Oh, How I Love Your Law

Years ago, on two different occasions, I was almost bit by a rattlesnake. I don't know how many have had rattlesnake bites or some poisonous. How many have been bitten by a snake? Well, there are two times when I had to jump out of the way because two of those rattlers were rattling away and I just avoided that. But I have known people that have been bitten by poisonous snakes. It's not pleasant at all. You can die from the bite of a serpent. And what they have to do is take an antidote to neutralize the poison. And in the same way, we can be bitten by another type of serpent because Satan is called a serpent of old in Revelation 12.9. And his most common venom is that of persuading people, especially people with God's truths, to reject God's laws. I've seen it happen to young and old, someone who is keeping God's laws, and something persuades them and gets in their mind and changes their attitude. It's no longer very important. What is the antidote when faced with such a danger and temptation?

The answer I'll give it to you and then we'll develop the subject. It is never forgetting the right attitude toward God's law mentioned in Psalm 119, verse 97. We read and sang a hymn on that. Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all day long. It is a sign of a converted mind. Just like David, who composed it, was a man after God's own heart because he loved God's laws so much. He actually dedicated this Psalm 119 to exalting and appreciating God's law. Psalm 119 is very special because it was more carefully designed than any of the other Psalms. It's actually broken into 22 sections. And each section starts with a Hebrew letter.

And also Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, as well as the longest chapter in the book of Psalms. So it's very special.

Just the other day, on this trip I had, we all sit around. We have lunch there at the home office cafeteria. And I heard a minister in the Council of Elders say that back in 1995, when the church was tested about God's laws, whether to follow them or not, this minister mentioned that during that tumult, he would drive his car around and he would always be reciting. Psalm 119.97. Oh, how I love thy law! It is my meditation all the day. And just kept that in his mind as doubts appeared in different people and everything else. And I must say, that happened to me, too. I always had that in mind, as an anchor to strengthen yourself, to never forget that.

You see, this is a key attitude to enter the kingdom of God. Notice in Isaiah chapter 2.

Verse 2. Christ has returned. He has established his capital in Jerusalem.

And he says in Isaiah 2. In verse 2. He says, Now it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills. That's that new Jerusalem that Christ is going to establish at the beginning of the millennium. And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways. And we shall walk in his paths, for out of Zion, which is another term for Jerusalem, shall go forth the law, God's law. And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations. He'll be in charge. And rebuke many people, those who don't want to obey God's laws. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares. Yes, Christ will have no more war in his kingdom, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war anymore. Also in Matthew 6, verse 33, we see here another principle in God's kingdom about God's laws. It says, Matthew 6, 33, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Christ is putting here priorities in our life. Seek first, entering God's kingdom, that's what he means, and talking about God's righteousness. And what is righteousness defined in God's word? Psalm 119, and we're going to turn there because we're going to go over it. Verse 172, Psalm 119, verse 172, it says, My tongue shall speak of your word, for all your commandments are righteousness. And righteousness has to do with all of God's commandments. And so the antidote to fall away is to focus on this scripture, and we need to examine its key ingredients. And there are two main ones here. First of all, Psalm 119, verse 97, it says, Oh, how I love your law. The key word here is love.

David doesn't say, Oh, how I like your law. He doesn't say, Oh, I tolerate your law in my life.

Or I have a hard time with your law. No, it says, I love your law. That is the highest value you can put on a thing.

David mentions in verse 24 of Psalm 119, about loving God's law. He says, Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. Testimonies is another synonym for law. Your laws are my delight. That's a word that means he greatly enjoys it. And my counselors, which means you go to God's word to seek counsel and advice. Believe me, when we're going through all of these counsel of elder issues, we got the Bible open. We're looking for God's guidance. We're not trusting on our own opinion. We are seeking God's guidance over everything.

Notice that we go and love it for advice, know its principles, and how to apply it through God's Spirit in us. In verse 113, here's another aspect of loving God's law. I hate the double-minded, but I love your law. Basically, a double-minded person is kind of wishy-washy. It means he's equivocal, he's always, well, yes, I don't know whether to do this or not.

Double-minded, you have different attitudes. You're never stable. You're not totally committed to them. He says he's not to be double-minded.

Stay away from the double-minded person, but fellowship with those who love your law. Notice a little farther forward, verse 127. He says, therefore, I love your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold. Do we spend more time on money matters or on spiritual matters? Are we trying to treasure these things, appreciate them for what they are?

Verse 163, it says, I hate and abhor lying, but I love your law. In other words, there's nothing about lies there. If you follow it through, if you know how to apply the principles, you're not going to be lying to others. It doesn't mean you know it all. It doesn't mean you're right all the time. But you are doing things with sincerity and dedication to saying the truth as best as we understand it. Finally, in verse 165, it says, great peace have those who love your law, and nothing causes them to stumble. So following God's law produces peace, inner peace, and it is a shield to avoid getting offended. It is a shield to avoid getting offended because you have this perfect peace. Great peace is another translation of it.

So let's go to the second principle. It says, it is my meditation all the day. So the term meditation, which is applied many times here through Psalms, is the term haga, H-A-G-A-H, and it means to ruminate. It means thinking over God's Word. It is similar to what a cow does when it is chewing grass, and a cow is classified as a ruminant. Just like sheep, goats, they're all ruminate because they chew the cud, they swallow, then they regurgitate it, they chew it again and swallow it until it is thoroughly absorbed in the stomach. And many of them have several stomachs. That's why this is a clean animal because what goes in is filtered very carefully. So in the Bible, meditation is a thoughtful practice that involves pondering God, His works, and His Word. It is not a mindless activity or repetition of some words. No, it's something active. You're pondering, you're examining, you're thinking about it, then thinking it over time and time again. Notice in Psalm 119, verse 15, it says, I will meditate on your precepts, and contemplate your ways. It's a beautiful word, contemplate. It means examining carefully what you're reading. We have a lot of literature that's available to be able to go more in depth, but the best way you learn from God's Word is on your knees, studying the Bible while you pray. That's certainly what I recommend. Notice verse 99.

So let's go back to 97. Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. This is a shield. When some people would come and try to undermine God's law, there's a shield. No. I love God's law. I don't have a problem with it. I'm not trying to get away from it. I'm trying to keep it better. It's a spiritual mirror. It shows me what I need to improve on. I'm not going to throw the mirror away. That's not going to make me better. And so it says here that it is my meditation all the day. You, through your commandments, make me wiser than my enemy. So you have what is called insight, perception. You're able to understand better how things happen. You discern what is going on. It says, for these commandments are ever with me. And then it says in verse 99, which is the point here, I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. David spent many, many hours examining God's Word. It looks like when he was a shepherd, he would meditate because he had tremendous strength even as a young boy. Nobody else wanted to face who was Goliath, probably about nine feet high. David was a young man, probably 15, 16, or 17. He probably hadn't even grown to full height. But boy, he was a spiritual giant. Goliath was a spiritual midget in front of him. And so it doesn't take rocket science. It doesn't take years and years to develop the love for God's law. David as a young man had it. And he composed most of these songs. How can you do that if you don't meditate on it? Just think about some of these musicians. Sometimes it takes months to come up with just one song. David, he was always talking to God, meditating on God's ways. He had the Old Testament. He had the laws in those first five books and many other books as well. Notice what it tells us. Keep your finger here in Psalm 119, but let's go to Hebrews chapter 5. I'd like to read it to you from the Passion Translation. It talks about spiritual food. It says, but solid food, talking about solid spiritual food, is for the mature, people who have spiritually matured in life. How can you tell whether you have matured or not? Here's the description. Whose spiritual senses perceive spiritual matters. And they have adequately trained by what they've experienced to emerge with understanding of the difference between what is truly excellent and what is evil and harmful. So that's what it's talking about here in verse 99. I have more understanding that all my teachers for your testimonies are my meditation.

King David was just applying what it said in Deuteronomy chapter 17. Let's go there. Deuteronomy chapter 17.

In verse 19. Here are the instructions that God gave if the people chose to have a king. It says in verse 18 and 19. It says, and it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book from the one before the priests, the Levites. So they had a master copy, which was on the side of the Ark, had a drawer where the book of the law was. And the king was supposed to take it and write it letter by letter. So it wouldn't just be read. He had to copy it. So it would be internalized in him.

But that's not enough. It says, and it shall be with him. And he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.

So again, here's the antidote. This is what we have to be developing. If we're going to be kings and priests in God's kingdom, we have to start now preparing for that. And of course, in the church, this is a testing ground. I was with Aaron Dean.

He's one of the members of the Council of Elders, and he was with Mr. Armstrong as his personal secretary for the last 17 years of his life. And I knew Aaron because we both went to Big Sandy, Texas in 1971, and then he moved out to Pasadena in 1972, and so did I. When the Spanish Department moved, they asked me to go to Pasadena, and I said, I'm delighted. Whatever God wants, that's what I want to do.

So I went to Pasadena, and I knew Aaron then. We were good friends at that time. Back in 1974, Aaron was an excellent cook. He had a knack for all that. Mr. Armstrong said, Aaron, I'd like for you to help me to be the steward on the jet plane as I visit different areas. And so Aaron was there. But then, after Aaron graduated in 1974, Mr. Armstrong said, now, Aaron, I'd like to hire you as my assistant.

And so for the last 11 years, Aaron Dean was Mr. Armstrong's assistant. And I mentioned this because of what Aaron wrote. Back in 1995, when the church kind of broke up, he asked God, why did you allow this man that left God's law and put him in charge? That was something back in 1986, when Mr. Armstrong died, and he named his successor a man who eventually left God's law. And so Aaron finally understood that God was testing the bride of Christ and that he was going to put a person that was going to be a test, whether you love God's law above all things.

Because that man in charge finally said, it's not necessary to keep God's law. We have Christ, we have grace. It's even called now, grace community. That's the focus of it. It's not anything to do with God's law. And so he made it easy for those who wanted to bale ship and say, you can still make it into the kingdom without obeying God's law. And a lot of people took debate. And then Aaron mentioned, he said, what happened was that God was going to test the church, and there would be a moment for each one where God said the same thing as he tested Abraham about sacrificing his son. And that after Abraham put God first, then God said, now I know you truly do.

Obey me and love my law and everything else. And it was that moment, now I know what's in your heart. Because if the church would have gone on and on without being tested, it would have been very easy for people to just go along and just follow the crowd.

No, this was a test. And certainly it was about God's laws over everything else. Notice the example besides David. Joshua chapter 1 verse 8. Joshua chapter 1 verse 8. God told Joshua, he said, This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. So we see again, all these men would give testimony. O how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day. The last one is in the New Testament. It has to do with the Berean Church. In Acts chapter 17. It mentions here in Acts 17. In verse 1, it says, So you see, Paul was in keeping Sunday.

Here we have three successive Sabbaths that Paul was keeping, explaining and demonstrating that Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, This Jesus whom I preach to you is to Christ. And then it goes on in verse 10. It says, Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea.

When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews again. Never changed. Paul never kept one Sunday in his whole life. Neither did they teach it. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received a word with all readiness and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore, many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as the men. And so it's so important to have that right attitude.

Look how the Berean Church grew, because people were fair-minded. They examined the Scriptures, and then they said, Paul is right. And then they followed the truth of God. So we will never know when we have to face that serpent, or the human henchman behind the serpent, as it was mentioned in the first message, that we live in a world that Satan controls. And so he has all of these different tricks up his sleeve to try to get people to leave God's law, because you see, that's like taking the shield and lowering it.

And then it's easy to get disoriented, get bitten before you know it. I had another gentleman at that table who said that for a moment it was like something came over him, a spell, and then it looked like everything, all of these teachings that I was saying against the law, they didn't look bad. He said he sort of just left that moment of alertness, and he was falling asleep. Just go along, just go along.

That's what they always said. You learn, just go along, you'll catch up. What they're saying is, you will fall in that pit that Satan has for you. So we don't know, but we have to keep that shield of faith, and we have to keep the sword of God's truth and fight the enemy.

Don't let the enemy put you to sleep, lull you in that way, and make sure you carry the antidote. Psalm 119.97. Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day.