Psalm 119:97-104

Psa. 119:97  Oh, how I love Your law!

It is my meditation all the day.

Psa. 119:98  You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me.

 

I remember when I met my wife the first time. I was smitten and in love. All I could think of all day long was her. I talked about her. I dreamed about what our lives could be like together, the happiness and the joy of spending time together. Love has a way to get you to do that. It is precisely what David is saying here. His passion for the Word of God makes him think about it all day long. So whatever has your love, has your thoughts as well. When we fall in love with the Word of God, we will not struggle to read it, meditate on it or even pray it. There are more advantages to just being in love with the Word of God. 

 

His commandments make you wiser than your enemies. The Bible is full of stories where God’s wisdom outmaneuvered the enemies of God. The best one is where Paul states that even the rulers of this world, satan, and his demons, were too stupid to know what God was doing in Jesus.

 

1Cor. 2:8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

 

They thought that killing Jesus would stop the Kingdom of God. Killing Him was the key to their total defeat, and Jesus stripped satan of every authority, power, or right he thought he had to drag men to eternal doom.

 

The weakest Christian is wiser than the enemy because they have the Word of God planted in their hearts. 1John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

 

Psa. 119:99  I have more understanding than all my teachers,

For Your testimonies are my meditation.

Psa. 119:100 I understand more than the ancients,

Because I keep Your precepts.

 

Again David reminds us that the wisdom of God far exceeds the understanding of man. The prophet Isaiah says the same thing in Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

 

Job, also speaks of the wisdom of God and how man was absent when God created everything. How can a man even know unless God reveals it to him? Job 38:4-42:6.

 

Paul adds his understanding when he says: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” – 1 Cor 1:25-30.

 

 

Psa. 119:101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way,

That I may keep Your word.

Psa. 119:102 I have not departed from Your judgments,

For You Yourself have taught me.

 

There is a vast difference between believing something and living it. Unfortunately, too many times, people toil with sin and think they will be okay. Living in the kingdom of God means you act on it daily. He promised that all who accept Him, He will give the power to BECOME his children. We are in the becoming stage. Believing did not make you perfect in your walk; you were made perfect in His righteousness – 2 Cor 5:21. We learn to walk it out daily. For some, like Paul, we die daily. For some like David, we restrain our feet from any evil way. We give our bodies daily as a living sacrifice so that the life of God might be made manifest through His body, the Church – Rom 12:1-3. 

 

 

Psa. 119:103 How sweet are Your words to my taste,

Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Psa. 119:104 Through Your precepts I get understanding;

Therefore I hate every false way.

 

Lastly, David tells us that the words of God bring flavor to our life. Taste and see that the Lord is good – Psalm 34:8. What does he mean? I believe that David is reminding us again that we must be partakers of His Word. The only way food affects us is if we eat it. I can look at a T Bone all day and will never experience the nutritional value it has for me unless I eat it. So likewise, staring at the Word of God means nothing unless I start meditating on it and acting on it. Then it flavors my life to the point where Paul says we are a sweet-smelling fragrance, His fragrance to God and to the world – 2 Cor 2:14-16.

 

Paul also admonishes us that our words should be flavorful.

 

Col. 4:6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

 

Lastly, David states that understanding brings clarity so that you will end up hating what is false. If not for the Word of God, how will we discern? The truth is that what is understood from God’s perspective. He is the only one that has the complete picture. Everything else can mislead us.

 

We need His word, and we need His truth!