I Love the Law!
Psalm 119:97-104
Verses 97-98 Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.
Today we start the thirteenth stanza of this song of praise for God’s word. The psalmist starts this stanza with a familiar declaration.
“Oh, how I love Your law!” When was the last time we said that out loud? Oh, we may sing it in songs or say it amongst our church friends but when was the last time that we have prayed it out loud, praising God for His statutes. The laws isn’t something we see as a positive but the song writer understands the good of the law and therefore understands to love of the Giver of the law.
What is it about the law that we can come to love? The law may feel like a burden when we look at it as a list of things to do and not do but is that all there is to it? Of course not! There are ways that the law can stretch us and guide us that we don’t see right away. They teach us truth and righteousness. This alone should bring us to the point of praising God for these words He has given, but there is so much more.
The law also shows us the kind of life Jesus lived. When we examine the Gospels and see the various ways that Jesus lived out the law we can rejoice at the power of living out the law. We see His righteous anger as He clears the temple of money changers and merchants calling for His Father’s house to be returned to its purpose as a house of prayer. We see His loving way with the various people He encountered such as children, the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, the woman who had suffered with a blood issue for 12 years, and those that needed healing from various kinds of ailments of sickness or life-long physical limitations.
To all these people Jesus showed the law at its best. There was justice and grace being poured out and the enemy being sent to the sidelines. He knew that the loving thing to do was point out the sin in a person’s life and then send them out with truth. That is the joy of the law that the psalmist was rejoicing about. He knew that the law brought wisdom and he wanted to think about that all day long.
Making It Personal
Do you praise God out loud for the law? How does seeing the law as something to point out sin in your life and send you in the right direction change how you see the law? Do you meditate on the law daily?
Making It Personal Kids
Have you ever praised Jesus for the Ten Commandments? What are some reasons to praise Him for them? How often do you think about the Commandments?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for the law. We praise You for these ways to live fully for You. Give us a greater desire to follow them out of our love for You and may we come to love the law as the psalmist did. In Jesus’ name amen.