As we saw in the previous Note in this series, Psalm 119 is the unique portion of Scripture that shows us what it means to meditate upon the word of God. This is a very healthy, even necessary, spiritual practice that will greatly enrich our relationship with God and our own Christian life and service. (See “The Biblical Practice of Meditation” • Part 3).

Moreover, when we consider this psalm, we see that the psalmist not only took the time to mediate upon God’s word; rather, he sought God and asked Him to give him understanding in the things of God through His word, so he could keep His word. In brief, Psalm 119 emphasizes how we gain spiritual understanding by seeking the Lord in His word, and in so doing, gives us a very practical example of what it means to be “sanctified in the truth” (John 17:17):

Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes,
And I shall keep it to the end.
— verse 33

Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;
Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
— verse 34

Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
For I believe Your commandments.
— verse 66

Your hands have made me and fashioned me;
Give me understanding,
That I may learn Your commandments.
— verse 73

I am Your servant;
Give me understanding,
That I may know Your testimonies.
— verse 125

The psalmist delighted in the word, so that the words of God became, in a very practical way, his “counselors”; and when these words entered into him, through his meditation on the Scripture as one who was “simple” enough to just receive what was written, it gave him the understanding he longed for:

Your testimonies also are my delight
And my counselors.
— verse 24

The entrance of Your words gives light;
It gives understanding to the simple.
— verse 130

As a result, he did indeed become, through his time in the word, wiser than his enemies, his teachers, and even the “ancients”:

You, through Your commandments,
make me wiser than my enemies;
For they are ever with me.
I have more insight than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the ancients,
Because I keep Your precepts.
— verses 98-100

May this psalm remind us of how we should treasure the word of God and take the time to be in it in a consistent way, so we too may gain the spiritual insight we need to follow the Lord today!

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—  22 January 2025 —