Daily Devotionals

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus

Devotional: April 19th

Thy law do I love. - Psalms 119:113.

LET us consider two things,-the object of the Psalmist’s attachment and the attachment itself. There are some who say they have nothing to do with the law; but let them take heed, or the law will have something to do with them by-and-by. And what do they mean by this antinomian sentiment? What is the law of God, that they thus view freedom from it as a very desirable privilege? Why, according to our Saviour, the law consists entirely in love,-loving God supremely, and loving our neighbours as ourselves.

Can we ever be free from obligation to this? Can any man, in a right temper of mind, deem it a privilege to have nothing to do with this? How is it with a real Christian? It is true he is often complaining: but then he complains not of the Master, but of the servant; he complains not of the strictness of the law, but of the baseness of the observance. He does not wish to bring down the perfection of God’s law to his imperfection, but wishes to be raised up, and brought to a state of conformity to its highest excellencies; and he knows he cannot be entirely happy till he is entirely holy, and that he can never be entirely holy till God establishes this blessed law in all the powers of his soul.

The word “law” here means the Scriptures, or the word of God at large. We cannot but observe, in reading this psalm, how many terms David employs to express it:-his “commands,” “precepts,” “statutes,” “judgments,” “testimonies,” “law.” And the word “law” is not unusually employed in other places. Isaiah says, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them;” where, we see, the law of God clearly means his word, and his “word” is used as explanatory of it. So in the nineteenth psalm:-“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.”

It is not the moral law which converts, but it is the gospel which converts. Paul speaks of “the spirit of life, which makes us free from the law of sin and death;” and James calls it “the perfect law of liberty.” The difference between the law and the gospel does not consist in this:-that the one commands and the other does not; but in the difference of the things commanded. The language of the one is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved;” the language of the other is, “Do this and live.” And therefore the Apostle John says, “This is his commandment,”-his grand, peculiar commandment:-“ That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”

Now, we shall do well to take this view of this precept. It will afford us encouragement and relieve us from distress. We may question our right to a promise, but we cannot question our right to obey a divine command. We never ask, May we love one another? We know that he has commanded it. Why then do we ask, “May I trust in Christ? may I believe in him?” when in the very same passage, in the very same words, it is equally commanded?

Now, as to his attachment to this law, we see the Psalmist here makes profession of it unto God himself, and makes God the witness of it. He could say, in sincerity and truth, “I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love.”

And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! - Genesis 28:17.

THAT is, how venerable, how august, how solemn, how divine! Intercourse with God is calculated to check levity of mind and to produce serious impressions. The man who was not at all afraid to be down in this place, surrounded with danger and enveloped in darkness, is filled with fear in the morning-at what? at the thought of a present Deity. This was not a slavish dread, like that which Belshazzar felt when he saw the handwriting upon the wall; but he was filled with what the Apostle calls “reverence and godly fear.” Such the seraphim know when they cover their faces with their wings, when they appear before God; such Isaiah felt, when he said, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Such Peter felt, when he said, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord God.” Such Job felt, when he said, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, and now mine eye seeth thee; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” And the experience of every believer now is the same. He knows “there is forgiveness with God, that he may be feared.”

The Christian fears the Lord and his goodness; and when we can meet Christ as our own, “as our portion for ever”-when in duty we draw near to him, “even to his seat”-when we enter the secret pavilion and our thoughts are arrested-then the character of God, as He is, rises in our estimation, and more of the adoration of the supreme Being is introduced in all the feelings of our soul. It was so with Jacob here. This may serve to check an improper practice among some persons, who, in addressing God in prayer, express themselves in a manner they would not dare to do in addressing a fellow-creature of their own rank. We should never forget that we are addressing the King of kings and Lord of lords. This, therefore, may remind us, that if we would serve God acceptably, we must serve him with reverence and godly fear.

There is nothing that tends to render devotional exercises so conducive to edification, as our coming to them in a solemn and impressive frame of mind, just as Jacob felt after this interview and this address.