Oh, how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are my constant guide. Yes, I have more insight than my teachers, for I am always thinking of your laws. I am even wiser than my elders, for I have kept your commandments. I have refused to walk on any evil path, so that I may remain obedient to your word. I haven’t turned away from your regulations, for you have taught me well. How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey. Your commandments give me understanding; no wonder I hate every false way of life. (Psalm 119:97-104)
I definitely have a sweet tooth, in fact, I have a whole mouth of them. What can I say? I love sweets, especially if it has anything to do with chocolate and I very much so enjoy myself when I am eating something sweet. It is hard to imagine that there is anything else that is sweeter than sitting down to enjoy a nice warm chocolate brownie, right from the oven, with maybe a little bit of ice cream on the side, but wait! There is! Now, the psalmist wasn’t being literal when he referred to God’s Word as being sweeter than honey. What he was essentially saying is that he delighted in, enjoyed, and wanted God’s Word more than anything. This was evident in the very things he did. He thought about and meditated on God’s Word. He obeyed God’s Word with everything he had, so he could stay on the path that God had laid out for him. He was immersed in the truth and had no other option, in his mind, but to follow it. He delighted in this! Think about it, God has provided for us his very Word! The truth that we have all searched for at some point is readily at our disposal, all we need to do is open our Bibles and read it. Now, imagine your favorite dessert. I’m imagining that warm chocolaty brownie with maybe some hot fudge and some ice cream on top. Look to your right, there is a spoon right there. All you have to do is pick up the spoon and you can be enjoying your favorite dessert in no time, but instead of picking up the spoon and enjoying the sweetness that is right in front of you, you get up go to the refrigerator, and grab a dill pickle. Your mouth watering with anticipation for the sweetness on the table you walk over to the table, glance at your dessert and then the spoon and then opening your mouth wide, you take the biggest bite of pickle you ever tasted. Now what on earth was the point of that? Well, bear with me here… God’s Word is sweet. It provides for us the very truth we need to live. It encourages us when our circumstances bring us down. It is light in the darkness around us. It is there right in front of us, many of us long for it, and yet, we go and take a big bite of dill pickle – discouragement, bitterness, hopelessness, habit etc. Why do we do that? Well, it is easier to keep on believing what you have always believed even if it is wrong because often exposing darkness to the light of the truth is very painful. This is what God meant when he referred to Christians as Salt and Light. If you get salt in a wound, it burns. When you leave a dark room and enter into bright light, it takes a little bit for your eyes to adjust to see all that is around you. The truth burns, it stings, and it takes a bit to get used to, but oh how sweet it is to walk in it! That’s what the psalmist was getting at! Once you know the truth, and have tasted it, you will want more! You must decide for yourself if you are going to take a nice healthy spoonful of the sweetness of God’s Word or if you are going to reach for the pickle.
Father God, thank you for the truth that is in your Word. Help me to choose to walk in the light and the sweetness of your truth one day at a time. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen
I definitely have a sweet tooth, in fact, I have a whole mouth of them. What can I say? I love sweets, especially if it has anything to do with chocolate and I very much so enjoy myself when I am eating something sweet. It is hard to imagine that there is anything else that is sweeter than sitting down to enjoy a nice warm chocolate brownie, right from the oven, with maybe a little bit of ice cream on the side, but wait! There is! Now, the psalmist wasn’t being literal when he referred to God’s Word as being sweeter than honey. What he was essentially saying is that he delighted in, enjoyed, and wanted God’s Word more than anything. This was evident in the very things he did. He thought about and meditated on God’s Word. He obeyed God’s Word with everything he had, so he could stay on the path that God had laid out for him. He was immersed in the truth and had no other option, in his mind, but to follow it. He delighted in this! Think about it, God has provided for us his very Word! The truth that we have all searched for at some point is readily at our disposal, all we need to do is open our Bibles and read it. Now, imagine your favorite dessert. I’m imagining that warm chocolaty brownie with maybe some hot fudge and some ice cream on top. Look to your right, there is a spoon right there. All you have to do is pick up the spoon and you can be enjoying your favorite dessert in no time, but instead of picking up the spoon and enjoying the sweetness that is right in front of you, you get up go to the refrigerator, and grab a dill pickle. Your mouth watering with anticipation for the sweetness on the table you walk over to the table, glance at your dessert and then the spoon and then opening your mouth wide, you take the biggest bite of pickle you ever tasted. Now what on earth was the point of that? Well, bear with me here… God’s Word is sweet. It provides for us the very truth we need to live. It encourages us when our circumstances bring us down. It is light in the darkness around us. It is there right in front of us, many of us long for it, and yet, we go and take a big bite of dill pickle – discouragement, bitterness, hopelessness, habit etc. Why do we do that? Well, it is easier to keep on believing what you have always believed even if it is wrong because often exposing darkness to the light of the truth is very painful. This is what God meant when he referred to Christians as Salt and Light. If you get salt in a wound, it burns. When you leave a dark room and enter into bright light, it takes a little bit for your eyes to adjust to see all that is around you. The truth burns, it stings, and it takes a bit to get used to, but oh how sweet it is to walk in it! That’s what the psalmist was getting at! Once you know the truth, and have tasted it, you will want more! You must decide for yourself if you are going to take a nice healthy spoonful of the sweetness of God’s Word or if you are going to reach for the pickle.
Father God, thank you for the truth that is in your Word. Help me to choose to walk in the light and the sweetness of your truth one day at a time. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen
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