Everything We Need For Life and Godliness
A study of the Psalms on how we relate to God
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Delights in the Law of the LORD (His Word). Ps 1
"But his delight is in the law of the LORD" Ps 1:2a
What does he do? He delights. In what does he delight? He delights in the law of the LORD. The thought seems so simple; but it is not. It is actually very profound.
To start, he delights. What about me? Do I delight or do I grumble and frown? Do I even know the meaning of the word delight? The American Heritage Dictionary defines delight as "Great pleasure, gratification, and joy. It is something that gives great pleasure and enjoyment." Yes, the law of the Lord is all that to him.
The psalmist says: "Direct me in the path of your commands for in them I find delight" (Ps 119: 35). "How is it that he finds delight in the law of the Lord, in His commands?" you might ask. "Law and commands imply rules and regulations to me. The do's and don'ts of God." Ah! But there is where we go wrong! His law is not a set of do's and don'ts, though we will certainly find them. His law and commands distill the unsurpassable love of God for us, as well as His grace, mercy and loving-kindness.
When you read God's Word to see how to get Him to make you happy, healthy and wealthy (i.e., what benefits you can get out of Him or how you can use Him), all you see are rules and regulations, harshness in His visage, ready to hit you with His holy stick. When you read God's Word to know Him, however, your jaw will drop to the ground in awe as you start seeing the depth of His love; and, your heart will swell with love for Him. You actually will wonder how anyone can read His Word and say that God is an angry God, always sacking and punishing people, sending them to hell, or that He doesn't care for us when His Word drips with His love, even in the Old Testament. (Actually, if you don't see God's love falling like drops of dew in most of the Old Testament, you will not fully grasp the fullness of God's love in the New Testament). Yes, He is a righteous God who punishes sin, but punishment comes to us only because we reject His indescribable love. We think that His love is a party pooper for our lives; but, the only thing that is a party pooper is our rejection of His love for us. The law is the revelation of God Himself and thus why the psalmist finds delight in it. His delight is in the Lord Himself.
Where is your delight? In what do you find delight? I invite you to know God personally. I'm not talking just about the cross, which you need to come to if you want to know God at all. I'm talking about cultivating your relationship with Him, getting to know Him more and more every day, as you do with a person you just met. Every time you meet that person, you get to know that person more and more. It is up to you how deeply you will know that person and therefore how much you will delight in that person. The same is true with His Person. As you know Him more deeply, then you will say with the psalmist: "My delight is in the law of the Lord". This is a critical characteristic for those who are in a right relationship with God, for you delight in the one you love. But how can you love someone you only know superficially?
A person in a right relationship with God delights in the law of the Lord.
Knows that God Hears Him. Ps 31, 55
"In my alarm I said, 'I am cut off from your sight!' Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help" Ps 31:22
"I sure like knowing God hears me" you might say, "but more often than none, I feel He does not hear me." If this is so, then your feelings betray you, because God always hears our cry for help. Will the One who created the delicate ear with the many intricate parts that allows us hear the singing of birds, the clap of thunder, and the whisper of loving words, not hear (Ps 94:9)? Would the One that created the ears that can hear the softest sounds be dull and not hear at all (Is 59:1)? He also hears us because He is a compassionate God (Ex 22:27b) and He knows that we are dust (Ps 103:14).
"But I cry out my heart to Him," you say, "and I draw no response from Him." Ah, my friend, God always hears us. It would be impossible for Him not to hear, but He often chooses no to answer, and this is for four reasons. First, God does not answer if there is sin in our hearts (Ps 66:18) because He is holy and pure and does not tolerate sin. Second, God promised to answer if we humble ourselves, repent and turn from our sin, but often our repentance is only lips service. We do not truly want to turn away from our sin, all we want is to get God to do for us what we need. Third, God may not answer because of His wisdom and purpose for our lives. He knows what is best for us and what plans He has for us to accomplish His plan of salvation and sanctification. He created us to worship and glorify His Name and He knows what accomplishes them best in our lives. Fourth, it may not be the appointed time to receive our answer.
God is eager to answer our cry when He hears us. Are we eager to repent and humbly turn around to walk in obedience with Him? If so, we always can be confident that He hears us and He will act even when you despair for life. His answer will always be on time, according to His plans for us and to the praise and glory of His Name. Let me tell you how the Father answers prayer, and Jesus is His example.
In Gethsemane, Jesus agonized in prayer before God the Father. The cross was awaiting Him a few hours from that moment. The agony of the cross was such that Jesus asked the Father three times to take it away, but the Father did not answer; and the Son, knowing His Father's will, submitted to it. Was Jesus not heard? Yes, He was heard because Luke tells us that angels ministered to Him as He submitted to the Father's will (Lk22:43). Why the Father didn't answer His Son if He heard Him? Jesus being God is sinless, so sin was not a problem.
The Father did not answer for three reasons. First, Jesus as the second Adam needed to be victorious where the first Adam had failed. Distrust had brought disobedience and this one had brought death. Jesus' death as the second Adam brought obedience. Obedience restored trust, and trust restored life. Jesus had to be made perfect as the second Adam, so the Father did not answer (Heb 5:8-9). Second, if the Father had answered His Son, Jesus would not have ceased being God, but you and I would have been eternally lost. Thus, the Father did not answer to accomplish His plan of salvation for us. Third, He did not answer so that His glory would be revealed in His Son and in those who would be redeemed by His blood shed on the cross.
God does not answer or does answer with three things in mind, our sanctification, His plan of redemption for others, and His glory. Never doubt His hearing us, but His answer or lack of it will always fulfill those three things. Whichever does it best is the one He will apply.
A person in a right relationship with God knows that God hears him.
Finds Consolation in God. Ps 94
"When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul" Ps 94:19
All of us without exception will be in need of consolation at one point or another. Whether male or female, young or old, we all will face sorrow, distress, trouble and defeat. Whether you are a successful woman and think the world is at your feet, or a man with the Midas touch who thinks nothing is impossible for him, sooner or later you will be confronted with loss and trouble if not defeat (Job 5:7). No one is exempted from needing consolation. For example, the business you worked all your life for went down the tubes with the economy. Your beloved spouse of many years died, and now you are alone. Dreams are not fulfilled yet and will never be because you are now old.
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About the Book
Why do we read the Psalms? We read them because we find comfort in them. We identify ourselves with the ups and downs of the writer, his feelings and emotions. They show the struggles of the writer with God’s activities, “how long before you….” The psalmist says, and our cry to the Lord mixes with his. They show his fears when he writes: “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death” and our fear becomes one with his. The theologian reads them because of their prophetic and Messianic teachings. But, do we ever read them because they teach us how we relate to God?
See how the Psalms teach us what a person in a right relationship with God does in his relationship with Him. Experience a thrilling, growing, and often convicting journey in God while being richly blessed as you learn what it means:
“He establishes the work of our hands”
and see the Apostle Paul’s example.
“We know that our times are in God’s hands”
and see how God created time for our salvation and why He determines our days.
“We consider all precepts right”
and see the problems of the pick-and-choose theology.
“We are devoted to God”
and see how we’re little burning bushes walking the streets of this world.
“We trust in God”
and see how little we do…and much more.
About the Author
Sara Gulino has known the Lord since her childhood and has grown in His knowledge and understanding under the discipleship of Dr. Earl Palmer, pastor, well-known author, and member of the BOT at Princeton Seminary; Dr. David Hogg, former professor of theology and Medieval Church History at SEBTS in Wake Forest; and Dr. Allen Moseley, professor of OT and Hebrew at SEBTS.
She attends Christ Baptist church in Raleigh, North Carolina and works in Chapel Hill.