, because you gave me a new life through them. Psalm 119:93

The Psalm 119 is the longest hymn in the Book of Psalms and is specially dedicated to the study and praise of the law of Moses, and in one of its passages, when referring to the importance of the fidelity to God, the Psalm identifies the fulfillment of the law with life. And the Book of Psalms expresses this fact with these wise words: "I will never forget your guiding principles, because you gave me a new life through them" Psalm 119:93.
It is true that in the Old Testament, since the prophet Moses received the commandments on Mount Horeb, the fulfillment of the law was always linked to life for the Israelites. As the prophet Moses taught to the Israelites: "The Law isn't empty words. It can give you a long life in the land that you are going to take" Deuteronomy 32:47.
But the concept of life in the Bible did not have a single meaning, but several. In its simplest sense, life for Israel was related to the blessings and curses associated with the law, according to Moses himself, in his last speech, possessing the land, that is, to physically remaining in the promised land, depended on fulfilling the established precepts. Abandoning the law meant, in other words, being deprived of a secure life, a settled life, by one's enemies. This is something that happened, for example, when the Kingdom of Israel, for adopting the idolatrous worship of the Phoenicians, the worship of the goddess Astarte, was destroyed by the Assyrian empire.
But the meaning of life in Psalm 119 also contains another meaning, and that is the meaning of man's spiritual life. The law of Moses, in order to be fulfilled, needs common sense, which comes from the spiritual gift of the fear of God. In other words, the law without the fear of God (constancy, firmness, devotion) is an empty and lifeless letter. The fear of God is essentially the heart of flesh that all the prophets speak of. The application of the law to daily life can then also be considered as that life of the heart that is necessary to be in relationship with God.
The Book of Psalms is therefore a reminder that for Israel, the end of the law is not related to happiness but to something deeper, the very life of man.

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