The Love of God: Part II

The Love of God 

Part II

Sweeter Than Honey

Having lifted his eyes toward the heavens, David now turns to something equally remarkable.

He looks down. Not at the earth. At God’s Word.

There is a beautiful progression in Psalm 19. Creation reveals the majesty of God, but Scripture reveals His heart. The heavens tell us that God is powerful. His law tells us that He is good.

David writes: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.”

Notice how every description is followed by a result.

Because God’s law is perfect, it revives the soul. Because His testimony is trustworthy, it gives wisdom to ordinary people.

Because His precepts are right, they fill the heart with joy.

Because His commandments are pure, they illuminate life.

Because His judgments are true, they produce righteousness.

David is not merely describing a collection of rules. He is describing a relationship between God’s character and human flourishing. Every command reflects something about the One who gave it.

To many modern readers, that sounds strange.

When people hear the word law, they often think of restriction, regulation, or punishment. We imagine speed limits, tax codes, or legal documents filled with fine print. Law feels burdensome.

David thought exactly the opposite.

To him, God’s law was “more precious than gold” and “sweeter than honey.” 

How could he say that? The answer lies in remembering what the Law meant to Israel. When God gave the Law through Moses, He was not imposing rules on a free people. He was teaching former slaves how to live as a free nation.

For more than four centuries Israel had lived under Egyptian oppression. Slaves owned nothing. Their labor belonged to someone else. Their families could be separated without warning. They had little control over their own lives.

Then God delivered them. He did not rescue them merely to leave them wandering aimlessly in the wilderness. He was forming a people. The Torah became the constitution of a new nation. At its heart stood the Ten Commandments.

We sometimes forget how revolutionary those commandments really were. The first commands established Israel’s relationship with God.

“You shall have no other gods before me.”

“You shall not make for yourself an idol.”

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord.”

These commandments distinguished Israel from Egypt, where countless gods competed for loyalty and lifeless idols filled temples. Israel would worship one living God who could neither be manipulated nor replaced. The remaining commandments shaped relationships among God’s people

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Honor your father and mother.

Remember the Sabbath.

Do not murder.

Do not commit adultery.

Do not steal.

Do not bear false witness.

Do not covet.

Taken together, these commands created something entirely new.

Parents were honored rather than discarded. Marriage was protected rather than exploited. Property was respected.

Truth became the foundation of justice. Life itself became sacred. Even rest was declared a gift from God rather than a privilege reserved for the wealthy. Imagine what those commandments meant to people who had known only slavery.

The Sabbath proclaimed that human beings were more than laborers. The command against murder affirmed that every life possessed dignity. The prohibition against adultery protected families that slavery had routinely torn apart.

The command not to steal recognized that ordinary people could finally possess something that truly belonged to them.

Truthfulness became essential because no nation can survive where lies become the normal currency of public life.

Far from restricting freedom, these commandments made freedom possible. They restrained selfishness so that community could flourish. They limited power so that justice could grow.

They protected the weak from the strong. They transformed a collection of escaped slaves into a people. No wonder David treasured God’s law.

He knew the alternative. History offers countless examples of societies that abandoned justice, truth, and restraint. The result has never been greater freedom. It has been chaos.

The great historian Edward Gibbon observed that during times of civil conflict, “the laws of society lose their force,” and violence quickly fills the vacuum. Once respect for law disappears, fear replaces trust and power replaces justice.

David understood this long before historians put it into words.

God’s law was not precious because it was ancient. It was precious because it reflected the wisdom of its Author.

The nineteenth-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche reached a very different conclusion. He believed Christianity weakened humanity by praising humility, mercy, and self-sacrifice. He celebrated strength, ambition, and power instead.

History eventually revealed the terrible consequences of ideas that exalted power while despising humility. Philosophies built upon domination rather than love left deep scars upon the twentieth century.

Ideas matter.

The laws we embrace eventually become the lives we live.

David saw something Nietzsche never did. God’s commandments are not opposed to love. They are expressions of love. Jesus Himself summarized the entire Law in two commands: love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. Everything else grows from those two roots.

Perhaps that is why David compared God’s law to gold and honey.

Gold is valuable because it endures. Honey is delightful because it nourishes. God’s Word does both. It enriches life. It sweetens life. It teaches us not merely how to survive, but how to live together in peace. When David finished reflecting on the heavens, he stood in awe of God’s power. When he finished reflecting on God’s law, he stood in awe of God’s goodness.

Only one question remained. What about his own heart?