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Precepts of God
P The law of the Lord is perfect,
it revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,
it gives wisdom to the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
they gladden the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
it gives light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is holy,
abiding for ever.
The decrees of the Lord are truth
and all of them just.
They are more to be desired than gold,
than the purest of gold
and sweeter are they than honey,
than honey from the comb.
So in them your servant finds instruction;
great reward is their keeping.
But who can detect all his errors?
From hidden faults acquit me.
From presumption restrain your servant
and let it not rule me.
Then shall I be blameless,
clean from grave sin.
May the spoken words of my mouth,
the thoughts of my heart,
win favour in your sight, O Lord,
my rescuer, my rock! P
Psalm 18 (19) tells us that God's precepts are much, much more than orders meted out for the mere sake of authority. They tell us that His precepts are health giving, providing wisdom and gladness; they enlighten us and we find them most sweet and rewarding.
They do this because they win favour in your sight, O Lord.
Wherever one looks in Scripture, New or Old, one finds confirmation of the basic need, the urgency and the power found only in acceptance of and co-operation with, God's precepts.
In Acts 5:32, for example, we note: We are witnesses to these things -
we and the Holy Spirit,
who is God's gift
to those who obey him.
Almost every word in Scripture is set around the human longing and necessity for God's Will. Gal. 3:27 says: All you who have been baptised in Christ's name have put on the person of Christ. The implication is clear here that all people who obey the calling of Christ to be baptised, will put on the person of Christ.
If one reads any word of Scripture, the implication is always there, one way or another, that humanity is called to co-operate with God's Will.
This of course, is absolutely common sense. It is so simple and true! There can be no other way! It is the nature of creature and Creator!
Because God created all things and all we have is given to us from Him. What fools are we, His creatures, to defy God, our Creator? What nonsense; what stupidity; what insanity!
This is exactly like a person who thinks it is a good thing to jump off a 1,000 metre cliff onto the jagged rock below. God has created the law of gravity but such a madman defies this law out of insane pride - and dies!
Or, does he say the law of gravity does not exist? Perhaps he thinks to change this natural law or overcome it? Maybe he thinks he is above God's law of gravity?
But such a person, as mad as he might be, is not as bad off as he who defies God's spiritual precepts which are true guidelines given to us so that we might gain eternal life with Him.
Defying the natural law of gravity might only mean death of the body, but defying the spiritual laws of God can mean spiritual death of the soul.
It seems to me that Hebrews 5:8-10 tells us what we need to know about God's Will and about the total necessity and privilege of living within The Will of God, for even Christ learnt to obey through suffering:
P Although he was Son,
Christ learnt to obey
through suffering;
but having been made perfect,
he became for all
who obey him
the source of eternal salvation
and was acclaimed by God
with the title of high priest
of the order of Melchizedek. P
Look again at these words: ..he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation.
Precepts of The Church
P And I tell you this in my turn,
that thou are Peter
and it is upon this rock
that I will build my church;
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