Appreciating God's Law

Psalm 19:8

Man fell into sin when he accepted Satan's word and rejected God's. Then he was no longer able to hear God speak through the heavenly bodies. But then he also lost all ability to keep God's law according to which he was created. Satan taught man to think only of his own glory and to turn his back upon God's holy law.

But in His grace God came to speak to man and to restore him to his calling to glorify God. And the reborn child of God who listens to that law of God becomes wise. His eyes are enlightened by that law, and his heart rejoices.  Serving God does not become a painful chore but a delightful work.

David says that in Psalm 19:8 with these words, "The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes."

However, David is not simply thinking of the Ten Commandments. He has in mind God's Word, the Scriptures wherein the law given at Mt. Sinai is found. He means all that God speaks to us in human language. The whole purpose of God's Word is to restore us to our calling to glorify Him consciously and willingly.

The question is whether we listen to that Word and want to listen to Him speak to us from it. The question is whether we can sincerely sing (PRC Psalter):

The precepts of the Lord are right;
With joy they fill the heart;
The Lords commandments all are pure
And clearest light impart.

Only as we hear God speak in His law are we able to hear Him speak through heavenly bodies. That is why only in His church do you find those who confess Him to be God, and do so with delight. Here is a sign that you have been born again, if your heart is filled with joy when you hear God's law, the life of Christ has been instilled in you. He delighted in that law and gives that delight to those whom the Father gave Him. And you will sing: "O how love I Thy law! It is my meditation day and night." Then you, as well as the heavens, will declare the glory of God.

Read: Psalm 119:97-120
Psalter versification: #41:2

Daily Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter #156
Why not sing along??

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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus 23:14-33 ; Exodus 24; Exodus 25:1-40
Matthew 24:29-51
Psalm 30:10-12
Proverbs 7:24-27
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Quote for Reflection:

"In those decrees to be made the end or final cause of all other things, and this also as his due, that all other things that were to be created should be so disposed of, and contrived in God's eternal counsel, as might tend to his glory, even as well as to the Father's" (Works, vol. 4, p. 455).  -- Thomas Goodwin