The law of The Lord refreshes the soul

Passage: Psalm 19:1-9

INTRODUCTION

The body is refreshed by the food and drink. We declared that God refreshes the soul. What then does God use to refresh the soul? God’s word is the nutrient for nourishing and refreshing of the soul. How much of his word do you know? How much of it do you feed on? You eat three times a day, may be more, but how many times in a day do you read and/or meditate on his word? We know when we are hungry or thirsty and no one tells us what to do to get refreshed. It should be the same with our soul, it should yearn for spiritual food and water. We also should satisfy it as we satisfy the refreshing needs of the body.

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. (Psalm 19:7, 8 NIV)

DEFINITIONS

The verses of interests Psalm 19:7-8 have four words which are very close in meaning and need be defined in order to fully understand how God refreshes his people. They are Precept, Statute, Law and Command

– Precept is a commandment or direction given as a rule of action or conduct, an injunction as to moral conduct; Or a procedural directive or rule,

– A statute is a written law passed by a legislature on the state or federal level. Statutes set forth general propositions of law that courts apply to specific situations. A statute may forbid a certain act, direct a certain act, make a declaration, or set forth governmental mechanisms to aid society.

– Law is The system of rules and guidelines that a particular country or community recognises as regulating the actions of its members, which are enforced through social institutions to govern behaviour.

– A command is a specific instruction given to perform some kind of task or function.

By the foregoing definitions, it is not surprising that these words are used interchangeably in the scriptures. Therefore whatever role is attributable to one is applicable to the other.

THE LAW OF THE LORD:

We can then say that the Law of The Lord is; perfect, trustworthy, right and radiant. What refreshing is needed more than that which is right, trustworthy perfect and radiant. The food and drink that refresh the body are not trustworthy neither are they perfect, for by them many have been sent to early grave. They may appear right for the situation and may appear deceitfully radiant. What God offers you is his law that; refreshes the soul, makes the simple wise, giving joy to the heart and brightens the eyes of one who is led by it. The law may look difficult at the onset, but its result in the life of the one who allows himself to be trained through it placing these before us is a form of discipline and no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11). Therefore let yourself be trained in the obedience of the law of The Lord always.

GET REFRESHMENT FOR YOUR SOUL:

What else will refresh your soul more than that which is perfect, trustworthy and right! The soul is the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being, regarded as immortal. a person’s moral or emotional nature or sense of identity. This needs to be refreshed in order to meet the spiritual expectation of its creator. In Psalm 23:3, the writer understands what it is for the soul to be refreshed; for him it is to be guided along the right path. That is what the Law of The Lord does; it is trustworthy so where it leads you should be sure it is the right path. It is perfect so there can be no error concerning its direction. The end of it brings joy to the heart, a rejoicing that you have reached the goal/destination. It is the refreshed soul that has nothing to fear when in the darkest valleys because his shepherd is The Lord. Who is your shepherd? Jesus said I am the true shepherd, I know my sheep and my sheep know me. What therefore we can understand by this, is that Jesus knows those whose souls he is obligated to refresh. Are you one of them?

WHY DO YOU NEED TO REFRESH YOUR SOUL?:
the soul of man is that aspect of man that does not die, because that is what man became with the breadth of God at creation. To refresh the soul is to make it in constant readiness to relate with or meet its creator. This involves finding rest by learning of the gentleness and humility of Jesus – Matthew 11:29. You need to refresh your soul because It is the soul

that fleshly desires battle against – 1 Peter 2:11
that can loose or forfeit salvation – Matthew 16:26
that has a shepherd and overseer to which it can return – 1 Peter 2:25
that can dictate the wellness of the man – 3 John 1:2

That was why loving God with heart, mind and soul (Matthew 22:37) was regarded as the most important commandment by Jesus, because he does not want us to loose salvation, since the end result of our faith is the salvation of our souls. (1 Peter 1:9). You therefore need a continuous nourishing of the soul even better than the flesh is nourished, since the body and its nourishment will one day perish but the soul will either enjoy the reward of salvation or languish in hell.

CONCLUSION:
We need to be more concerned about our soul than about our body. Jesus Christ came to salvage the soul not the body, he suffered that our souls may at the end return to the shepherd and overseer of our souls. It is for the soul and not the body that Jesus went to prepare a place – John 14:1-3. The times of refreshing comes from The Lord, but you and I need to prepare for these times, by repentance and turning to God – Acts 3:19. It is by this that our sins are wiped out and we are made ready for our master who will welcome us as good and faithful servant that can come into the joy of our master. May it be that you and I will receive from Jesus: “‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. (Matthew 25:34)