The commandments of God

In the Sunday and weekday Masses in recent weeks, as we walk up to Pentecost, we’ve had portions of the Last Supper discourses as gospel readings, and we’ve heard Christ repeat a line that echoes throughout the Old Testament: that if we love God, we are to obey His commandments. Christ adds to this, that (if we love Him, and keep His commandments) then His Father would love us and that They would come to us and make Their home with us. He says that commandment line twice very quickly in this extract:

“‘I will not leave you friendless; I am coming to you. It is only a little while now, before the world is to see Me no more; but you can see Me, because I live on, and you too will have life. When that day comes, you will learn for yourselves that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you. The man who loves Me is the man who keeps the commandments he has from Me; and he who loves Me will win My Father’s love, and I too will love him, and will reveal Myself to him.’ Here Judas (not the Iscariot) said to Him, ‘Lord, how comes it that Thou wilt only reveal Thyself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered him, ‘If a man has any love for Me, he will be true to My word; and then he will win My Father’s love, and We will both come to him, and make our continual abode with him; whereas the man who has no love for Me, lets My sayings pass him by. And this word, which you have been hearing from Me, comes not from Me, but from My Father Who sent Me.'”

Gospel of S. John, 14: 18-24 [link]

This is such a very Jewish idea, as I mentioned when I mentioned the Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible) above. Today, I’ll put before us Psalm 18 (19), to show you a short hymn about the Law and Commandments of God. The longer hymn about the Law and Commandments of God is Psalm 118 (119), the longest psalm in the book.

“See how the skies proclaim God’s glory,
how the vault of heaven betrays His craftsmanship!
Each day echoes its secret to the next,
each night passes on to the next its revelation of knowledge;
no word, no accent of theirs that does not make itself heard,
till their utterance fills every land,
till their message reaches the ends of the world.
In these, He has made a pavilion for the sun,
which comes out as a bridegroom comes from his bed,
and exults like some great runner who sees the track before him.
Here, at one end of heaven, is its starting-place,
and its course reaches to the other;
none can escape its burning heat.
The Lord’s perfect law,
how it brings the soul back to life;
the Lord’s unchallengeable decrees,
how they make the simple learned!
How plain are the duties which the Lord enjoins,
the treasure of man’s heart;
how clear is the commandment the Lord gives,
the enlightenment of man’s eyes!
How sacred a thing is the fear of the Lord,
which is binding for ever;
how unerring are the awards which the Lord makes,
one and all giving proof of their justice!
All these are more precious than gold,
than a hoard of pure gold,
sweeter than the honey, dripping from its comb.
By these I, thy servant, live,
observing them how jealously!
And yet, who knows his own frailties?
If I have sinned unwittingly, do Thou absolve me.
Keep me ever Thy own servant, far from pride;
so long as this does not lord it over me,
I will yet be without fault,
I will yet be innocent of the great sin.
Every word on my lips, every thought in my heart,
what Thou wouldst have it be,
O Lord, my Defender, my Redeemer!“

Psalm 18 (19), [link]