Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night.The writer of this psalm didn't have Psalms to delight in. Or Ephesians, Romans, Luke, or I John. He had Leviticus. He had probably just the first five books of the Bible. Now there are a lot of promises in that part of the Bible but it majors strongly on God's commandments. This writer delighted in God telling him what to do! I don't know about you but sometime I resent being told what to do! Oops! This writer wanted God to show him what would please Him.
Psalm 119:35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.He delighted not just in the words but in the obeying of the words! What an attitude to strive for! Do I only want to please God when I liked what the Bible tells me? Or when I agree with what God's Word says? God wrote His book to protect me and allow Him to bless me. He wasn't trying to make me miserable. \
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.God didn't write His Word to burden me. God didn't write His Word because He didn't like me. Proverbs 8:32 states: "Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways." We are to listen and obey because happiness comes from obeying God.
When I read my Bible am I resentful at what God has to say? Or do I delight in ALL the Bible knowing that God will use His Truth to bless my life if I obey it?
That was my exact view of Leviticus until last year. For one of my classes we had to read the whole book in one sitting . . . which I was completely dreading! I decided to listen to words being read instead of try to read them myself and I was struck by a couple of things. These phrases are repeated over and over again:
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"he will be forgiven"
It changed the way I view the book. Now I see it as a beautiful example of how much God loves us and desires reconciliation between us and Him.
I love what you said about "delighting in ALL the Bible." It's so true, God will bless us through the words. :)
Thanks for sharing that! I love it! And reading more at a time can really help. I didn't read the whole thing at once, but when I read Jeremiah a few months ago I did read it in bigger chunks. It really helped me follow the story that was there.
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