“How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Psalm 119:103 (ESV).
My
family and I have a nightly ritual of reading and praying through the Evening
Prayer liturgy from the 1662 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. Part of this
liturgy involves reading through the entire book of Psalms every month on an
appointed schedule. It is always amazing to me how rich the Psalms are; they
always have something that resonates with anything we might be facing in life,
and mirror the ways the Godly man interacts with God through his various trials
and tribulations.
About
a week ago, we read through Psalm 119 again. The longest chapter in the entire
Bible, it takes us about four days to read through. I’ve read Psalm 119 many
times over the years, but one thing stood out to me: throughout Psalm 119’s 176
verses, every single verse mentions God’s “word,” “laws,” “statutes,”
“judgments,” “testimonies,” or “commandments” at least once. And nearly every
time, the Psalmist is looking to God’s commandments as the guidepost of his
actions and the source of his strength. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
Obedience
to command is one of the foremost skills every man must learn, no matter his
calling or walk of life. Every civilized man routinely obeys something, whether
that is his boss at work, his commanding officer in the military, or the laws
of his country. And that’s just the human element. To be Godly as well as
civilized, a man must obey, not just the commands of his human superiors or the
laws of his government, but also the commands of God.
Our
modern ears often recoil at the mention of “obedience.” Many see the idea of
obedience as a sign of subservience, as though by obeying we are allowing
ourselves to be walked on or taken advantage of. But Scripture (and history)
tells us another story. Obedience to God is where true freedom is found. As
Martin Luther once put the paradox, “A Christian Man is the most free lord of
all, subject to no one; a Christian Man is the most abject servant of all,
subject to everyone.”
The
Christian man is called to a life of obedience and service. But obedience and
service are not servitude. In serving God, his family, and his fellow man, a
Christian man finds a dignity that can be found nowhere else. Think of all the
great heroes we admire in history. We admire them for their great acts, for
sure; but it isn’t just for the actions alone.
We admire Robert E. Lee, Stonewall
Jackson, and so many others for their brilliant military achievements, sure.
But we admire them most of all for what motivated them to achieve those things.
All they did, they did in the service of their people and in obedience to what
they believed was God’s command to them, to protect their people against the
invader of their homeland. And even in defeat, most of them returned to serve
their people as well in peace as they had in war. They could have become
bitter, violent, lawless men, haters of the Union against which they had
struggled so long and seeking its ill forever. But they didn’t. Even in defeat,
they refused dishonor and spent the rest of their lives in service to their
people, whatever flag flew over them. It is this for which we truly, and
rightly, admire them.
As
our fathers obeyed the commandments of their God, their Country, and their
brave leaders, I pray that all of us may do the same. Our times are different,
but our cause is the same. We face different adversaries, and (thank God) are
not yet facing our Brothers across the battlefield again. But our call is the
same. The man who loves freedom must love God’s law. The man who loves
greatness must seek to serve. “Bear one another’s burdens,” says the Apostle
Paul, “and so fulfil the Law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2, ESV).
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