Thursday, January 18
Taught By God
Psalm 119:97-104
MEM
97 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
98 You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts.
101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word.
102 I have not departed from Your judgments, For You Yourself have taught me.
103 How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.
Psalm 119:97-104 is the thirteenth stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the thirteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet “MEM”, in the Hebrew Bible. As I read these eight verses, I couldn’t help but see a connection between this Hebrew letter “MEM” and the main theme found in them. Honestly, I have no evidence that the Hebrew letter has anything to do with this, but these eight verses are a great encouragement for us to “mem”orize and meditate daily on the Law, Commandments, Testimonies, Precepts, Judgements, the Word of God. Did you notice everyone of these descriptions of God’s Word are found in this stanza.
Never have there been so many tools available for serious Bible study, and we are grateful for them. However, the Word of God is unlike any other book: we must be on good terms with the Author if we are to learn from what He has written. Our relationship to the Lord is determined by our relationship to His will, and that is determined by how we relate to His Word. Too many believers have only academic head knowledge of the Word, but they do not know how to put this knowledge into practice in the decisions of daily life. What we all need is a heart knowledge of the Word, and this means being taught by God (v. 102). Here are the conditions we must meet.
We must love His Word and meditate on it (vv. 97-100). We enjoy thinking about people and activities that we love, and meditation means loving the Lord by pondering His Word and allowing its truths to penetrate our hearts. (See vv. 48, 113, 127, 159, 165, 167; and 1:2.) This does not mean that we abandon our daily responsibilities or that we constantly quote Bible verses to ourselves and ignore our work. Rather, it means that our minds and hearts are so yielded to the Spirit that He can remind us of the Word when we need it and give us fresh understanding in the new challenges we face.
There are many ways to learn truth. We can learn from our enemies in the encounters of life (v. 98), from our teachers in the explanations of life from books and lessons (v. 99), and from the older saints who have had the experiences of life and know the principles that work (v. 100). Joshua learned from serving with Moses, from the battles that he fought, and from the experiences, good and bad, that came to his life. But the most important thing he did was to meditate on the Word (Josh. 1:1-9), because his meditation helped him to test what he had learned in the other three "classrooms" and to put it all together into one balanced whole. God shares His truth with babes (Luke 10:21) and those who are humble enough to receive it (1 Cor. 1:18-2:8).
We must obey His Word (vv. 101-102). A true student of the Word is not a person with a big head, full of all sorts of knowledge, but one who has an obedient heart and loves to do God's will. While God's truth is food for our souls, it is not a "buffet" from which we select only the things we like. If the Bible tells us something is wrong, we stay off that path. If God tells us something is right, we do not abandon it.
We must enjoy His Word (vv. 103-104). Honey would be the sweetest thing the psalmist could taste. However, the Word contains both sweetness and bitterness, and we must learn to receive both (19:10; 104:34; Prov. 16:24; Ezek. 2:9-3:15; Rev. 10). God's Word is pure, not defiled, and gives us the sweetness and energy we need to obey His commands. The unsaved person finds the Bible boring, but the devoted child of God feeds on the Scriptures and enjoys the sweet taste of truth.
Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). May the LORD give us grace today to meditate on His Word, internalize it, and in obedience take it with us wherever we go! And then, we will be able to say with the psalmist, “For You Yourself have taught me.”
God bless!