by Robert Fudge

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

As we pointed out yesterday, God has shown Himself to all of us through the beauty, power, majesty and the quietness of nature. While this is proof that God exists and even tells us attributes of His nature, it does nothing to reveal His will to us and for us. But God has not left us alone to decide what is right and what pleases Him. He has given us His word, the Bible. It explains God to us the best our minds can comprehend. It also gives us His reasons for our existence and explains how we can begin now what is to be an eternal relationship with Him, the Son and His Holy Spirit.

David, a man after God’s own heart, said that Gods will for us is perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, sure, righteous, precious and sweet and in keeping it is great reward. What I find interesting about these verses is that in the middle of all this about God’s will for us is how he injects what our attitude is to be toward God. “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.” David’s son, the wise man Solomon later said: Now [that] all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man. (Eccl. 12:13)

To fear the Lord is to respect Him with the deepest of awe. Go back to the book of Exodus (ch. 19) and read how He appeared to Israel at Mt. Sinai and how He showed them His glory, His power and His majesty. It says they trembled and begged that God not speak to them directly but through Moses. When we have this kind of respect for God and when we really believe that His will for us is warning (He loves us so He warns us about dangers and potential punishment) and is rewarding then we can appreciate it as did David. The wonderful part of studying God’s will (the Bible) is the more we study, the more we know. The more we know, the more we want to know. The more we want to know, the more we find it interesting to study. The more interesting it is to study, the more time we spend studying. The more time we spend studying, the more we know. So this love of God’s law, His statues, commands, precepts; His will for us grows in our hearts. The more we know His will, the more we know Him. The more we know Him, the closer we become in our relationship to Him. The closer we are to Him, the more we want to know Him. While the Bible is not a novel that has a progressive story that is always easy to follow, it is nevertheless just as riveting when we begin to understand it. What even adds to this is the more we put it’s precepts into practice in our lives the more we understand what they really mean. God’s ways are above our ways and His thoughts higher than ours, as the heavens are higher than the earth (Isa. 55:9). Just read the beatitudes in Matt. 5 and see that His ways often seem so opposite to ours. Yet, in His wisdom He reveals to us how to have a wonderful, fulfilling, happy and peaceful life. This is possible because no matter what we face, He is there with us in His tender love. Trust Him, study His will, know Him and see Him in all that He has given us.