The Law of God is a Compass (Part 1)

A compass is defined as an instrument containing a magnetized pointer that shows the direction of magnetic north and bearings from it (Google Dictionary). No matter where you are in the world, or whatever circumstances, it will always point north.

The law of God is like that as well. It obviously doesn't point north, but it does point in certain directions all of the time, no matter where we are in life, or in whatever circumstance we are in presently. We can depend on it to give us the correct spiritual heading every time. And as will be shown, this can be quite the blessing. We are, of course, referring to the Moral Law of God. (Go here to see why.)

Now the law of God does not save or it does not have power to save. But for the believer, the one already justified by faith, it is amazingly beneficial. Let's see how.

The law of God is a compass that always points in the direction of happiness and blessing. Psalm 119:1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! The word "blessed" is also translated "happy." It is a blessing of God to walk in his ways, and apart from his grace, we would never do so. John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Any time, and every time, we obey the Lord, it is due in whole to the grace of God. Our flesh is not only no help at all, it is actually opposed to the law of God (Romans 7:18). But when we do obey the Lord, by grace, the Lord bestows blessings upon us. As we will see below, we will have the blessings of love, great peace, safety and delight. As these blessings are all promised and clearly stated in God's word, we can rest assured that the path to these blessings will always be in the direction the law of God is pointing.

Take any situation in life, and the law of God addresses it in some way. Either in command or in principle, it tells us what is the holy, righteous and good thing to do (Romans 7:12). And as we have the declaration from Psalm 119:1 shown above, we can rest assured that it is telling us the way to be blessed in the situation we are in at the moment - every time.

The law of God will never be wrong, will never mislead us, will never lie to us, will never point us in the wrong direction. What a blessing it is that the Lord gave us his law, not to save us by it, but to show us (as justified believers) how we ought to live in a fallen, sinful world. No wonder David rejoiced in the law of God.  Psalm 119:24 Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.