“Lord, I Love Your Commands"

by David Lins  |  07/30/2023  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

Let’s get of the beaten path this week and take a stroll through the Psalm that was sung between the first and second readings.

“Lord, I love your commands,” is the line you’ll hear repeated. And it’s a pretty powerful on when you spend more than ten seconds pondering it.

Put yourself in the military (or for some of you—back in the military—thank you for your service). “I love your commands!” If you said this and meant it in the heat of battle, it would be a big step beyond merely following your training and obeying the chain of command. You would have to have found your commanding officer to be full of wisdom.

Imagine yourself as a teenager. (You’re probably laughing to yourself before I write the line.) You look at your parents. “I love your commands.” The only way this ever happens would be after a tragedy happens to a friend and the teen recognizes what the parent’s guidance saved them from.

Our society has gradually slid into an abyss where we believe we should never give anyone commands (especially our children) and we certainly should never let anyone give us commands—even those who are supposed to be in authority over us. (Can’t you picture the employee crying into their iPhone’s camera about a mean boss who dared tell them they need to work faster?”

Here’s the beautiful part of it all: as our trust in the Lord grows, and as we see how his commandments have shielded us from additional tragedy, we learn to love his commands. As we fall in love with them, they become easier. Put another way—when a heart is in conformity with the law, there is no law. If your heart is convicted that drinking and driving is deeply wrong, you never have to remind yourself not to drink and drive.

It works the same with all the Lord’s commands.

This becomes a spiraling ascent of holiness. We trust. Our hearts align with another command. We welcome commands. We grow in virtue. We trust. We welcome more commands.

“Lord, I love your commands.”

This is how sainthood happens.