Skip to content 
“Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.” Psalm 119:97-104
This love that he speaks of is one full of assurance…of hope…of comfort …of promise and it is from His God and Redeemer. He loves God so naturally he loves everything that points to Him. When he says, “Oh how I love your law!” he means all of God’s law…every little detail. He values the law. He esteems the law. He honors the law with his love for God which equates as love for His law/word. He loves to read it…hear it in the company of other believers; in worship…he is blessed by the law…the law enables him to glorify God…so why wouldn’t he love the law when it enables him as a believer to do that which he was created to do.
He loves it so much he does not wish to be separated from God’s word even for a moment. He says, “It is my meditation all the day.” It is what he thinks about all day. The first thing he thinks about in the morning and the last thing he thinks about at night…actually according to other psalms he even thinks about it in the middle of the night when he wakes. Interestingly, the Hebrew here could also be translated “…it is my discourse all day long”…so it is the main thing he talks about all day long. Look at what the Lord has made and let us rejoice and be glad in it. So it is not just what he thinks about but also what makes up the theme of his conversations so others are blessed by the Word of God.
By loving God as he does he loves God’s law because it is exceedingly better than any conventional wisdom of the world…ANY. It is better than the wisdom of his enemies. It is better than the wisdom of all those who teach him from a worldly perspective… advisers, counselor and chaplains to the king. It is, even wiser that the elders/ aged in his life that have forgotten the true “good way” of God. He knows this because God’s word never returns void, as man’s word so often does. He knows this because God’s Word is the power of salvation for those who believe. But he also knows this to be true because he puts it into practice,“…for I keep your precepts.” And as such he sees and he lives out the benefits of living this way. Putting into practice God’s law/word enables him and others to see His trust for God as God works out His Word.
And what are a couple of the ways that he sees results? He tells us, “I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.” He sees the sin around him. He knows his own propensities and because he loves God above all he makes the conscious choice to stop living in an evil way so he can keep God’s law which points out his sinfulness and then through the Spirit of God live with the word being his standard for faith and practice. David loves God, so he knows it is God’s rules…precepts…testimonies…His law that gives him the knowledge and strength combined with the work of the Spirit of God (this One who teaches all His children)to say “NO” to particular sins, temptations and circumstances based on the Scriptures and then to say “Yes” to God!.
He loves God so much that His law is sweet. He says, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” This is something all Texans seem to understand…the sweeter, the better. David is saying God’s word is such a delight…so much so that you just can’t stop at one taste but you want it all the time since it is so good. The doctrines of grace, the truths of the Gospel and the words of the law just can’t be set aside, discarded and forgotten. This honey is a familiar taste…a desirable taste…it is nourishing, refreshing and just plain good!
His love for his God exceeds all boundaries of earthly love and it is through His law that; “…I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.” He is able to know the wrong and the right of a thing. He is not left confused on what God’ word demands. God is clear which makes his job and calling easier…not easy…just easier…for the boundaries are clearly established…the standard is always before him…a standard that he loves with all His being… because he loves the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his mind and with all his strength and because of that he must “…hate every false way.”…or “hate every lying man.”
So, where are you today? As a child of God do you depend, honor and love God so much that it is easier to love His law/word as David does? Remember, God gave these words to David to give them to us so that we can adequately express our love for Him and His law. So how deep is your love today for your heavenly Father…for His Word/Law? Ponder this anew and make the adjustments needed so He is glorified and those around you are blessed.
God bless y’all.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
