Dear Amy,

What does it mean to learn the righteous rules, statutes, testimonies, and precepts of the Lord?

Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

― Psalm 119:12-16

There is much longing for statues, testimonies, and precepts here, don’t you think? What’s that all about?

There is also delight. That’s interesting. How can anyone delight in rules? There must be something here worth understanding.

Firstly let’s notice how determined is the psalmist to learn these rules. If you’ve ever learnt a foreign language you’ll know the power of repetition in learning, circling over and over, saying it again and again until it finally goes in. The declaring of the rules with his own lips and the meditating on the precepts shows us that this is clearly something of supreme importance.

Then let’s notice the word “way”. It’s not simply the testimonies themselves but the way of the testimonies. This is about the direction of a life. It is not mere head knowledge. Knowing things about God is of little value unless these things change us and change our way. Fixing our eyes on his ways means that we will take them for ourselves⸺you end up in the place where you fix your eyes⸺cyclist’s wisdom!

And delight? Here’s the reason for that, the reason which transforms Bible reading from a chore into a joy. The statues, testimonies, and precepts that we read reveal the character and heart of God. We delight because he is so very good, and so these things are supremely worth meditating on. Increased understanding leads to increased delight and increased desire to understand more. As we ascend in this virtuous circle so grows our love for the Lord.

But there’s more.

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

― Psalm 119:11

How can we experience that victory over sin that Jesus’ resurrection power makes possible? (Just because something is possible does not mean it will necessarily happen.) The psalmist knows how and he tells us. It is by storing up the Lord’s word in our hearts. We need to fill the storehouse of our heart with his word and our love for his word and the desire to honour him to which that leads, and we need to keep filling it. Only then will Jesus’ resurrection power and victory over sin be realised in our own lives.

And then what?

I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules.

― Psalm 119:7

Here’s where we finally see what it means to learn these things. Make no mistake⸺it’s not the praising that starts when the learning is done. By no means! The praising has been ongoing for all this time. No, it’s the upright heart which is the prize for this learning. To praise the Lord with an upright heart! What joy there is to be found in worshipping him from that place of personal holiness.

And so learning his righteous rules is about training the desires of our hearts and aligning our lives with the way of his testimonies in order to live victoriously and with personal holiness. It is a practical learning that results in the habits and patterns of a changed life⸺a resurrection life. Indeed this is exactly the Apostle Paul’s appeal to each one of us.

Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

― Romans 12:2

Praise him with an upright heart, Amy, as you learn his righteous rules! 🙏