Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked or take the path that sinners tread or sit in the seat of scoffers, but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.
The wicked are not so but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous, for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. ~ Psalm 1
I remember as a kid thinking how all those rules my parents gave me (don't talk to strangers, look both ways before you cross the street, make sure we know where you are) seemed like such a drag.
I lived in Center City Philadelphia as a kid...strangers were usually pretty interesting to talk to. And why did I need to look both ways? We had street lights. What, did they think a car might blow through a light or something??
And I had to let them know where I was in a big city of over a million people? Come on!
Did they expect me to delight in those rules?
But when I thought about them - meditated on them - then I was able to delight in the care my parents had for me.
And see that those rules - those laws - were because they delighted in me.
This week we look how the law beings life - life that is meant to delight. Life that comes from a God who gives that law as a gift.
You may not always delight in God's laws. But take a moment and meditate on those that you find constricting and ask yourself what is God's delight in them.
Help me to delight in your care for me, O God. Thank you for your laws that sustain me. Amen
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