The Law of the Lord

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.

Psalms 19:7-8a

This is the resource of God designed for our inner life. Nature ministers to and feeds and strengthens and supports our outer life. But here is that which touches the inner life, makes for the conquest of that inner space which is so all-important to human life. The Psalmist takes its characteristics one by one and shows us what they can do.

First, The law of the Lord is perfect. It is complete, there is nothing left out. It does everything that we need it to do. There is no part of your life, no problem that you will ever face, no question with which you will ever be troubled, that the Word of God does not speak to and illuminate and meet. So it is perfect, refreshing the soul. Jesus spoke of rivers of living water which would be available to buoy up the human spirit and to meet its need. This is what the Word of God is designed to do for us.

Second, the statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. To be trustworthy means to be dependable and reliable. You can count on this word to be true. Therefore, you do not need to know a lot about everything else. The Word of God is not against knowledge; it is only against knowledge which does not begin at the right place. But even if you do not have a lot of knowledge, even if you are simple in terms of education, you can still be wise by trusting Scripture because it is reliable.

Third, the precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. Do you not rejoice in your heart to know that you are right about something? When you get into a controversy with somebody but you have the solid assurance that you are right — what a feeling! That is the way it is with the Word of God. The glorious thing about this Book is that when everything is said and done, it will all end up just as it is written here. This Book is right, it is the way things really are.

You might say, I read my Bible and it doesn't do these things for me. Do you know why? Notice that when David talks about various aspects of revelation, he uses the phrase of the Lord: The law of the Lord, the statutes of the Lord, the precepts of the Lord. This means that these aspects in themselves are not what we need; they are channels by which we find the Lord. It is he who does all these wonderful things for us. It is the Lord who forgives, revives, cleanses, enlightens and makes us rejoice. It is God, it is the Lord Jesus. And as we find him in the pages of Scripture, these wonderful things happen to us.

Thank you, Father, for the law of the Lord, which refreshes me, makes me wise, and gives me joy. May this law be a channel by which I deepen in my walk with you.