I have been around Christians all my life, and I don’t know that I’ve heard too many of them exclaim, “Oh how I love your law!” Yet in Psalm 119 we find David saying that very thing, expressing his love for God’s law. In the very first Psalm we find him declaring the man blessed who finds God’s law a source of great delight. It sounds a bit strange to our ears, doesn’t it? Aren’t we people of grace? Aren’t we free from the law?
Not in this case. When David expressed his love of God’s law he was expressing his love of God’s revealed truth, all the knowledge and instruction he has given to humanity in his Word. David had less of it than we do—he had only the first few books of what would later be the 66-book Bible. But he read these few books, he pondered them, and he diligently applied their wisdom to his life. The more he did this, the more his affection grew.
What was it about the law that swelled David’s affections? Was he just a rigid kind of character who liked to do what was right and was afraid of doing what was wrong? Did he have a very structured, legal mind? No, he loved this: God’s law is a reflection of God’s character. When David looked at the law of God he saw the person of God, the character of God, the heart of God. As he read God’s Word he came face-to-face with the God he loved. He saw in the law an accurate portrait, an accurate reflection of the character of God. And he loved it because he loved him.
The law of God is God’s character externalized. It comes to us from the very heart and mind of God. Its purpose is not first to tell us what we must be and what we must do. Not first. Its purpose is to tell us first who God is and what he is like. And right here the Bible confronts you and me. If we don’t love the law and don’t want to do the law, we don’t love the God who gave the law. Do we love the law of God like David did? Do we treasure it as he treasured it? Do we meditate upon it and internalize it and live in light of it as he did? David loved the law of God because he loved the God of the law. Do we?
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