“The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes…”
-Psalm 19:8
- Joy comes through obedience. The last thing on a kid’s mind when he’s getting spanked is, “I love my life!” It’s probably closer to the opposite. (And if it’s not…well, good luck to his parents.) Discipline usually makes us frustrated and angry. But as we all are expected to discover as we grow older, discipline is done for the future reward, not the present pain. So, to be honest, we shouldn’t be confused in the least when we are failing to discover the joy of the Lord while remaining disobedient to His commands. Does that mean He doesn’t love us? Of course not. What it means is that we are more aware of the goodness of God as we walk in alignment with the precepts of God. The Creator knows His creation—it makes sense that doing things His way is the best way for us.
- Vision comes through God’s direction. Contrary to what any mother of a picky-eater will say, carrots don’t really improve your eyesight. And in the same way that being told to eat your vegetables “because they’re good for you” isn’t really enough to make you want to eat them, David knew when he wrote this psalm that being in God’s word just because it’s the “Christian thing to do” wasn’t enough to keep us reading it. If we want to see what God sees, we’re going to have to pay a lot more attention to what He says (Ps 119:105). In the kingdom of God, our ability to see is proportionate to our ability to listen. It has nothing to do with our eyes, and everything to do with our faith. And as we learn to listen closely, we will discover how to see clearly, too.
