Psalm 19:9-11 “The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”
Every responsible parent sets boundaries. No running in the street. No picking the neighbor’s flowers. You may not call someone fat. You can’t watch TV until after your homework is done. Usually, behind every rule stands a reasonable explanation. Most of us try to explain why, but soon realize that a child’s obedience shouldn’t rest on whether or not they understand the rule. We want them to learn how to both trust and obey.
No matter how much we appreciate order, most of us—whether children or adults—have an aversion to rules. And we often carry over our dislike for rules to disliking the rule-giver. Since God reigns as the ultimate ruler maker, when one of his rules conflicts with our desires, we pull away from him, missing the motivation behind the mandate. We want what we want.
But as Tim Keller notes, “God is not just a cosmic rule-keeper who smites the disobedient and showers blessings on the obedient.” He purposes his laws and rules for our good. In the Old Testament, all 613 Mosaic commands were given to protect and carry us until the laws were fulfilled in Jesus (Galatians 3:19; Matthew 5:17). That’s a lot of thou-shall-nots, but each one originates from a God of love.
There are a lot of commands in the New Testament as well. They, too, serve the high end of helping us fulfill the reason God put us here in his universe. We may not see the need to forgive or sacrifice for others or tell the truth, but God does. Some people accuse Christians of focusing too much on rules pertaining to sexuality, but there’s a reason why every epistle in the New Testament addresses it. Maybe our Creator knows something we don’t.
The psalmist describes God’s commands as more precious than gold, as sweeter than honey. Keeping them leads us to the most rewarding, fulfilled life we could imagine. Oh, how I hope you see the thou-shall-nots for what they really are.
A reflection of his deep love.