If you get wisdom you love your own soul. Cherishing understanding will prosper you. ~Proverbs 19:8
Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on Your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey Your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey Your Word. I have not departed from Your laws, for You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your Words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts. Therefore, I hate every wrong path. ~Psalm 119:97-104
It’s my understanding that one of the best inhibiters to developing dementia, besides diet and exercise of course, is to keep learning. Our brain is like a muscle in that it can atrophy just like the rest of our body when it is not used. We like settling in the ruts of routine, but to stay healthy, we must continue challenging ourselves both physically and mentally.
“Oh, how I love Your law!” Here is someone who wants to stay healthy in Christ. “I meditate on it all day long.” This person is not content with just reading it through once and thinking that he knows all there is to know. He can’t get enough of studying and thinking about God’s law and all the blessings it brings. He reports that, through studying God’s law, he has gained the wisdom needed to overcome his enemies. He reports having better insights than his teachers, and better understanding than his elders because the law is not just a book to him, it is like his daily food.
“How sweet are Your Words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” He sees the payoff of all his discipline: living a pure life because he was taught that from God’s law. “If you get wisdom you love your own soul.” Certainly, this Psalmist loves his soul. In fact, almost all of Psalm 119 sounds like an infomercial for the benefits of taking in God’s law. It is nourishing and worth the time. It almost sounds like the latest super food that will make everything right. Only, God’s Word is not a new super food, it has been around since eternity.
Unfortunately, too many treat it like okra. Okay, I had to pick a vegetable that isn’t very popular to try to make the point. In truth we like vegetables, but the point is that most people do not enjoy being in God’s Word to appreciate or even learn of all its benefits. The Biblical illiteracy rate is so high in the pews today. Sadly, as with a healthy diet, there is so much they are missing. It would be appropriate to say that we have a mal-nourished church in America today, but it is by choice.
“Cherishing understanding will prosper you.” “I gain understanding from your precepts. Therefore, I hate every wrong path.” It is good to seek to understand. Understanding takes the robotic obedience out of the law and brings the desire to follow it because we understand that His way is the one and only way. This too is good for us. We do best, or prosper, when we follow His directions. Just as when we do best by eating right.
A word of caution here, I am not talking about legalism. Legalism if following the rules to earn points, or salvation. There are many examples of good habits that are regularly practiced, even insisted upon, and yet are not called “legalism” because they are just evidently good for you, such as brushing your teeth. When you love God’s law because you love the law giver and you understand that what He has designed really is for your best, then you are not trying to gain favor but to live a life of blessing for His glory. You are not interested in earning, but in becoming all you can be so that everyone will see that His ways are the best ways and give Him praise. Knowing that we are doing our best for Him is the best nourishment our soul can receive.
Prayer: Father, hear my more honest and confessional prayer. Oh, how I should love Your law! I ought to meditate on it all day long. Your commands will make me wiser than my enemies, if I keep them with me always. I would have more insight than all my teachers, if I would meditate on Your statutes. I would have more understanding than the elders, if I were to obey Your precepts. I wish I had, and I want to, keep my feet from every evil path so that I might obey Your Word. I have tried to not depart from Your laws, for You Yourself have taught me. I thank You for how much I have loved and kept your law to this point. How sweet are Your Words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts. Therefore, I will learn to hate every wrong path. Help me Jesus, for I pray this in Your name, amen.
Song: Life Song
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