In Ps 1:2 we are instructed to delight in the law of the Lord. I long to do so. However, the law contains things that make this quite a challenge. Consider Exodus 21:28 and 21:32 for example. Here a bull gores a man to death and the law commands the bull to be stoned. Stoning is an incredibly painful and cruel way to kill any sentient creature. Why the cruelty? The bull will learn nothing and it encourages brutality on the part of the perpetrators and onlookers. I don’t understand why God would allow such a law.
I take note that in Gen 9:5 God says he will demand an accounting for animals that kill men. I take this to mean that animals are not, as I have always known, unthinking automatons. In killing a man, the bull violates his conscience, but why not kill him quickly? It is the cruelty that makes it hard to obey Psalm 1.
