"I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy Word."
Psalm 119:16
Part 2
Yesterday:
Without the Word, we cannot be pure (v. 9).
We seek God whole-heartedly so that we will not wander (v. 10).
We memorize the Word to keep us from sinning (v. 11).
Today:
And then we need to move from blessing God, our adoration, to asking Him to teach us (v. 12). We need to know His “statutes.” This Hebrew word means, a “statute, ordinance, limit, something prescribed, due”[1] (BDB). Yes, we do need God to prescribe and teach us exactly what He wants for us. Mankind isn’t known for doing well with boundaries. Adam and Eve showed us that. We need to know His expectations, and we need to obey them! We need Him to teach us.
“No sooner is the Word in the heart than a desire arises to mark and learn it. When food is eaten, the next thing is to digest it; and when the Word is received into the soul the first prayer is – Lord, teach me its meaning. ‘Teach me thy statutes’; for thus only can I learn the way to be blessed”[2] (Spurgeon).
The psalmist has been busy recounting all the judgments of His mouth (v. 13). He has moved from “learner,” to be a “teacher” of the Word. We do well when we retell His Word to others, especially those of our own family (Deuteronomy 6:7). We teach our children His Word both formally and informally, all day long we share it with them.
“God has revealed many of his judgments by his mouth, that is to say, by a plain and open revelation; these it is our duty to repeat, becoming, as it were, so many exact echoes of his one infallible voice”[3] (Spurgeon).
His Testimonies have rejoiced our hearts because we know them and see His faithfulness (v. 14).
“Delight in the Word of God is a sure proof that it has taken effect upon the heart, and so is cleansing the life. The Psalmist not only says that he does rejoice, but that he has rejoiced”[4] (Spurgeon).
No riches on earth mean more to us than His testimonies.
“Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful” (Psalm 119:138).
We think about, meditate on, roll these truths around in our minds. These precepts that God shows us in His Word we spend time mulling over in our minds. His Word is vital to us, we respect it, so we give our time to tracing out His paths through the Word (v. 15).
“As the miser often returns to look upon his treasure, so does the devout believer by frequent meditation turn over the priceless wealth which he has discovered in the book of the Lord. To some men meditation is a task; to the man of cleansed way it is a joy”[5] (Spurgeon).
“Meditation is recalling what we have committed to memory and then turning it over and over in our minds to see the fullest implications and applications of the truth”[6] (Boice).
What is the result of using the Word in the prescribed way in these verses? Come back tomorrow, and we will see.
Quote: “Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will” (Jonathan Edwards).
[1] Brown, Driver, Briggs. Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.
[2] C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] Spurgeon, ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Boice, as quoted by Guzik. David Guzik’s Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.