The first time I rolled software out to the stores, we came up with a self-training package, and we sent bi-weekly newsletters with tips on how to use the system. Everything was so clear in our minds. One of the best features was an alert whenever they were signing in that gave them the latest news and instructions.

Then one day I walked past the computer in the store office. There was a post-it on the screen with a sequence of keystrokes to print what they needed. The monitor wasn’t even turned on and the dust showed that maybe it hadn’t been for quite a while. You can make rules, but it’s a whole other thing for people to follow them.

In Matthew 22, a Pharisee had just asked Jesus to identify the greatest commandment in the law. Jesus responds, then shows them that he is greater, the fulfillment of the law.

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” – Matthew 22:41-45

Quoting Psalm 110:1 hints at how the law rolls out. It’s a process.

1. The law was given at Mount Sinai
   • And God spoke all these words: – Ex 20:1
2. The law was accepted by the Israelites
   • When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” – Ex 24:3
3. The law was given in written form
   • When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. – Ex 31:18
4. The law is established in the Promised Land
   • And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.” – Joshua 24:24
5. Recommitting to the law after the exile
   • “The rest of the people… all who separated themselves from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the Law of God,… bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our Lord. – Neh 10:28-29
6. Christ fulfills the law
   • “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” – Mt 5:17

Psalm 110:1 is like a key to show us how God works. There’s a pattern throughout the Bible of how he announces something, and it’s absolutely true, but it still needs to get worked out.

We’re familiar with this pattern in our own lives, but somehow we think God should come with instant solutions. That’s not what he’s up to. The instant fix would have wiped out the Israelites, who were rebelling with the golden calf before Moses even made it down the mountain. No, he’s patient with us.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9