Rejoicing in God’s Statutes: Joy in Obedience

Psalms 119:14

¹⁴ I rejoice in following your statutes

as one rejoices in great riches. (NIV)

It is one thing to obey the ways of God found in the Scripture, but it is yet another to rejoice in obedience. The Psalmist compares the statutes of God to great riches. However, a wealthy person does not always take joy in their wealth. They may continue to be thankful for what God has given them, but rejoicing is different from being thankful. Rejoicing is what a person would do if they were suddenly given great wealth. We rejoice when we receive a raise or a promotion. We would be delighted if we were walking along the beach and found a rare coin worth a significant amount. In the same way we must encounter new riches to rejoice over them, we must first encounter the statutes of God, to discover them. Then we will see their worth and rejoice over them.

In Psalm 119, we see the psalmist consider the statutes of God to be their heritage (Psalm 119:111). The way of following God’s statutes is something they have discovered by watching their bloodline and ancestors. They knew enough about the generations before them to know that they obeyed, and God responded so gloriously that His way seemed to them better than the sudden discovery of wealth. 

Not everyone has this same heritage. They may not be familiar enough with the generations that came before them. They were not witnesses to parents and grandparents who lived by the statutes of God and reaped the benefit of God’s favor. But even if we have seen this in other generations, we must still discover these things on our own as well. We must choose to follow God's ways wholeheartedly and see if He will be faithful or not. Then we will discover that God never breaks a promise and never forsakes those who walk faithfully in His ways.

All of God’s statutes require us to go all the way in, with all our hearts. We may not be completely convinced at first, but if we keep our eyes open, we will notice how different the paths are when we follow Him and when we don’t. He draws us into further obedience by giving us a taste of what life could be if we walked in His ways. But we will never know the joy that comes from finding a treasure greater than the greatest wealth until we begin the journey of obedience. This journey will lead us from fear to faith, from apathy to devotion, from God’s mercy to His favor, from worry to rejoicing. 

Prayer: Lord, help me to see where I am not following You wholeheartedly, and help me begin the journey, seeing Your great love and unwavering commitment to those who follow Your ways. Amen.