Chapter 2. What is meant by the Law of God, by Delight in the Law, and the resulting Proposition.
Chapter 2.
What is meant by the Law of God, by Delight in the Law, and the resulting Proposition.
The words give us a twofold description of a godly man.
First, he DELIGHTS in God's law.
Secondly, he MEDITATES on God's law.
I begin with the first, "His delight is in the law of the Lord." The great God has grafted the affection of delight in every creature. It has, by the instinct of nature, something to delight itself in. Now the true saint, not by intuition but by divine inspiration, makes the law of God his delight. This is the badge of a Christian: "His delight is in the law of the Lord." A man may work in his trade, and not delight in it, either because of the difficulty of the work, or the smallness of his wages. But a godly man serves God with delight; it is his food and drink to do His will. For the explication of the words, it will be inquired, 1. What is meant by "the law of the Lord"? This word "law" may be taken either more strictly or more largely. More strictly it is taken for the Decalogue or Ten Commandments. More largely, it is taken for the whole written word of God; that is, for those truths which are deduced from the word, and converge in it. In this larger sense, it is taken for the whole business of religion which is the counterpart of God's law, and agrees with it, as a transcript agrees with the original.
The word is a setting forth, and religion 16 is a showing forth of God's law. I will take this word in its full latitude and extent.
2. What is meant by delight in God's law? The Hebrew and Septuagint both render it, "his will is in the law of the Lord;" and that which is voluntary is delightful. A gracious heart serves God from a principle of ingenuousness. He makes God's law not only his task, but his recreation. Upon this scripture stock I will graft this proposition:
Doctrine. That a child of God, though he cannot serve the Lord perfectly, yet he serves him willingly. His will is in the law of the Lord. He is not a pressed soldier, but a volunteer. By the beating of this pulse we may judge whether there is spiritual life in us or not.
David professes that God's law was his delight, Psa 119.77. He had his crown to delight in; he had his music to cheer him; but the love he had for God's law drowned all other delights — just as the joy of harvest and vintage exceeds the joy of gleaning. "I delight in the law of God," says St. Paul, "in the inner man," Rom 7.22. The Greek word is, I take pleasure. The law of God is my recreation, and it was a heart delight; it was in the inner man. A wicked man may have joy in his face, 2Cor 5.12,17 like honey-dew that wets the leaf; but the wine of God's Spirit cheers the heart. Paul delighted in the law, in the inner man.