BLESSEDNESS OF THOSE WHO LOVE GOD's LAW.
Ps. cxix. 165. Great peace have they which love thy law : and nothing shall offend them.
THE force of principle is exceeding great, even where the principle itself is erroneous and vicious, but much more where it is founded upon the unerring word of God. It produces in our conduct, prompti- tude, uniformity, decision : and, whilst it stimulates to action, it supports the mind in case of failure and disappointment. Now of all principles, that of love to God and to his revealed will is the strongest. We see in the saints of every age what wonders it is able
to effect In the words before us, David informs
us what peace it will bring into the soul amidst the heaviest trials, and what stability amidst the greatest difficulties. But for the more full elucidation of his words, we will consider, I. The character here described —
" The law of God" generally throughout the Psalms means the whole revealed will of God. It is not to be confined to the moral, or the ceremonial law; it comprehends the Gospel also : it is " the law which should go forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem;" even, as St. Paul calls it, "the law of faith."
To " love" this law is a strong expression, import- ing much more than a mere obedience to it : for we may conceive persons to obey it through fear ; whereas those who love it, see an excellency in it, and cor- dially approve of it in all its parts. They love it,
1. As a mirror of truth —
[In this view it is spoken of by an inspired Apostle a ; and it is justly so represented, because it reflects with perfect fidelity
a Jam. i. 23—25.