Psalm 19:8 “The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.” This episode talks about how refreshing it is to have the Lord's law to turn to when the world is so crazy. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The Law of the Lord is Refreshing
Psalm 19:8 “The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.”
This is an interesting verse. The law of the Lord is perfect, that is pretty easy to understand. The Lord is never wrong. God didn’t make any mistakes when He was making the world. God still doesn’t make any mistakes. God’s law is perfect. However, the second part, refreshing to the soul… this could be a little harder to understand. How is God’s law refreshing to the soul? Let me explain how I see the law of the Lord refreshing. Do you ever feel like this world has gone crazy? Do you ever look around and wonder what happened to this world we live? I know I do. Sometimes this world doesn’t make any sense to me. Especially when I hear about the awful things people do to one another. Some people act as if they have their own set of rules in their head and they don’t share those rules with anyone. You just watch the things you do and wonder what the heck is going on.
People justify awful behavior by coming up with excuses that also don’t make any sense. They say things like, “He did it to me first, or she started it.” When we continue to act in an unkind manner to others just because someone did it to us, that is not ok. That is not how we were meant to live. However, if we are following the law of the Lord it can be refreshing because the law of the Lord is perfect and because we know what to expect. There is order in the chaos when people know what to expect and if they have a certain set of rules to follow. When there aren’t any rules, there is no order, just chaos.
God’s perfect law is refreshing because it is familiar. It is refreshing because it makes sense. It's like coming home after a crazy day. When we look to the world for answers it is confusing and we just get frustrated. However, when we look to God for the answers we get a sense of peace that is refreshing. We don’t have to question what is going on or why we thing the things we think. If we are unclear on any of that we can turn to God’s word and all our the answers can be found in our sacred scripture.
The next line in the verse says The decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. We can trust the Lord and His laws. They won’t let us down. They won’t lead us down a path that will get us lost. The same can’t be said of the world. If you follow the wisdom of the world it may lead you down a path you don’t want to be on. You may get lost in a sea of confusion. You wonder why there are so many contradictions. Why sometimes it is ok to do something and other times it is not ok. Or why it is ok for some people to do something but not ok for others to do it. If you try to make sense of the world you only end up being more confused and often times sad or angry.
However, the decree of the Lord is trustworthy, you don’t have to question it. When it says it gives wisdom to the simple it is saying it gives instruction. You don’t have to wonder what is right and what is wrong with God. He lays it out very clearly in the Bible. In the Old testament you will find the 10 commandments that God gave to Moses for us all to follow. Then in the new Testament you will find even more instruction in Matthew 22:36-40, where it says, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” I find comfort just reading those words from Jesus. I definitely find it refreshing that all I have to do is love God and love my neighbor.
Doesn’t God’s law seem to be so simple compared to what the world is telling us we need to do? The world is telling us we need to have a certain car, wear a certain label on our clothes, have a certain job, shop at a certain store, etc. The world is constantly telling us what we need to do. There are so many commercials that tell us what to buy. There are reality TV shows that tell us how we should live. The world wants to tell us how we can live, who we can love, what we can and can’t believe spiritually, and so on. In North America alone companies spent almost $300 billion dollars on advertising. Advertising to tell us what we should be thinking, buying and doing.
This is why I find it so refreshing to turn back to God and look to Him for the answers instead of looking to the world for those answers. It is so simple, maybe not always easy, but so simple to look to the decrees of our Lord to get our wisdom. I know it is not always easy to love our neighbors. There are some pretty awful people out there and sometimes those awful people can be living in your house, or can be a part of your family. God never promised us easy. Even when it is hard, you can love your neighbor. God is always there to help. He is also there to help if you are struggling to love Him. To some of you that may sound crazy. To others you know exactly what I mean. Loving God can be hard if you haven’t ever really known true love before. If you have had a really hard past you might have walled up your heart to protect yourself. That is ok. Tell God, ask Him to help you take that brick wall down and let Him in. Tell Him what you need and He is happy to give it to you. God loves you and He really wants you to love Him too. Turn to Him and His Word for the answers to your questions. If you have not started reading the Bible daily, give it a try. I really feel you will find it refreshing, just as this verse says. You definitely won’t be disappointed you did.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord this world seems to be getting more and more crazy. We are thankful we have your law to guide us. We are thankful that your decrees are trustworthy and they provide us wisdom. Lord, help us to turn to you. Help us to find refreshment in your laws. Help us to see how your laws are a welcome change to the craziness of the world. Help us to love you with all of our heart mind and soul and to love our neighbors too! Lord you are truly amazing and we love you. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Tomorrow our guest will be Debra again. Debra was on podcast two weeks ago talking about how God helped her through the most difficult time in her life. She is back again to tell about an amazing encounter she had with the Holy Spirit. I love that she is coming on again to talk about this because sometimes we experience supernatural occurrences with the Holy Spirit and we are afraid to talk about them because we don’t think anyone would believe us. I am grateful this is a community where we can safely talk about our God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit without fear of judgement. I am so grateful to have you all along this journey with me. I look forward to sharing her witness with you tomorrow. Have a blessed day!