Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. (Psalm 119:111 NIV)
A statute is a law or rule or regulation. These words can conjure up a very strict and foreboding scenario. Many people read verses like these and view God as strict and stern, pointing His finger at us in an accusing way.
If the above were true, then the rest of today’s verse would not exist. How can we have joy in our hearts if our God is waiting for us to make a mistake and then to punish us for our wrongdoing?
Thankfully this is not the case. God is loving and merciful. We are to follow His statutes so that we can live holy lives. In doing this, God gives us more joy than we thought possible.
"The mere fact itself that God's will is irresistible and irreversible fills me with fear, but once I realize that God wills only that which is good, my heart is made to rejoice." - A. W. Pink