Sons and Daughters of God: We Love God’s Commandments More Than Gold, February 17th
Love Is the Fulfilling of the Law
Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold._ Psalm 119:127. SD 54.1
In these days of peril shall we show less devotion to the truth of God, and less fervent attachment to His law, than in former years? The very condition of things exists which Christ declared would be, prior to His second coming in power and glory. *The prevailing ungodliness tends to paralyze and even to destroy true faith and piety.* But this is the very time when the gold of Christian integrity will shine brightest, in contrast to the dross of hypocrisy and corruption. Now is the time for Christ’s chosen to show their devotion to His service,—the time for all His followers to bear the noblest testimony for their Master by standing firm against the prevailing current of evil. SD 54.2
As we see the results which have followed a disregard of God’s law,—dishonesty, theft, licentiousness, drunkenness, and murder,—we are prepared to say with the psalmist, _“I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold”; “in keeping of them, there is great reward.”_ When the divine law is set aside, the greatest misery will result, both to families and to society. Our only hope of better things is to be found in a faithful adherence to the precepts of Jehovah. Infidel France once tried the experiment of rejecting the authority of God. What scenes of horror followed! Men cast aside the divine law as a yoke of bondage, and in their boasted liberty they placed themselves under the rule of the veriest tyrant. Anarchy and bloodshed ruled that terrible day. It was then demonstrated to the world that the surest way to undermine the foundation of order and government, is to set at naught the law of God…. SD 54.3
Instead of feeling that we are now in the slightest degree excusable in further transgression, we shall realize as never before the justice of God’s claims upon us, and the sacred character of His law, since Christ must die to maintain its authority. Ere long the obedient will see the blessed results that follow the keeping of all God’s commandments. The Signs of the Times, December 15, 1881. SD 54.4
***************
*Further Study notes Pinned in YouTube comments*
source
Further Study
Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. Psalm 119:127.
There was a time during David's reign over the kingdom of Israel, when he saw that special contempt was shown for the law of God. But what influence did this have upon him? Did it have the effect to sweep him into the current, so that he shared the same distrust in the law of Jehovah, and manifested the contempt that was revealed by those around him?—It had an entirely different influence. He saw that the disregard of the law of Jehovah brought moral desolation instead of increased piety, devotion, and love for God. God seemed to be put out of their minds; and the picture presented was not a pleasant one to the king and prophet of God. He beheld the influences that resulted from the transgression of the law of God, and it quickened his zeal, earnestness, and devotion, so that he felt urged to elevate the standard of righteousness, and hold it high amid the people, instead of uniting with them in transgression. RH December 18, 1888, Art. A, par. 2
If David thus marked the depravity of his time, and attributed it to the neglect of keeping the law of God, may we not interpret the increasing depravity, and the prevalence of iniquity in our world today, to the universal scorn shown for God's law? From generation to generation, from age to age, there has been a growing disrespect and contempt for the law of Jehovah. And when we come to our time, as we near the close of this world's history, there is a depravity existing everywhere, which reveals the fact that the law of God is made void, and that there is not in the minds and hearts of the people a yearning desire that God should reveal himself. “It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void thy law.” RH December 18, 1888, Art. A, par. 3
What should be the attitude of the people of God at the present time? We see this growing contempt for the law of God revealed everywhere; and the outlook for the future is perilous for those who love that law, for they stand in marked contrast to those who are showing it such contempt. The secular and the Christian world seem to have joined hands in this matter, and all are trampling under foot the law of Jehovah. Why is it that today, as we look around us, we see so few youth whose moral sensibilities can be aroused? We are forced to admit that it is next to impossible to get them to appreciate the claims that high Heaven has upon them. How difficult it is for them to see the sinfulness of sin, and to realize that God has made an infinite sacrifice in giving his Son to come into our world, that man might have another trial, notwithstanding his transgression of the law. God was, in the beginning, dishonoured by the holy pair in Eden, because they held the word of Satan above the word of God. This is the difficulty with the people today. If they would take God's word just as it reads, and have reverence for it, and receive the sacred oracles of God as his voice, there would be a growing regard for the law of Jehovah. RH December 18, 1888, Art. A, par. 4