Loving the Judgments of God

“The fear of the lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb”. Psalm 19:9-10

If you are anything like me then the word “judgment” is probably not your favorite word. You recognize that it is a good thing when judgment happens but that it had to happen in the first place is a bit troubling and that it can possibly happen to you is cause of some concern. The word judgment here is used in the context of deciding between right and wrong and delivering justice to the wrong.

There is also another context in which the word judgment is used and this is in the context of exercising wisdom in determining the right course of action. The word is used in this context when we urge one another “Use your judgment”. Judgment in this sense is less threatening as it has more to do with making good decisions and less to do with appropriation of blame and delivery of resulting consequences.

Alas, last night God revealed my heart to me as I began to understand that the first context had colored my view of this word especially as it relates to God. As I read Psalm 19 in which David lavishly pours love and adoration upon the judgments of God I was struck by how at odds this was with how I felt about God’s judgment. Here is what David had to say about it starting from verse 9: The Judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much gold: sweeter also than honey and honeycomb.

Before I surrendered completely to Christ I was afraid of his judgment, but last night I realized that even now the judgments of God though good in my eyes, could not inspire such passion and adoration as David displays in this Psalm.

Why O why was this so?

The disobedience problem

Brothers and sisters, the fear of God’s judgment among the children of this world and the lack of appreciation by the children of God are all traceable to the disobedience problem.

If I knew that there was nothing I could ever do to be on the wrong side of God’s judgment then perhaps I would be more inclined to love them. The unyielding sinner is already on the wrong side of God’s judgment and so lives either in fear of them or in denial of them. Stories of “Judgment Day” are very well known and the finality of it is something that many struggle with even as they try to live a life of obedience.

The heart of the matter

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man many shall be made righteous” Romans 5:19

It starts with our hearts.

On the surface it would seem that the harder an instruction from God then the harder it is to obey it and the easier the instruction then the easier it is to obey, but this is not the case. If your heart is not yielded to God he can give the simplest instruction and you will still not obey it.
Obedience lies in the heart and there is no instruction beyond the obedience of a heart totally yielded to the father, nay, rather obedience then becomes our total focus, source of joy and only possible destination.

As Paul pointed out in the book of Romans, the disobedience of Adam juxtaposed with the obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ is a perfect illustration of how a thing that seems so easy (Do not eat the fruit of this tree) was disobeyed by Adam who before then knew no sin, and a thing that seemed so difficult (die for the sins of the world) was obeyed by Christ who knew no sin. The difference here is that Christ’s heart was set upon the lord and therefore he loved his father’s judgment even if this very same judgment was going to send him to his death. At this time I am reminded of the words of Job “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him”. Job 12:15

O my friends! Can you see that when we surrender our hearts to God in total obedience then his judgments become sweet as honey and more desirable than the finest gold?

Honey and Gold

I believe that God wants us to adore his judgments; in whatever context the word is used because it is as result of his judgments that we have life and it is through his judgments that we will have victory. God judged all that he created and saw that it was unfinished and then he created Adam. God judged Adam’s loneliness and saw that it was not good and so he created Eve. God judged the suffering of Israel and saw that it was great and so he sent Moses. God judged the condition of man and knew that we could not make atonement for our own sins and so he sent his son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. God’s judgments are out of love and we must respond in love, there is no other way. David recognized this when in verse 11 he said “Moreover by them is thy servant warned and in keeping of them there is great reward”.

Brothers and Sisters, we live in a very grave and dark hour in which the foundations of every society in the world right now is being shaken to it’s very core. We are called to love the lord our God with all our mind and with all our hearts, we cannot therefore choose which parts of God to love more and which to love less. We must love all or not at all.

Last night I made a decision: I will love the judgments of God.

Tonight I say a prayer: Judge my hidden faults O Lord my redeemer and make plain my foolishness. For I would rather embrace your judgments now, whilst you tarry o blessed savior, than wait until the day that will be the end of days.

I love you. Remain blessed, now and forever. Amen.