We have come to the third parallel statement about God's Word. “The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart” (v. 8a). The parallelism in God's Word is not a poetic redundancy. There is a blessed progression of thought. When God's perfect law (both the Ten Commandments and the Gospel) has brought conversion of the soul, there will be a dependency upon God's trustworthy revelation of Himself that will produce spiritual discernment. It is not enough for us to believe God's Word – we must obey it. God's Word is sufficient for faith AND practice. Only when we obey God's statutes will we experience great joy and delight!
This is the only way to live! The truly happy man is the one who has found God's Word and continually feeds upon it. He “meditates in it day and night.” He delights in it (Ps. 1:1,2). Even the judgments of God's Word bring joy to his heart because he realizes that by them many are warned and induced to forsake their sin. He has cultivated the habit of obeying God's authoritative statutes, and therefore he has the joy of a clear conscience. True and lasting joy is only found in walking in a righteous path. From what source are you expecting joy?
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Bob Vradenburgh is the senior pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has spent 40 years in full-time Christian service: the first 20 years as a missionary and the past 20 years in the pastorate. Bob’s passion is the expository preaching of God’s Word,...