"Your statutes are my heritage forever;
they are the joy of my heart." --Psalm 119:111
Read Psalm 119. It always puzzles me. You can pick any verse in that Psalm (and in many other psalms, as well, but especially 119) and it will say something about the Law, the precepts, statutes, word, testimony, commands, decrees, etc., of God. The Psalmist goes on and on about how he loves it! He adores the statutes of God, his heart delights in the Law, he runs in the path of God's commands and his heart is set free, and so on....
Why? I don't get it. Maybe I am missing something really obvious here. Who is he so in love with commands? "Oh, God, I love all these rules! Thank you! My heart delights in these rules!" I don't understand that attitude. Not that the rules are bad, because they aren't:
"This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome." --1 John 5: 3-4
Is that what everyone is talking about? Loving God means obeying Him. And Jesus said that in John 15 as well. But my point is, why did David go on and on about loving the commands themselves? That is the part I don't understand. Is it because in the Law the character of God is revealed? And so obeying God's precepts would reveal to you more about the mysterious God of the universe?
I want to start reading the Law, which I think means the first five books of the Bible (right? Or is it the actual rules only? Or is it the Ten Commandments?), and read it over and over again, and get it cemented in. "Engrave it on my heart", that sort of thing. I have had it in mind to do this for a while, simply because when David wrote about how much He loved the Law, I know that he only had those first 5 books. And which part of it was he talking about exactly?
So I want to go through and read it in this new light. Perhaps God will "give me discernment, that I may understand [His] statutes." (v.125)
1 comment:
Interesting thoughts Rosie (Hi btw, it's been a while since I've been here!), I've just read 'Jesus wants to save Christians' by Rob Bell, and he is amazing at making the Old Testament come to life. He writes about how when God lead the Israelites out of Egypt & gave them the commandments, or the Law of Moses, God was teaching them how to live, because they had spent the past 430 years being told what to do & not having much fun!! I guess to the Israelites, I can see them remembering the Law & remembering the story of how God liberated them, and I guess to them that's a glimpse of God's character. Anyways, thus ends my rant - interesting timing that I read this tho, I literally just finished that book & it was still on my mind!!
Hope you are doing fabulously Rosie, miss your face bigtime xoxox
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