Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. It also happens to be the Psalm upon which this ministry's slogan is based on. "We are the simple the Psalmist talks about" comes from Psalm 119:130: "The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple." God's word, and our attitude towards it, is a major theme throughout this whole Psalm. In fact, almost every one of its 176 verses refers to the word of God in some form or another.
One major difference between Catholicism and Christianity just happens to be our attitude towards the scriptures. According to the Catholic Church, the Bible is the word of God, but it is, at least by word, equal to "Sacred" tradition. However, only the Catholic Church has the authority to interpret the scriptures. Thus, in practice, the word of God is not equal to tradition, because tradition overrules the scriptures.
This is one of the major themes of the Reformation. Whereas the Catholic Church claimed authority over the scriptures, even outright banning the laity from owning it, as well as murdering people for the "crime" of translating it into the common languages, the Reformers recognised that the word of God does not belong to a Church, but to all of His children. Much like Catholics, Christians believe the Bible is the word of God, and thus is supremely authoritative. Furthermore, we recognise it as sufficient for our faith. We don't need any organisation to tell us what it says when we hold it in our hands, and when any organisation tells us not to trust it when we hold it in our hands, we must tell that organisation where to go.
I often come across portions of Psalm 119 where I just think "Catholics could not affirm this." As a Christian, even by studying and meditating on Psalm 119, I am not only able to affirm it, but am putting it into practice in that very moment. "My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word." But a Catholic, studying and meditating on Psalm 119, would encounter many difficulties. In fact, I know from experience they do. I have never encountered a Catholic who can handle even the small portions I cite to them, especially when I do so without saying where it's from.
Most notably, the Mem section (v97-104) causes Catholics a particular amount of grief. "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word. I have not departed from Your judgments, For You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way."
No Catholic could ever say "I have more understanding than all my teachers, because God's testimonies are my meditation", because in their religion, they need their teachers to tell them God's testimonies. This book "Protestants" make an idol out of? It can't teach them anything! As the Council of Trent said, "no one, relying on his own skill, shall,--in matters of faith, and of morals pertaining to the edification of Christian doctrine,--wresting the sacred Scripture to his own senses, presume to interpret the said sacred Scripture contrary to that sense which holy mother Church,--whose it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the holy Scriptures,--hath held and doth hold,".
According to the Council of Trent, therefore, Psalm 119 is a lie. You cannot have more understanding than your teachers by meditating on the word of God if you cannot meditate on the word of God because it is the job of your teachers to judge the true sense and interpretation thereof. In fact, at this point, Catholics may as well just hand in their Bibles to be burned (just like they used to be required to do by law, and were encouraged to continue doing after the law was ended).
With all of this in mind, I have recently begun field testing a little outreach challenge. Although it is a long chapter, I encourage people to reach Psalm 119 twice over, once as a Catholic, and once as a Christian. Then, simply ask which reading made the most sense?
There are a few responses I anticipate, starting with "Catholic, because only the Catholic Church has the authority to interpret the scriptures". The problem with this answer is it doesn't actually take the challenge into account. The challenge is to read it once as a Catholic and once as a Christian, whereas with this answer, you only really read it twice as a Catholic.
To illustrate this, let's imagine I took the same challenge. I've read the Psalm many times as a Christian, but now let's imagine I get to the Catholic reading, I read verse 60, "I made haste, and did not delay To keep Your commandments", and I say "well, the Christian reading makes more sense because Catholics break God's commandments all the time". Would that make sense? It's true, but it's not Catholic. A Catholic would read verse 60 and say "amen", because they genuinely believe faithful Catholics make haste to keep God's commandments. Thus, if I read it through as a Catholic, I would not have a problem with verse 60, and the Christian interpretation doesn't make more sense, they're about equal.
The reason I would say the Christian interpretation makes more sense is that there is never a time when I can read Psalm 119 and find a conflict with my theology. I can affirm "I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation", not because it's necessarily true, because my teachers also meditate on God's testimonies, but because I believe if I meditate on God's testimonies, I can gain more understanding.
But if I reached that verse as a Catholic, I would struggle. As I've already pointed out, you cannot gain more understanding than your teachers by meditating on God's word if you have no authority to "wrest the scriptures to your own senses".
Note that at no point during the Psalm does it even mention submission to teachers. Multiple times, the Psalmist asks the Lord Himself to teach him, but he dares to say that through this, he learns more than his teachers. As I read this Psalm, one thing echoes in the back of my mind: "You're a madman afflicted by Biblical Religious Obsession". "He is worshipping the Bible instead of Christ." "Protestants tend to make an idol out of the Bible." These are all very real comments I have received on this ministry, yet the things these Catholics were responding to weren't even half as nice as the things Psalm 119 says about the Bible.
From Psalm 119 alone, we see that the Catholic Church does not have a leg to stand on. A Christian, reading through Psalm 119, would never have to take the word "amen" from his lips, but a Catholic, all too often, would have to pause for a moment and say "well hold on now...". The very attitude to the word of God is quite different in Catholicism than Psalm 119 says it ought to be. Therefore, I believe this test is sufficient to demonstrate, even to the most hard hearted of Catholics, that the God of the Bible is quite distinct from the God of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church seeks to make man the authority, even having the audacity to claim authority over the word of the Living God. But even a Catholic should see the problem with this. Thus, I encourage every Catholic to take this challenge. Read Psalm 119 twice over, once as a Catholic, once as a Christian. Hopefully, in due time, you will see that just as the Christian interpretation of Psalm 119 is better, so also is Christianity better.