Delightful!

Scripture:

Psa. 119:97        Oh, how I love your law!
        It is my meditation all day long.
98     Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
        for it is always with me.
99     I have more understanding than all my teachers,
        for your decrees are my meditation.
100     I understand more than the aged,
        for I keep your precepts.
101     I hold back my feet from every evil way,
        in order to keep your word.
102     I do not turn away from your ordinances,
        for you have taught me.
103     How sweet are your words to my taste,
        sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104     Through your precepts I get understanding;
        therefore I hate every false way.

Observation:

Continuous meditation on the law becomes obedience in the life of one who follows God. The result is transformation as this individual faithfully follows the precepts of the law. Obedience then arises from the recognition of the divine authority of the word and ultimately, this turns to delight.

Delight is experienced in the sweetness of learning, memorizing and practicing the word. Ambrose says, “Let the prophet who has tasted this sweetness teach you, when he says, ‘How sweet are your words to my lips, above honeycomb to my mouth.’ What else can a soul desire when it has once tasted the sweetness of the Word, when it has once seen its brightness?” (LETTER 79)

God’s word, quite simply, becomes a sweet delight for those who are willing to meditate on his laws all day long.

Application:

I’m not sure that we have been taught well about spending this kind of time in God’s word and yet, the admonition to be in the word and prayer at all times comes to us again and again. It becomes a state of being in which God becomes the focus in all things. The great prophets who have spent time with God in this way are transformed to the point that they are emotionally and even physically satisfied by knowing God.

I am really challenged to consider what it would take to be so thoroughly saturated in the word. I have learned that the more time I spend with the Lord — the more time I want to spend with the Lord. The sweetness of him actually draws us to him, again and again and the desire to know more cannot be contained.

During this lenten season sacrificing some things of this world to spend more time in the word may result in a sweeter and more delightful experience than we can imagine.  Reading the word and studying will bring about great delight. Day by day we will begin to learn new truths, and step by step we will be led along the path in which we are satisfied by the sweetness of knowing him!

Prayer:

Lord, your love overwhelms.  Amen.


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