Desire God and His Word

Main Text
Psalms 19:7-11

Watchword
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
Psalms 19:7 NKJV

We live in a culture that despises authority, we often hear Christians excusing their disobedience and avoid some task or duty that they find distasteful by saying, “I don’t have to do that since I’m not under law but under grace.” Christians have often used this verse (Romans 6:14b) to justify many things, including reluctance to pray or read the Bible, refusal to tithe or offer money to the Lord, gluttony, commit adultery and fornication, and refusal to attend church and so many more. But read your New Testament well! All the ten commandments, except the Sabbath, are repeated, accompanied by some awfully scary threats if we disobey (Galatians 5:19-21).

The New Testament teaches very clearly that the Law does not have any power to save us (Galatians 2:16), but we also learn in the New Testament that the Law is good (Romans 7:12). Jesus insisted that He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill every iota and dot of it (Matthew 5:17-20). The Apostle John insisted that only those who keep God’s commandments abide in God, and God abides in them (1John 3:24). Even Paul, who so fiercely contended for the doctrine of justification by faith alone, insisted that “the law is good, if one uses it lawfully” (1 Timothy 1:8).

The Law gives us a blueprint for what pure, righteous, and holy living should look like. If you want to know what God loves and what God hates, look to the Law. God poured out the burdens of His heart into the Law, establishing guidelines for seeking justice and for living righteously in His sight. What the Law teaches us, is that God is holy, and His holiness is the most desirable thing that we could ever hope to possess for ourselves. The Law is perfect, reviving, sure, wise, right, joyful, pure, enlightening, clean, everlasting, true, righteous, valuable, sweet, and rewarding.

Confession
Oh Lord, grant me the grace to keep your commandment, in my heart so as not go against you.

Prayer
Oh Lord, open my understanding concerning the Scriptures. Amen.

Additional Reading
Deuteronomy 17:19
Psalms 1:2-3.