A KEY TO KNOWLEDGE

Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Psalm 119:15-16 NASB

¹⁵ I will meditate on Your precepts
And regard Your ways.
¹⁶ I shall delight in Your statutes;
I shall not forget Your word.

This Psalm is known for its length.  There are a number of individual verses that seem to be familiar to Christians, ie. Vss 9, 11, 67, 89, 103 and of course 105.  These are most often quoted and the content gives a good reason that they are.

The foremost problem with Psalm 119 and many Christians, I might even say most, is that they don’t take the theology and instruction of it seriously.  A good illustration of this is vs 7.  The Psalmist brings together thankfulness, prayer, and righteousness.  Note that this is the context of a particular study, God’s righteous judgments.

The verses chosen for today have in them two words that are frequent in this Psalm.  They are “delight” used eight times and “meditate” used seven times.  Neither of these is in any way unusual and their value is determined by the association of thought in its context.

Meditate is to “ponder, commune with oneself”.  This by implication indicates speech.  It is to “reflect, express devotion, and it is sometimes prayer”.

In this verse and in the whole of the Psalm, it is always linked with conduct.  In vs 15 God’s precepts, when they are the meditation of a believer, will bring attention to his obedience to God’s demands.  Directly opposite to this is Paul’s descriptive statement of the lost in Romans 8:7.

While “delight” in vs 16 gives us the inward attitude of the believer, it is “to look upon with complacency, to be pleased, to enjoy and take pleasure in”.  This also is a common word and the definition is enhanced by the context.

The attitude of the believer in vs 16 emphasizes the enduring value of God’s Law.  When it is his delight, God’s Word is continually his lesson book.  The indication is that ignoring or ignorance of God’s Law will bring a failure of interest in Scripture.

This is but to say, “the word of God will separate you from sin or sin will separate you from the Word.”  “Sin is lawlessness”.

Please read John 7:17 and meditate on it.