Delight in God’s word
Last month we considered the first eight verses of this beautiful Psalm and this month I would like to pick up right where we left off and consider verses 9-16.
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
(Ps. 119:9-16 ESV)
The Psalmist asks and answers his own question. “How can a young man keep his way pure?” It must be guarded or kept according to the word of God. While the Psalmist asks the question in regard to a young man, the principle found here applies to us all. How does one keep his way pure? He must guard it, he must keep it according to God’s word. One’s way must be informed by and conducted according to how God commands. The world seeks answers and direction from psychics, horoscopes, worldly wisdom, etc., but God says the way to keep one’s way pure is to live it according to his word. In order to live life according to God’s word, one must know what it says.
In verse 10 the Psalmist states that he has attempted to know God’s word by seeking God with his whole heart and praying that God protects him from wandering from God’s commandments. He continues this line of thinking in verse 11 when he stats “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” These two verses raise some questions. Does this describe you? Do you seek God with your whole heart? Do you pray that God will keep you from wandering from him? Have you stored up God’s word in your heart so that you might not sin against him? Verse nine already told one how to keep his way pure, according to the word of God, and now the Psalmist demonstrates how he has tried to keep his way pure; by seeking God with his whole heart, praying that God would keep him from wandering, and hiding God’s word in his heart. Does this pattern describe your life?
Verse 12 continues with a plea for God to teach his statutes to the Psalmist. Do you ask God to make plain his statutes? Do you plead with God to instruct you in his ways? Do you request that God instruct you in how to live? Are God’s rules proclaimed from your lips (v.13)? Is it true of you that you delight in God’s testimonies as much as riches (v.14)? If you had to choose between gaining a better understanding of God’s word and some form of material advantage, which would you choose? Is it the delight of your soul to live according to God’s precepts?
In verse 15 the Psalmist states that he meditates on God’s precepts and fixes his eyes on God’s ways. How often do you meditate on God’s precepts? How much time is spent contemplating God’s word? Is your gaze fixed on God’s ways or your ways?
Finally, in verse 16 the Psalmist states again his delight in God’s statutes and proclaims the he will not forget God’s word. Are you steadfast in the same commitment? How often have you forgotten God’s word?
Do you desire to please God? Do you desire to keep your way pure and not sin against God?
Delight in his word. Meditate on his statutes. Hide his word in your heart. Seek him with all of your heart.
By His Grace Alone,
Josh