- with Caryn Rivadeneira, Director of Care
Caryn Rivadeneira 00:08
Welcome to Elmhurst CRC's daily dose of the Word of God. It's Wednesday, January 19. And Sunday is comin'. This is Caryn Rivadeneira. I serve as Director of Care and Worship Planning. And I'll be reading from Psalm 19:7-14. "The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold than much pure gold. They are sweeter than honey from the honeycomb. By them, your servant is warned, in keeping them there is great reward. But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults, keep your servant also from willful sins, may they not rule over me, then I will be blameless, innocent of great Transgression made these words of my mouth in this meditation of my heart, be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my rock, and my Redeemer."
Caryn Rivadeneira 01:21
This passage contains such grand and well, interesting language to describe rules. Now I'm a firstborn in generally a rule-following sort. I like a good clear, instructive rule. And as a writer, I believe in rules of usage and grammar. Is any good writer or artist will tell you you got to know the rules to break the rules. But even as a rule appreciator, I wonder about these descriptions. They're a little over the top, are they not? I mean, yes, God's rules for our lives are good and helpful and true, but radiant, precious, and sweet? Couldn't we add a few more to this list? Aren't they also sometimes confusing and constricting, controlling, and curious? Certainly there if we read through books like Leviticus, which details rules and practices for seemingly every little and big thing, and often head-scratching ways. And certainly, when Jesus told people to turn cheeks and offer cloaks and love their enemies, people were appalled and confounded. We still are. And yet, I can't help but think that this passage is offering us a new way to look at God's rules. After all, if God's rules are what the psalmist suggests, does not change how we read or interpret them. After all, what does it mean that even the most seemingly obscure law from the Hebrew Scriptures, or even Jesus's boldness, declarations about showing kindness to those who hate us might radiate God's goodness? It likely means we're reading these rules wrong. Far from being tasked mastery things to control us. God's laws are meant to shape us, to empower us to protect us to guide us and liberate us. In considering that Jesus tells us that the two laws that matter most the ones that encapsulate all the rest are to love God and love others as we love ourselves, the starts to make sense. God's laws are indeed perfect, trustworthy, right? Radiant, pure, firm, righteous, precious, and sweet because God's law is love.