Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 119:70 Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law.

Psalm 119:92 If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.

Romans 7:22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;

In our travels, Cheryl and I worshipped in a church earlier this year where the Pastor made this statement: “To live by the Gospel is to delight in the Law.” What followed was a list of rules and regulations, a lot of legalism. He did something that is very easy to do: he confused Law and Gospel.

My Seminary education warned warned against confusing God’s Law and His Gospel. Properly speaking, God’s Law tells us what to do, what not to do, and how to be. This is summarized in the Decalog, the Ten Commandments. His Gospel tells us the Good News that Jesus has fulfilled the Law for us to earn our forgiveness and life. The Law shows us our sin and constantly accuses us of being sinners. The Gospel shows us our Savior and is “the power of God for salvation” (Rom. 1:16).

So why do all the passages above speak of “Delighting in the Law?” The answer is simple. In the narrow sense of the term, the Law means what I said above, how God would have us live. But in the broad sense of the term, the Law has a meaning of all that God has told us, both Law and Gospel. (It should be pointed out that the word “Gospel” also has a broad sense of meaning all of God’s Word.) We “delight in the Law” when we read and take to heart the message of all of Scripture, Law and Gospel, sin and grace, and are comforted by it.

When I read God’s commandments, His rules and regulations, I am convinced of my sin and need to be forgiven. When I read the message of Jesus coming to take my place in punishment in order to buy me back from sin and death, the Spirit causes my heart to swell and rejoice in God’s great goodness. That motivates me to strive to live according to God’s Will so that I can show Him how grateful I am for what He has done for me.