Psalm 119:14-16 - In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
The word “delight” isn’t a word that we use very often anymore. We might say that we enjoy doing something, that it makes us happy, or we simply just say that we love it. But the word “delight” is an important word, and it brings with it a sense of comfort, peace and satisfaction. To delight in something is to be greatly pleased with it, and yet you would be hard pressed to find someone thinking about God’s word in this way.
Can you remember a time when this was true, when you read a certain passage of scripture and it really struck a chord with you, or it gave you a palpable feeling of joy? Can you think of a time when you felt that way about something else? It’s not uncommon for people to feel pleasure when they receive some great gift or they buy themselves something fun. Having riches, or wealth, tends to have this effect on people, where they feel more pleasure because they have more things or they think they don’t have to worry as much about spending their money on enjoyable things.
Yet the psalmist says that when he looks at God’s law, God’s testimonies of what he has done, and sees what God has said, he actually has as much pleasure in these things as he would in great riches. This is an amazing statement, and you can begin to wonder how that would be possible. The answer may be found in two things that the psalmist does with God’s word. First, he meditates on it, and second he remembers it.
When you read the word of God, do you take time to fill your mind with the truths that you read, or do you just close the book and move on to the next thing? Meditating on God’s word means that you are actually thinking about it, not just familiarizing yourself with it. You are internalizing it into your heart and mind, and when you do this, it actually begins to apply itself to your life bit by bit. His word begins to make more sense for you and you see its benefit in your life.
This practice helps you to remember God’s word as well, and this will be a support to you and a hope for you when trouble comes into your life. When God’s word is stored up in the mind and heart through meditating on it, it protects you and guards you, it reminds you of the gospel, and it keeps God at the forefront of your mind. If you don’t often delight in God’s word, perhaps it is because you aren’t drinking it in and tasting why it is so good.
When you take time to read God’s word today, practice meditating on it. As you read, take in each truth and think about how it might apply to your life or how it may bring you to a better understanding of yourself or the Lord. Then practice remembering it, whether through memorization or something else. You can have great pleasure in the Lord, and if you do experience that pleasure, thank the Lord for revealing himself a little bit more to you today.
