Are You Delighting in the Law of the Lord?

Posted: August 24, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Grace, Laws, Prayer, The Law | Leave a comment

Many of you probably have read and most likely memorized Psalm 1! Psalm 1:1-2 – “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.” The Bible asserts that the task you and I should have just finished as we slept was to meditate on God’s Law. And I don’t think the psalmist meant that reading Leviticus will put you to sleep. This is because another famous verse, Joshua 1:8, also makes the assertion that we are meditate on God’s law day and night. God’s Law should be in our day and in our dreams. But Psalm 1:2 raises a question or questions, why delight in God’s Law when rules feel oppressive? Ask any toddler about what they think about the rules and they will answer for all humanity – they don’t like them. I have not heard a young child say, “Please give me some more rules.” Some may even think that rules got us into this mess in the first place. If there was not that one rule in the Garden of Eden, we would have never fallen. They think that God just wants to spoil all our fun. But yet, the psalmist is proclaiming that a blessed man is one that not only avoids bad company, but delights in God’s law! In other words, fun is found in the Law. 

So why delight in God’s law when rules feel oppressive? Three reasons why rules are not the problem and are not oppressive. To reframe it in a question: what does the Law provide for us that we would delight in it? The provisions or what has been called the 3 Uses of the Law.[1] The Law provides 1) A Mirror (awareness); 2) A Wall (protection); and 3) a Honey-Do List (God’s desires). In the short time left, let me explain that how the law provides a mirror, a wall and a honey-do list and why we can delight in the law, even in prayer. 

Let’s start with the mirror. Have you ever got out of bed and thought you were feeling pretty good and then you go to look in the mirror and realize you have bed head? That mirror raises awareness to where you fall short and in which you need help. The Law acts as a mirror showing our sin because God’s standard is perfection. The Apostle Paul says it best in Romans 7:7, “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would have not known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’” Brothers, has anybody loved you enough to tell you that your zipper is down or have a stain on your shirt? The first provision and use of the Law is a mirror that tells you something is wrong. No wonder the psalmist can delight in the Law, which acts like a mirror to shows us there is a problem to fix.

The first provision is a mirror. The second is a wall. Think protection. Lori and I began our ministry with a youth emphasis. For 6 years in Geneseo, Illinois, part of our responsibilities were to assist parents in discipling their youth. One girl that came to our youth group had a very challenging home life. Her parents told her that she could make up her own rules. They bought into the educational philosophy becoming more popular today that kids are clean slates and can find their own way. This girl told Lori and I one day, “I wished my parents loved me enough to give me rules. I wish I had a curfew.” This young girl understood that rules were made to protect her. We delight in the Law because it protects us. As Warren Wiersbe said and James MacDonald made famous, “When God says, ‘Don’t! He means ‘Don’t hurt yourself.’” Galatians 3:24 declares, “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.” We start to mature when we appreciate that the law keeps us from hurting ourselves and others. We no longer count on the law as a guardian, but we delight in the Law keeping us from more sins. Because of Christ and His Spirit we are now able to obey the law and stay within the walls. “Although under the law man finds himself incapable of obedience without divine aid, under grace, by the Holy Spirit, he is enabled to obey and do the good.”[2]

The law is no longer prison walls keeping us from escape (Galatians 3:22), but walls to keep some of the sins out. Don’t mishear me! We still have sin in us from the flesh, but the law helps keep some of sin out from the world. That was Psalm 1:1 was all about with the warning about the world’s influence. We can now be thankful and delight in the law’s protection rather than balk at it. Some like Billy Graham’s grandson Tullian Tchividjian, who took over for James Kennedy at his church, shunned this second use of the law thinking that life is all grace. He ended up committing adultery and divorced. Let’s delight in the Law and its protection rather than think that we are past the rules. Praise God for the walls found in His Word!

The provisions of the Law as a mirror and wall are important, but it is the honey-do list that is most important. The Law tells us what is important to God and what delights Him. As His children, we should delight in what the Father delights in. This is the ultimate reason for the Law moving forward. We are not theonomists thinking we have authority to govern this earth as the church, but we are to delight in the Father’s ways. Remember what Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” The Law is a mirror, wall and honey-do list. Our wives give us honey-do lists, not because we are their slaves, right? The honey-do list communicates the desires of our wives. Often the honey-do list is something that Lori and I do together. The Father through the Holy Spirit is helping you complete His honey-do list.

Let me conclude by reading this quote by Ernest Reisinger that sums up the Law best, “The law manifests the sin that is in man. Grace manifests the mercy that is in God. The law demands righteousness from man. Grace brings righteousness to man…. The law speaks of what man must do for God. Grace tells what God has done for man. The law brings knowledge of sin. Grace brings the remedy for sin. The law brings the will of God to man but gives no power to obey. Grace gives man a desire to do the will of God and gives him power to obey.”[3] We can delight in the Law of the Lord and be thankful for the grace of God that the Law leads us to. Amen!

So as we pray, may God use the Law as mirror so we confess our sins, a wall to protect us from the evil and a honey-do list to pray for God’s desires to be done!

[1] An brief explanation of the law can be found at https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/threefold-use-law.

[2] Joseph Boot, The Mission of God: A Manifesto of Hope for Society (London: Wilberforce Publications Ltd., Kindle Edition, 2016), 124.  

[3] Ernest C. Reisinger, The Law and the Gospel (Cape Coral: Founders Press, 2019, 143-144.