“Great peace have those who love your law,
and nothing can make them stumble.”
Psalm 119:165
Psalm 119 is a long chapter – the longest in the bible, actually. It is 176 verses long, and the whole chapter is the reflections of a person who lives according to God’s law. It’s almost like a love song to God, a prayer of praise and thanksgiving for the word of God. In this verse, the psalmist says that for those who love the law of God, there is peace. He says nothing can cause them to stumble and fall.
Why is it that we don’t usually feel this way about the word of God? Most of the time, God’s law doesn’t bring us peace at all, but instead it brings stress or annoyance or frustration. So often the law of God is a chore or something that holds us back from the things we want to do, the things our flesh desires, the things the world around us encourages. We must resist the urge to believe that lie.
The psalmist wrote this song of praise and thanksgiving for God’s word because he experienced the life he is writing about. He felt the peace that comes from knowing God’s commands and living them. He understood that in reality, the commands of God aren’t a barrier holding us back from living the life we want, but a guidebook showing us how to live the best life that we can.
God doesn’t give us rule and commandments to hold us back or to make our lives miserable. He gives us the law because he knows us and he knows what tempts us and he knows what mistakes we’re prone to make. His laws and commands help us to find the full and abundant life that he had planned for us from the beginning. The psalmist knows this and experiences it. He knows the peace that comes from trusting God’s guidance. He knows the assurance that comes from following the unobstructed path that God has laid for us. You can know it too.
Prayer:
Father,
Thank you for your law and commandments. Thank you especially for Jesus and for the way that he lived out the law perfectly. Thank you for that example. I pray that you’d help me to live by your word and come to know the peace that the psalmist wrote about.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
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