For this lent season, I am doing a forty-day study in the Psalms looking for aspects of the atonement that will end around Easter. My hope is to generate a newfound awe of what Christ did on the cross.
Psalm 19:7-11
[7] The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; [8] the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; [9] the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. [10] More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. [11] Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
Let’s breakdown versus 7–9 so we can see what God’s law gives us through Christ.
· God’s law is perfect—riving our soul. (V.7)
· God’s word is sure—making God’s wisdom easy for us. (V.7)
· God’s precepts are Right—making our heart rejoice V. (8)
· God’s commands are pure—making our eyes open to Him. (V.8)
· God’s rules are true and Righteous—making in humble awe of God (V.9)
We have followed in the footsteps of our great savior Jesus; through His work on the cross we too have become the law so the world may know the love of God.
Additionally, in this Psalm, God shows us how good and perfect his law is. At the same time, God shows us in Scripture that when people try to do well by the law they are religious. So what exactly is God trying to tell us here in this Psalm? For me, I believe that doing the law and becoming the law are two different things. In Matthew 5, Jesus says, “I did not come to abolish the law but came to fulfill it”; meaning Jesus became the law. We have to understand that the law is love. In Matthew 22, Jesus wraps up the law in two commands: “First, love your God with all your heart and with all your soul with all your mind; and the second is like the first love your neighbor as yourself”. We know that Jesus is the physical representation of the love of God. Jesus embodied the law; he became the law.
So, what does it mean to try to do the law? I would like to answer that in Romans 7:7-12, where it says that the law is good, revealing sin, but the law cannot produce the righteousness it commands. Also, it is not the law that brings death; it is our sin. Paul declares In Romans 7:10 that the very commandment that promised to be life proved to be death to him because of his sin.
The man in Romans 7 is trying to behave his way to Christ, and every time he tries to behave his way to Christ, he ends up doing more evil. He sees that the law is good in his inner being but cannot produce the righteousness of the law through his own works. This is a beautiful picture called “wretched man” (Romans 7:24). Wretched man is not navel gazing, someone feeling sorry for himself, nor is it saying, “poor me.” It is a real place of this man getting to the end of himself and basically saying, “Oh, man that cannot. Oh, man that cannot produce the righteousness of God. Oh, man that cannot do Jesus.” Verse 24 ends with, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” …JESUS.
This is important to your faith because the moment you get to the end of yourself—Christ happens. Like Romans 6:6 says, “Our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” This flows right into Romans 8:1, “THEREFORE, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” All this is given because God knows that you cannot follow the law; God knows that you cannot fulfill the law; God knows that you need His righteousness. It has to be a gift from Him and nothing you work for (Eph. 2:1-10)
So, as we look back to some 19:7–11 let's look at the promises of God that come by the way of the law. We see that God says his rules are better than gold, sweeter than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Have you ever thought of God’s law being like honey? We can, if we understand that we have become the law, because we are the image of God.
God does not give us love he is love he gave us Himself. So now we're the image bearers of God's love, in which it is his law written on our hearts!
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