enjoying the many positive functions of the law as the word of God (Psalm 119)

When we read Psalm 119 carefully we realize how much the psalmist loved the word of God, the law, the precepts, the ordinances, and the commandments. Yes, on the one hand, the law of God / the word of God exposes us of our sin and preserves us unto Christ, but on the other hand, there are so many positive functions of the law as the Word of God!

We need to give heed to the reading of the Bible in a proper way so that the Word of God would operate in us to nourish us, restore us, guide us, enlighten us, enliven us, refresh us, strengthen us, hold us up, become our treasure, bring us peace.

Positive functions of the law as the word of God

In the Old Testament, the king was supposed to write for himself his own personal copy of the law, the Pentateuch, and read it all the days of his life (see Deut. 17:18-20). When we not only read the word of God but also write it down with our own hand, something gets in!

Today I want not only to read the Word but also to write it in this article so that I may get the benefit of being infused with the word of God.

This writing of the word of God would keep the king’s heart from being uplifted and it would keep him in the central lane of God’s economy! Hallelujah for God’s word!

The law of God can be to us a killing law or a life-giving law – it can be a dead letter or the living word of God – depending on our attitude toward the Bible and the condition of our heart.

We need to deal with our heart and pray to the Lord to have a proper attitude when we come to His Word, so that we may receive the law as the living word of God! Today we enjoyed at least 13 main positive functions of the law as God’s living word operating in and for man to keep man in God’s purpose and His economy.

As the living word of God, the law ministers the living God to His seekers. Psa. 119:2 says, Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart; verse 88, Enliven me according to Your lovingkindness, And I will keep the testimony of Your mouth. When we enjoy the word of God, it enlivens us, it refreshes us, it brings us much blessing, and it brings us more of God! The law as the living word of God ministers God into us.

As God’s living word, the law functions to dispense God Himself as life and light into those who love the law. Psa. 119:25 says, My soul clings to the dust; Enliven me according to Your word. Verse 50, This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has enlivened me. Verse 107, I have been greatly afflicted; O Jehovah, enliven me according to Your word. Also see: verses 116, 130, 154. If we love the law as God’s living word, we are enlivened and we receive God into us as life and light.

As the living word of God, the law restores our soul and make our heart joyous. Psa. 19:7-8 says, The law of Jehovah is perfect, Restoring the soul; The testimony of Jehovah is faithful, Making the simple wise; The precepts of Jehovah are right, Making the heart joyous; The commandment of Jehovah is clear, Enlightening the eyes.

Especially when we are depressed, oppressed, and suppressed, we need the word of God to restore us and enliven us. We need to take time to read, sing, and pray the Word of God so that our soul would be restored and our heart would rejoice.

As God’s living word, the law functions to bring us salvation. Psa. 119:41 says, May Your lovingkindness also come to me, O Jehovah, Your salvation according to Your word. Verse 170 says, Let my supplication come before You; Deliver me according to Your word. We are saved once and for all, but we also need to be daily saved much more in His life (Rom. 5:10, 17).

We need salvation every day and even every moment – by coming to the living word of God, we receive God’s constant salvation and even His instant salvation. Praying over His word saves us much more!

As the living word of God, the law strengthens us (v. 28 – My soul melts because of grief; Strengthen me according to Your word), comforts us (v. 76 – Let Your lovingkindness, I beseech You, be my comfort, According to Your word to Your servant), and nourishes us (v. 103 – How sweet are Your words to my taste! Sweeter than honey to my mouth).

As we eat the word of God, it becomes sweet to our taste, and it continually nourishes us, strengthens us, and even comforts us. The Word of God is sweeter than honey to our taste!

As God’s living word, the law functions to uphold us, keep us safe, and cause us to hope. Psa. 119:116-117, Uphold me according to Your word that I may live, And do not let me be ashamed of my hope. Hold me up that I may be safe, And I will regard Your statutes continually. Verse 49 says, Remember the word to Your servant In which You have made me hope.

The Word of God upholds us, holds us up, keeping us safe, and causing us to hope. By reading and receiving the living Word of God into us, we receive much hope – “according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I would be put to shame” (Phil. 1:20).

As the living word of God, the law causes us to enjoy God as our portion. Psa. 119:57 says, Jehovah is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words. When we keep God’s word, when we read and pray over God’s word so that we may get it into our inner man, we enjoy God as our portion.

For us to enjoy Christ as our portion we don’t need only to study the Word of God but to receive the Word into us in a living way! Receive the word of God by means of praying, singing, psalming, and thanking – so that it may bring God as our portion into us!

As God’s living Word, the law causes us to enjoy God’s countenance (v. 58 says, I entreated Your favor with my whole heart; Be gracious to me according to Your word) and the shining of His face (v. 135 says, Cause Your face to shine on Your servant, And teach me Your statutes).

When we come into God’s presence and receive His living word, we are enjoying the shining of God’s face, His countenance… We shouldn’t be like the Israelites staying at the bottom of the mountain in fear and trembling, but we should go up the mountain to enjoy God’s face, His presence, His living Word!

As the living word of God, the law causes us to enjoy God as our hiding place and shield and also enjoy God’s help and well-dealing. Psa 119:114 says, You are my hiding place and my shield; In Your word do I hope. Verse 175, Let my soul live, and it will praise You; And let Your ordinances help me. Verse 65 says, You have dealt well with Your servant, O Jehovah, according to Your word. God cares for us in a good way, and He deals well with us – according to His Word. If we enjoy His living word constantly, we will enjoy His well-dealing and His all-inclusive tender care.

As God’s living Word, the law functions to make us wise and give us understanding. Psa. 119:98-99 says, Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are always with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my musing.

This is so true: the more we get into the Word of God, the wiser we become – a wisdom that is not of this earth is being infused into us to really know things and understand things. The Word of God makes us wise unto salvation – as we muse upon the Word, as we chew on the Word, as we ponder and pray over the Word of God.

As the living word of God, the law gives us proper discernment and knowledge. Psa. 119:66 says, Teach me proper discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments. The way for us to have the proper discernment and the real knowledge is by coming to the Word of God in a prayerful way.

Discerning between right and wrong, good and bad, evil and good, and even between life and death in all the situations – this comes from a regular time spent in enjoying the Word of God, praying and singing God’s word, even memorizing the Scriptures.

As God’s living Word, the law functions to keep us from sinning and from every evil way. Psa. 119:11 says, In my heart I have treasured up Your word That I might not sin against You. Verse 101 also says, I have withheld my feet from every evil way, That I might keep Your word. We cannot control ourselves or stop ourselves from sinning, but by allowing the Word of God to saturate us and even become our treasure, we are kept from sinning! The Word keeps us from sinning and from every evil thing. Lord, may we store Your word in us and make it our treasure!

As the living word of God, the law keeps us from stumbling, establishes our footsteps, and causes us to overcome iniquity. Psa. 119:165 says, There is great peace for those who love Your law, And there is no occasion of stumbling for them. Verse 133 also say, Establish my footsteps in Your word, And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.

The most simple and organic way for us not to allow iniquity to have dominion over us is to love the Word of God, eat the Word, and have a rich deposit of the Word of God into our being. The result will be that we will be more than conquerors because of the overcoming Word in us!

Lord, keep us in Your Word daily. We need to be daily saved, nourished, and enlivened by Your Word. May we be those who have a prayerful attitude as they come to Your Word, receiving the Word into us by means of all prayer, thanksgiving, petition, singing, and psalming. Lord, cause us to love Your word in the same way that the psalmist did in Psalm 119. May Your word become our treasure and even sweeter than honey to our mouth.

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from Psalm 119 (Recovery Version), and portions from the life-study of Exodus (msgs. 51 and 57), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on the Crystallization-Study of Psalms (2), week 20;
• Recommended reading: Christ is the reality of the law to infuse His living substance into His loving seekers!
• Hymns on this topic:
  # The law of the Lord is perfect, / Converting the soul; / The testimony of the Lord is sure, / Making wise the simple.
  # Jesus, O living Word of God, / Wash me and cleanse me with Your blood / So You can speak to me. / Just let me hear Your words of grace, / Just let me see Your radiant face, / Beholding constantly.
  # Teach me to exercise my spirit, Lord, / Thy Word to study, so to contact Thee, / That Thou, the living Word, with Scripture, too, / As one my daily manna e’er may be.
• Picture source: Psalm 119:11.