‘The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul’ (Psalm 19:7a)
There are breakout moments in our days when we remember what the true gospel is really about. Jesus never invited people to come to him and find condemnation. He didn’t ask people to obey him in order to receive another heavy load. What he did say – and this is recorded but not always mentioned in some churches – is simply this: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
In Psalm 19 there is a list of tenets about the attributes of God, which fire truth missiles about what he is really like. That his ways are “perfect… reviving… sure… making wise… right… rejoicing the heart… pure… enlightening… clean… enduring forever… true… righteous altogether…. more to be desired than fine gold… sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.”
These tenets are like bolts in the engine of grace, signposting the wonders of the simple fact that His presence is to be desired beyond anything life pretends to offer. And that is what the law mentioned above is really about. We love him because he is truly loveable. We love others because he first loved us. It’s like a bright torchlight glow shining back and forth in our lives at different times but present always, whether we detect the truth of it or not. His love is the reliable shield, showing in streams bursting forth from the surface of the ground but always an undercurrent powerfully and permanently there, leading us to a destination where it always glows.
Feeling sick and in hospital? He still loves you though you feel awful. Suffering financial woes and hardships at work? His love is all you really need. Mourning the loss of a loved one? He understands and loves you. Suffering trauma because of a past hurt? His love is healing for you. Feeling lonely and out of place? He is with you still and loves you. In all circumstances and in all things, He simply loves you.
God is love. God is not anger. He feels righteous anger but the Bible never ascribes the centrality of his personality to wrath. The scriptures do, however, link him personally with the very definition of love. The anger of God comes from the fact that He cares and wants things to be made right. That’s why Jesus died for us. He forgives us.
I have witnessed this glow of love in my own life. I took a walk towards the sea recently, feeling very sad and hurt about a private circumstance and yearning like the Old Testament figure of Enoch, to simply leave planet Earth and be with God. And I turned the corner of a cliff above a remote beach near to where we live. The sea was gently crashing on the shore and I peered across the luminous green surface to the far horizon where I saw a bright instrument of light shining powerfully from the Sun down onto the surface. I sensed the unseen presence of heaven near – and physically wept. God understood my desire, as the apostle Paul once wrote in Philippians 1, to “be with Christ, which is better by far.”
It revived my soul. Knowing that he is there and loves me. Hope for the future. A glow!
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