Psalm 119:48

Psalm 119:48

Loving His commands

To reach out for something or to someone, is to extend one’s arms in welcome, appreciation or simple acknowledgement of their presence or their friendship. We reach out to God when we raise our arms and hands in praise and worship. Psalm 63:4 says, “I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your Name I will lift up my hands.” In Psalm 134:2 we read, “Lift up Your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.” Perhaps the first thing that this verse teaches us is not to be coy or embarrassed by the raising of our hands, it is a way of reaching out to the Lord; it is therefore an acknowledgement of His presence but also that He is over us and above us. Would He encourage us to do this without making His own response? Does it not delight Him when His people sincerely reach out to Him?

The writer did not have the Holy Spirit and a tangible relationship with His God as we do, the closest he could get to intimacy was to reach out his hands to the Law and the commands of God. Many religious people today reach out to relics and statues and images, ancient Jews reached out to the commands of God. The commands were, of course, written on stones and on parchment but I believe the psalmist is taking us deeper than some kind of documented form of the Law. He was reaching into His own mind and soul where the commands were indelibly written and he has to confess, “I love them!” Here was His heart, here was the hidden truth of God’s Word and to spend time meditating upon it was a pure delight. 

My friends, we have so much more! We have the same words, but we also have a personal and intimate relationship with the Author, by His Spirit. I wish that I had always exhibited a proper love and appreciation of what this means, and how privileged I am. If only we could all say, “I love Your Word and I meditate upon it, day and night. I love You, Lord, I reach out to You.” 

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