refreshing the soul;
Do we find God's law refreshing? Or do we find it burdensome? He himself assures us that his commandments are not meant to be burdensome (cf. 1 Joh. 5:3).
Maybe we receive the word without understanding it and the Evil One comes and steals it from us and leaves in its place an imposter which is not refreshing. Maybe we need to understand that the law is made for our good. Even the parts that pertain specifically to the worship of God are designed so that we can be in right relationship with him and not because they offer God himself any benefit. The laws of God are guidelines for the good life. When we understand this it is harder for the Evil One to steal away the refreshment these laws are meant to provide.
If we don't understand his word let us seek to understand it. We need not be scholars to attain sufficient understanding to protect ourselves from the Evil One.
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
Maybe the law seemed refreshing once when we received it with joy but now we can't figure out where the joy has gone. Perhaps we only received the law in a superficial way. Perhaps we have no root.
If we don't have a root we need to go deeper. If we got distracted by initial consolations and good feelings we should realize that God is offering us something more than that. The offer is to move beyond the infatuation phase of a relationship to something more stable and sustainable. It remains experiential but becomes more other focused. It is able to love and be consistent even in the hard times, even in "tribulation or persecution".
If we have received the word of the LORD we bear fruit. If we are not bearing fruit we should look around. Have we let ourselves be surrounded by thorns, by "worldly anxiety and the lure of riches"? If so let us tear them up. Or better, let us burn them with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Let us plant the word of Jesus deeper in us than our superficial desire for pleasure. Let us guard it from the enemy by understanding it. Let us tear out any thorns of worldly concerns that compete with it in our lives and keep us from bearing fruit.
The whole context of the law, as Father Riccardo points out, is God setting his people free.
I, the LORD, am your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
The law is the sine qua non of maintaining this freedom. It prevents slipping back into the idolatrous behaviors of Egypt even for those living in the promised land.
If we can't see the law like this...
They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
Sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.
...let us turn and listen again and listen to the one who has the words of everlasting life. He is willing to punish us if we force him but his mercy is so much greater.
bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation
on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.
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