Perhaps you see how your soul is not in union with God, and you would like to reverse the process of distancing your soul from God. But is it realistic to delight in the law (see Psalm 1:2)?
One way the law becomes sweet to us is in our repentance after disregarding it. We have all behaved in loveless ways—attacking someone or distancing ourselves, getting involved in an unhealthy attraction, shooting off our mouth when we should have been quiet (see Matthew 5:39-47,27-28,33-37).
In our grief we see how we acted in self-interest and used or disregarded the other person. We were not patient and kind; we were proud, easily irritated, and did not protect the other person (see 1 Corinthians 13:4-5,7).
As we “think about our thinking” (one way of translating repentance, metanoia), we see that God’s law really is good and wise. Goodness and wisdom embrace the difficult person, they treat an attractive person with respect (instead of lust), and they speak simply. It is a deep blessing to meet someone who does these things. Then you see God’s goodness in the simplicity of genuine love. You want that transformation in yourself. To be that way would bring the sparkle of gold and the sweetness of honey to your soul.
TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - Give delighting in the law a try, perhaps by praying phrases from Psalm 1:1-2 or Psalm 119:7-11. The following are examples of how this might sound...Blest am I when I stop listening to the voices of wickedness or posturing myself as a know-it-all. I find I can really love people when I delight in God’s law, when I am thrilled by it, when I can’t keep my mind off it. It is a beautiful, strong, and wise picture of reality—of what God, the spouse of my soul, is like...This all-encompassing law can revive my languishing soul! The ideas in the law are ones I can trust, and they will help me “wise up” from my foolish ways! Their rightness is deep and will bring that longed-for joy to my heart. The radiant law will take the blinders off my eyes so that my habitual ways of responding will change. By absorbing these ideas I will have a purity of heart I have seen in so few people.
Finally—I will have sureness in my steps. Oh, how I cling to these ideas! How I relish them! What a blessing they are to me from God!
Respond to God in whatever way seems appropriate—perhaps praying, journaling, singing, or dancing.
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