It is my belief that one of the biggest things that keeps us American Christians from reading the Word of God as much as we could, is that we are not thoroughly convinced that it is the gateway to the greatest life, and joy that we can have. But the truth of the matter is that the Word of God is what the Spirit of God uses to speak the greatest truths into our hearts. It is these truths believed in and lived out that God brings the fullness of joy through. Many times we buy into Satan’s lie that the comfort and ease our American culture provides is of more value than the struggle of searching God out through meditating on the implications of His Word. There is nothing farther from the truth!!!
Psalm 119:9-16
How can a young man keep his way pure, by guarding it according to Your Word. With all my heart I seek after You God, let me not wander from Your commandments. I store Your Word up in my heart that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You O LORD, teach me Your statutes. With my lips I declare the rules of Your mouth. In the ways of Your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways. I will delight in Your statutes and I will not forget Your Word.
As we grow in developing a more thorough definition and vision for spreading a passion for the supremacy of God, we must come to a more radical and thorough pursuit of finding God in His Word.
Here are a few implications of the passionate writer of Psalm 119:9-16:
- The Word is key to protecting our heart from unrighteousness and foolishness. We see this when the writer says, “How can a young man keep his heart pure, by guarding it according to Your Word.”
- “With all my heart I seek after you God.” The writer’s whole hearted pursuit of God implies that He understands the worth of having a relationship with God. In other words, there is nothing of more worth, or more value to our lives but that we would pursue and love the King of kings (Philippians 3:7-14). And by pursue, I mean, know Him in a deeper way through the faith and knowledge that is given by mediation on His Word.
- The writer sees the great value of memorizing scripture by saying that he “stores His Word up in his heart”. This in turn is not only what guards him from sin when he does not have “a Bible” on hand, but it also is what the Spirit uses to lead Him in righteousness.
- The writer has this desperation for God that is important for us to get as well – He says, “Blessed are you Oh God, teach me your statutes.” – The writer is desperate to know how to follow God, what to do, and in what manner to do it. It is a like a young business person coming to a multibillionaire and asking him to teach him everything he knows so that he may glean wealth from it. This is nothing short of what we are called to do through feasting on God’s Word. In this passage, there is a desperation in the writers pen, because he sees the infinite value of knowing and worshiping God with his life.
- And the response of the writer gets from what God teaches him through His statutes, which is the same response of us who are recipients of the true gospel – He goes out and shares it with others. He says, “With my lips I declare the rules of your mouth”. This is a natural response to anyone who has been truly convinced that Christ is not only the only way to God, but that sharing in a relationship with Him is the greatest life here on earth, as well as in eternity.
- And then, in the passage, the writer shares another echo of the worth of God’s grace showering upon our lives through His Word when he says that he “delights in God’s testimonies as much as in all riches”. Can you imagine, finding a long lost, billion dollar treasure. What excitement and joy we would feel. – It is nothing short of the same thing, if not more when we see and find the depth of God’s grace in the Gospel. This in turn has great implications for how that effects our lives here, and in heaven. In this way, finding God and His grace is the greatest road to a deeper love and joy than we can find in anything of this world.
- And after all the proof and evidence of what this writer says, he validates it’s worth by making this oath – “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways. I will delight in Your statutes, and I will not forget Your Word.” – We would do well to follow the writers example. Not just in practice, but in passion, and in desperation for God.
In Conclusion:
As we are Christians that seek to spread a passion for God, let us do what will give us the greatest passion for God. That is, to seek to delight in Him through the faith, joy, and love that we gain through seeking Him in His Word.
Love Uncensored 