The writer of Psalm 119, at times, expresses his own personal delight in God’s word (v. 16, 35, 47, 70). At other times in this mammoth portion of Scripture, the psalmist asserts that God’s word is his delight (see v. 24, 77, 92, 143, 174). The former is a statement about where he finds happiness — in the Scriptures. The latter is a statement about what is the substance of his enduring happiness — the Scriptures. Even this simple observation is instructive for us. God’s words are both delightful and able to produce delight in all who humbly receive them (cf. Proverbs 2:1, 10).
So how do we know when we, like the psalmist, have made God’s word our delight, when we have placed all our satisfaction in all that the Scriptures promise and require? What follows in this post is eight indications that God’s word is our delight.
- When we read it regularly. To have Bibles in our own language and as readily accessible as it is in America is a great privilege. Those with access to the written word are most culpable to know it, believe it, and obey it (cf. Matt. 12:3, 5; 19:4; 21:16, 42; 22:31). God’s people ought to be like Job who said, “I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food” (Job 23:12b, ESV). J. C. Ryle wisely warned his readers, “Your neglected Bible is a plain evidence that you do not love God. The health of a man’s body may generally be known by his appetite. The health of man’s soul may be known by his treatment of the Bible.”*
- When we obey it wholeheartedly. God made man’s heart; therefore, the whole heart belongs to God. Hear the psalmist’s refrain: “[Those who observe His testimonies] seek Him with all their heart… Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You… Cause me to understand, that I may observe Your law And keep it with all my heart… I have sought to please Your face with all my heart… May my heart be blameless in Your statutes” (v. 2, 11, 34, 58, 80). We will obey God’s word wholeheartedly if God’s word has captured our whole heart. “Neither hearing, nor reading, nor reciting the holy Scriptures will save us from false ways, unless with the heart we cordially embrace whatever they teach us. To this work we ought to be greatly stimulated.”
- When we defend it zealously. No one needs to tell a loving husband to defend his wife’s honor. No mom needs coaching to defend her child being bullied. These things are instinctive because the people being harmed are the objects of strong affection. Similarly, when God’s word comes under attack, something must rise up in God’s slaves to oppose the besmirching of God’s truth, since whatever is said about his word is also a statement about his character. Of Christ it was said, “Zeal for Your house will consume me” (John 2:17).
- When we exalt it only. God’s word ought to hold the preeminent position in our lives so that it maintains a peerless place without competitors. We must see it alone as worthy of counseling us (v. 24), of making us afraid (v. 120), of giving us life (v. 93), of our unwavering allegiance (v. 48), and of leaving us in awe while all other things pale in comparison to its perfection (v. 96).
- When we constantly remember it. We easily recall those things that most consume our thoughts and direct our concerns. In other words, what we love most, we most easily call to mind. Thus, if we love God’s word most, it will constantly be in our thoughts (v. 16, 93).
- When we deeply consider it. I am thankful that the LSB translators chose to use the word “muse” throughout Psalm 119. It occurs in verses 15, 23, 27, 48, 78, and 148. The word (שׂיח) describes meditating with thanks and praise.^ This is how God’s slaves ought to regard his voice, with deep, worshipful, thankful, and frequent reflection. One who does this because he loves to hear God speak, and not merely for some other obligation or opportunity, has made God’s word his delight.
- When we readily share it. People talk about what they love. Or, as Jesus says it, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34). “When the word of God is really in the heart, it will also be found on the lips”^^ (v. 13).
- When we humbly believe it. All of the aforementioned indications of delighting in God’s word require this one – humble faith. To sincerely enjoy God’s commandments, we must first believe them, which the psalmist expressly states (v. 66). We must believe that what God’s word requires of us is best and wise. We must trust it more than we trust our own thoughts (Proverbs 3:5; 26:12). When we practice constantly submitting our opinions to the superior words of God in everything (v. 128), we can be assured that we have delighted ourselves in the Scriptures.
*J. C. Ryle, How Readest Thou? (Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishers, 2002), 53.
**William S. Plumer, Studies in the Book of Psalms (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), 1028.
^Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner, M. E. J. Richardson, and Johann Jakob Stamm, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), 1320.
^^Hengstenberg, quoted in William S. Plumer, Studies in the Book of Psalms (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), 1028.