Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. (Psalm 119:165)
The truth contained in today’s verse may come as a surprise to some, but it is as certain as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west: Those who love the Word of God have great peace. The path to great peace runs through the place God’s Word holds in our hearts.
If you have not read Psalm 119 lately, let me encourage you to do so today. Psalm 119 celebrates the Word of God. It celebrates its comfort. It celebrates its challenge. It celebrates its correction. It celebrates its commandments. It celebrates the covenant promise made to all God’s people. It is the longest psalm in the Bible, longer than many of the Bible’s books, and out of 176 verses, only a few do not explicitly mention the Word of God. It opens with, “Blessed are those . . . who walk according to the law of the Lord,” and it closes with, “I have not forgotten your commandments.” And what lies in between paints a breathtaking picture of the path to great peace.
In our verse today, look at the promise for those who love God’s law: Nothing can make them stumble. The reason for this promise is not found in our faithfulness to God, but rather in His faithfulness to us. God has given us a divine power that is greater than any power that can come against us (Isaiah 54:17; 1 John 4:4). When we stay connected to that power, we experience a peace that passes all understanding. Think about it this way: When you love something, you want to spend time with what you love. If we truly love God’s law, we will want to spend time in it each day. We will read it from beginning to end; we will meditate on it and marinate in it. When we do that, we can rest assured that “great peace” will be coming our way.
Even when we do not understand what is going on around us, we can still have peace deep within us, because we know that our God is in control of all things. When chaos comes knocking at our door, a chaos that makes others cry out in fear — something that might sound very much like, “Lord, we’re going to drown” (Matthew 8:25) — those who love the Word of God will trust in the God of the Word and pass through the storm with great peace.
One last thought: If you are in any way lacking some of this great peace, perhaps you need to spend a bit more time in God’s Word, knowing that the living and active Word of God will work this love and peace into you all the way into glory.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 