Psalm 119:167

Psalm 119:167 “I obey Your statutes, for I love them greatly.”
 

In this verse David prays, “I obey… for I love.” To obey out of love rather than duty describes submission. It is one thing to obey out of duty. It is quite another thing to obey out of desire. 

The Pharisees obeyed out of duty. They saw their obedience as something they had no option with. They had to obey to be a good Pharisee. We must also obey to be a good Christian. However, if we only obey because we feel we have no choice, we simply become a Pharisee.
 

David obeyed because he loved. David brought himself under God. To love is to give yourself away. To lust is to gain for yourself. David loved (gave himself to) God. He saw his life was not nearly as important as God’s.
 

Therefore, he was willing to die to his desires and bring himself under God. Those who “lust” God, are people who obey out of personal benefit. They obey because of how it will benefit them. Those who love God obey because of how it will benefit God.
 

Make no mistake about it: Our obedience works to our benefit, but we must have a more worthwhile motive than simply our benefit. God doesn’t just flippantly design statutes to see if we will obey them. Rather, each one has the express purpose of bringing life to us through obedience. That life is the life of Jesus. The more alive we are with Christ, the more others will see Him and be drawn to Him.
 

John (Praying) Hyde, missionary to India, had a philosophy on winning souls that was based on the presence of Christ. He felt the only way to draw people to Christ was to emulate Christ. He would spend so much time in prayer that others would see Christ in him and be drawn to him. Whenever he became ineffective in influencing others he would go back to the prayer closet. He knew his effectiveness out in the open came from the time he spent closed in with Christ. 

Let me encourage you to take some time to meditate on this verse, as you do; ask yourself why you obey His statutes.
 

Continued