SUNDAY READING

Taranaki Daily News, 15 July 1933, Page 14 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING

By

the late REV. A. H. COLLINS

“THE STATUTES AND THE SONG.” “Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.” ■■ —Psalm 119, 54. The Rabbis divided the Old Testament into “the Law; the Prophets and the Psalms.” By “the Law” theyjneant the counsels, the commands, and the prohibitions of the mosaic economy. They had various names for “the Law ; “testimonies,” “precepts,” “statutes, but under all these different names it was the Law which was their boast and pride. This psalm is one long song in praise of the Law. In diverse ways the writer seeks to tell his readers how good and noble a thing , the Law is, and how he loves and delights therein. But there is nothing finer than this:„“Thy Statutes have been my songs . . .” What does he mean? Matthew Henry’s comment is this: “David was the sweet singer of Israel, and here we are told whence he fetched his songs. They were all borrowed from the Word of God. God’s statutes were as familiar to him as the songs which men are accustomed to sing.” Horace Bushnell follows the same idea, and pictures the Eastern traveller resting at noon, or halting at some caravanserai for the night, and taking out his instrument of music and soothing his rest with a song of war, or romance, or love. • •' SUBJECT AND INSPIRATION. Thus David made the law of God the subject of his song. But whilst that is true in part, it is not only the subject; they are the inspiration of -his songs, and more still, the “statutes”, themselves are converted into songs, so that.he revelled and rejoiced in them, as other people did in music and song. Duty was changed intp delight, the burden became a blessing; the obligation was felt to be a privilege. He ceased to act under stem compulsion, or threat, or fear, and welcomed- the thought of being under the commands of God. You have the example of this in Wordsworth’s Ode to Duty. He calls duty “Stem Daughter of the Voice of God,” and in another line he speaks of duty as “stem law-giver,” but ere he closes that aspect: is changed, and he thinks of duty as the path of glory. And so sings Tennyson; “Not once or twice in our rough island story The path of duty was the way to glory: He that ever following her commands, On with toil of heart and knees and hands, Through the long gorge to the far light, has won His path upward and prevailed, Shall find the toppling crags of duty scaled Are close upon the shining tablelands To which our God is Moon and Sun.” And the same thought is expressed in simpler phrase in one of our church hymns: “Dear Lord and Master mine, Thy happy servant seo, My conqueror with what joy divine Thy captive clings to thee.” That, I think, is the meaning of the text. The Psalmist no longer regards the will of God, and the commands of God, as something imposed and compelled, but something to be welcomed and rejoiced over, and wedded to a song. The legal becomes the lovely. The sacrifice is accompanied with. sbngs. So then I want to say a few words on three things: .The Statutes,. the. Songs, the Statutes changed into a Song. LAW AND AUTHORITY. . ■ Life begins with the “Statutes of the Lord,” as Statutes, and nothing more. Duty is just duty, the stem law-giver. We must obey. We must keep within the prescribed limits. So soon as .we wake to conscious life we find ourselves under authority. The child is not at liberty to do as he likes. His freedom is limited and curtailed by the law of the family, and he discovers that disobedience brings pain and penalty. As children we fumed and fretted and chafed and rebelled, but the law said, “You must.” Later we found ourselves living in a world of law and order. We discovered things we may not, and must not, do. We must not play with fire or we shall be -burned. We must not trifle with frost or we shall be bitten. We must not disregard the law of gravitation, or we shall suffer hurt. Nature has her “thou shalt note,” her Statutes that have to be obeyed. Society, too, has. her prohibitions, for the community must protect itself against

the lawless. You may not help yourself to anything you like, for there is the law of theft. You may not go where you please, for there is the law of trespass. You may not say all you think, for there is the law of libel. You may complam and resent, but the law meets you- at every turn, and the policeman, and the magistrate and the judge enforce obedience to the “Statutes.” Back of all these is another law more stringent and exacting, the law of God, which speaks to conscience and to reason, and reveals itself in commands, and prohibition. We may regard these divine laws as irksome and think they interfere with the zest and enjoyment of life; it makes no difference. We are under Law. But the Statute is just a Statute to us, and nothing more. We keep it because we must, but it is burdensome and grievous. THE LAW AS AN EDUCATION. But the “Statute” is not intended to remain just a “statute” to the end. Law has not fulfilled itself until it has educated us for sor>sthing better. Law is meant to develop our sense of right and wrong so that of our own free choice we elect to do the right and of our own free choice reject the wrong. The man who simply keeps the law of honesty and sobriety and truthfulness from fear of consequences is neither honest, nor sober, nor truthful. He is, as St. Paul would say, “under law and not under grace.” Obedience that is compelled and forced falls far short of perfect obedience. Take the law of the home. I suppose J. M. Barrie obeyed his mother’s word m his Scottish home. It was a matter of statute, and I expect the original and high-spirited lad sometimes felt a bit rebellious. But if you have read “Margaret Ogilvie,” the volume in which we read one of the most beautiful tributes to motherhood in any language, you will know how the “statute” has converted into a “song.” Take the law of the State. France is a military nation. Military service in France is a matter of statute. Her glorious men are compelled to the ranks. But everyone who visits France bears witness to the exalted spirit of her sons. The statute has become a song. “My love to my wife,” cried a young officer as he fell; “My love to my wife, my soul to God, and my life to France.” THE LAW OF CHRISTIAN LIFE. Take the law of the Christian life. How will our Christianity stand this test ? What is the law of God to us ? Is it a statute or a song ? Is it a drudgery or a delight ? Do we find His “yoke easy,” and His “burden light” ? Do we rejoice in discipleship, or does it chafe and gall ? I am not pretending there are no commands, no prohibitions, no. denials or crosses; there are all these. But what of the sacrifices and the services ? Are they offered gladly ? Is it a case of stem duty or do we say, “I delight to do Thy will” ? Has the statute become a song ? Does the ’ thought of God make us sing? Yet we are not Christians at all until we have reached this second stage. We are slaves in the Father’s house so long as we dwell on the commandments, the denials, the sacrifices, involved in the service of God. We only become sons as we take delight in God’s will and His statutes become our song in the house of our pilgrimage . . . . ■ And now let us consider how “the statute” can be changed into a “song.” I name but two ways, and the . first is, that in the way of obedience we discover that however harsh they may seem at first, God’s commandments veil a merciful purpose. “The statutes of the Lord ' are right, rejoicing the heart.” “Right.” That is the word to keep in mind. They are not the arbitrary enactments of a tyrant, set on curtailing our liberty and , killing our joy. Test any one of the statutes and obey it, and you will discover .the mercy hidden in its sable fold. “If any man would 'be my disciple . . .” It sounds harsh and ugly and repellant, : but put it to the test. . j. But the second thing is this: Love is power that changes duty into delight, i and “statute” into “song.” Love trans- : mutes sacrifice into joy. “He ain't heavy,” , said a little lassie staggering under the i burden of a child almost as big as herself, “he’s my brother.” A new and ; deeper sense of love to Christ would silence a good deal of complaining about . the law of liberality and the law of , service. “How can I, Lord, withhold life’s brightest hour From Thee, or gathered gold, or any power! How can I keep one precious thing from Thee, When Thou hast given Thine own dear self for me!”