Psalm 119:12

Psalm 119:12

Teach me Your decrees

It’s not easy, getting into the mindset of the writer of this Psalm. For most people the laws, statutes, precepts, rules, commands etc. of the Lord are, at best, dull! Even today, few read the Torah, and I’ve lost count of the number of times that people, who are reading the Bible from cover to cover, joke about their brain-numbing encounter with Leviticus or Deuteronomy. On face value, the rules set out in those first 5 books of our Bibles are onerous, pedantic, complicated and boring, an elaborate maze of petty instructions that few believe have any modern relevance. And yet, our writer adores them and is completely sold out to their every detail. He sees beauty and wonder and purity in every word and his whole life is dependent on learning and obeying them! Later in the Psalm (V97) we read, “Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long.” Paul wrote, in Romans 7:22, “In my inner being, I delight in God’s law.” He goes on to contrast the law of God with the law of sin that has made him a prisoner in his mind.

And here’s the point, it’s not the dry, dusty words that have such an effect on the devotees of God’s laws, it’s the fact that He wrote these words, that they give an insight into the heart and mind of the Lord. His law is His best for us, it shows how we can become like Him, even though no man has ever succeeded in doing so.

The other point, that the devotees of God’s law understand, is that its effects on humans are so positive. If we follow God’s law, then we are not following the law of sin. God’s law is good for us, it is the best we can hope to achieve, it is the only way in which we can live to please Him. For the Jews it included the sacrificial rites and practices that were enacted in the Temple; we do not need those for Christ has fulfilled them, but we do need to know and practice God’s moral laws. These are the path to blessing, freedom and contentment. “Praise be to You, Lord; teach me Your decrees.” 

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