The Path of Your Commands

I run in the path of your commands,

for you have broadened my understanding.

Psalm 119:32

David was a man who loved God with all his heart and mind and strength. His motivations honoured God, his innermost thoughts delighted God, and the fruit of his life and the quality of his actions mirrored the bounty of his very being. It all came from a heart that overflowed with loving loyalty towards God; and honestly, when one truly gets to know God, how can one not love Him?

David proclaimed to God that he ran in the path of His commands. It implies a singular pathway through the complexity of who God is and the diversity of His principles; many commands yet one pathway. That pathway I like to think of as love; Love that is strong, unswervingly obedient, forever loyal, ever seeking to find that special pocket in God’s heart where you know that He is absolutely delighted.

Love is the basic element that colours all others. It is the principle that moves us to obey God and to care for others. Love is not soppy and wishy-washy. It is principled, it is wise, it is strong, it is kind, it is compassionate, it is merciful, it is intolerant of sin and wickedness, it thinks of ways to bring God’s joy into the lives of others.

Love is about action. It is not simply a sentiment. It is about thoughtfulness. You actually have to think through how you are going to bless someone else. That might mean calling them up to say, “Hey, I was thinking about you. How are you going?” It might mean taking someone out to lunch. It could mean turning someone away from wrongdoing by confronting them about it. It could mean baking someone some cookies or any endless number of things.

It is God’s boundless love which makes him the perfect God that He is. Everything that God does is motivated by love – love for people, love for creation and love of righteousness. His ways may sometimes seem strange to us, yet He Himself promises and assures us that all His thoughts towards us are for our good, to give us a hope and a future. His love is expressed in a spectrum ranging from kindly-gentle affection to tough-on-you training. Sometimes God showers us with favourable circumstances. Sometimes he puts the squeeze and press on us to extract the best of who we are. Love is the prism through which all the colours of God’s character shine through – a rainbow painted with innumerable hues of boundless goodness and perfection