THE SWEETNESS OF GOD'S WORD

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long.

Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on Your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey Your precepts.

I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey Your word. I have not departed from Your laws, for You Yourself have taught me.

How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.

Psalm 119:97-104

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

If you had the opportunity to describe to God what impact His words have on your life, what would you say to Him?

Chances are you might say something like one of the following:

- God, Your words are a constant source of guidance for me as I live life each day given.

- God, Your words are a constant comfort to me. In times of trouble, I find peace by reading the Bible.

- God, Your words convict me and expose my sin, seeking to replace it with righteousness.

- God, Your words helped me find my salvation through Your Son Jesus and now show me how to live like He did.

I could go on for a long time with this and maybe you can comment at the end of this devotion and let God know what His word means to you. The point is that God’s word can’t help but impact the one reading it. As we look at the excerpt from the 119th Psalm, we find the psalmist being impacted by God’s words in his own special way. Look at what he said to God:

How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Now maybe one of you might have had this same thought but I know it wasn’t the first thing that came to my mind when I considered my feelings about the hallowed word of God.

God’s word. Sweet to the taste, sweeter than honey. It’s a thought that really grew on me as I read this passage.

For it’s really true isn’t it. Those who love God will love His word because there is a sweetness to the scriptures as we read and delight in them.

What makes the words of God so sweet? Consider the following drawn from the text of the passage for today:

1. God’s words are always with us.

Your commands are always with me.

When we read and study the words of God, they take root within us, allowing us to draw from them when we’re ministering to others or in those times when we need inspired or encouraged. Billy Graham, one of the greatest evangelists of all time, said as his eyesight failed in old age that he didn’t fear not being able to read the Bible because he had written God’s word in his heart and mind. I loved that and was inspired to do the same in my life.

2. God’s words are always available.

Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long.

There isn’t a time when we are void of a word from God, whether in written or spoken form. God is always ready to communicate with His people. There is no question about that. What is questioned is whether His people are ready to communicate with Him. It takes two to communicate properly, a sender and receiver. God is always ready to send. Are we ever ready to receive Him?

3. God’s word leads us to understanding and brings us wisdom that the world can’t provide.

Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on Your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey Your precepts.

This isn’t an indictment on worldly Bible teachers. I happen to count myself as one. It only means that no one can provide the wisdom, guidance, and understanding that God can through His word. Invest yourself in the Bible and in prayer, communicating regularly with God, and you will find the words of the psalmist come to alive within your own life.

4. Keeps us from walking the wrong path into evil.

I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey Your word. I have not departed from Your laws, for You Yourself have taught me. I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.

Jesus said the following:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

There’s a fine line in life between walking the right or wrong path and it’s easy to get off course. One way to ensure this doesn’t happen is to remain anchored in the word of God. The psalmist understood this. He discovered that when He followed God’s commands he would hate doing wrong. He understood that God hated sin and thus hated it himself, so much so that he was committed to keeping his feet from traveling on any evil path. This is the only way to know when we are walking on the narrow path, the path paved with God’s righteousness and holiness, the path that will lead to life eternal with Him through His Son Jesus, the Way and the Truth and the Life, the only way to the Father (John 14:6).

Friends, I can fully agree with the psalmist. The words of God are indeed sweet and there is no greater pleasure I have each and every day than reading His word, receiving His wisdom and understanding, and then sharing the words He places on my heart with you.

I pray you are tasting His sweetness in your own life today.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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