Love to the law of God is one of the marks of the true children of God whether we take the law of God to mean the whole revelation of God’s Word or the law of the ten commandments. Unless we possess this mark we have no warrant to conclude that we belong to the people whom the Lord has blessed.
The Psalmist in the 119th Psalm makes abundantly plain the delight he had in God’s Word. He could say, “I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.” He could speak of God’s Word being his comfort in his affliction, and tell how God’s statutes had been his song in the house of his pilgrimage. “The law of Thy mouth,” he says to the Lord, “is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.” And again “How sweet are Thy words unto my taste yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” The Psalmist can say: “Thy law is my delight,” and in verse 97 of the Psalm he expresses himself in this way: “O how love I Thy Law! it is my meditation all the day.”
We have to ask ourselves if this is true of ourselves also. Have we indeed come to prize the Word of God and to find in it what uplifts and delights our soul? Jeremiah in his day had to say: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy Name, O Lord God of hosts.” So it should be with us too, and may the Lord, through the blessing of His Spirit opening and applying God’s Word to our soul, make it precious to us. Christ is the centre of that Word and to those who believe He is precious.
The true believer also loves the law of the ten commandments. The believer is no longer under the law of God as a Covenant of works, for Christ has fulfilled the law for him. But his eyes have been opened to see
the glory of the law as a transcript of the Divine nature. The soul that has been quickened into newness of life desires to be conformed to it, desires to be made holy in heart and life, longs after perfect conformity to the will of God in everything. Although he comes far short of this and sees sin in everything he puts his hand to, yet he so delights in the law of God in the inward man that he longs for that time when he will be able to honour God fully. These are just aspirations after heaven, where the redeemed soul will be perfectly conformed to the image of Christ and will be able to serve the Lord perfectly.
Can you say with the Psalmist, “O how love I Thy law?” If so, you have one of the marks of God’s children, and you will also have to add with the Psalmist, “it is my meditation all the day.” If this is true of you, then you have come to learn what Peter had learned when he said: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”