God's Instructions are Life Giving

Every Sunday I, along with many other clergy across the globe, pray the end of Psalm 19.  “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”  (Psalm 19:14, CEB) It is always my prayer as I proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, that God removes all of my own intentions and replaces it fully with the word that God has for the congregation I am serving that day.  I want God to be in control.  I want to only be a vessel. 

                This is the most familiar part of this Psalm but there is more to be gleaned from this prayer of David.  David begins his prayer declaring the glory of God in the meticulous and predictable way God has ordered creation.  It was a beautiful weekend this weekend.  I played golf on Friday, with the sun beating down on me.  Saturday and Sunday were equal to Friday’s beauty.  We are always assured that the sun will rise in the East and Set in the west.  I always know that if I am sitting on my cousin’s balcony at Clearwater Beach between 7:00 and 8:00 PM I will see one of the most beautiful pieces of artwork known as the sun sets over the Gulf of Mexico.  David doesn’t stop with his amazement at the glory of the ordering of God’s creation though.

                David continues to praise God for the ordering of God’s commands. Sometimes when people hear the word Christianity they think of endless lists of rules and regulations that they cannot possibly keep and they feel hopeless.  They feel as though they cannot possibly live into the expectations of Christianity.  The rules and regulations are burdensome and impossible.  This is not how David sees it though.  David sees the instruction of God as being life giving.  I believe David is right.  When you look at the 10 commandments you will notice that they fall under two basic categories:  Love of God and Love of others.  The commandments are summed up with the words, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.”  John Wesley had three simple rules for the ordering of God’s instruction and commands.  “Do no harm, do all the good you can, stay in Love with God.” 

                When we look at these summaries of God’s instruction it no longer seems so burdensome and, like David, we can say “The Lord’s instruction is perfect, reviving one’s very being.” We can, like David, understand the benefits of living our lives according to God’s instruction.  The benefits include:

·         Becoming wise

·         Gladdening our hearts

·         Giving light to our eyes

·         Being enlightened

Pray the prayer of Psalm 19 today.  Be thankful for the order God brings to our lives.