Psalm 119: God's Word on Display. Pt. 9

It's a beautiful snowy morning in Ohio this morning.  Are you anticipating another Lord's Day of worship today?  Let us look up and rejoice in what
our Lord and Savior has done for us on our behalf.


He loves the perfect precepts of God

Psalms 119:159  Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness.

The word translated “precepts” refers to a mandate from God that is set in authority over us. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines this word as follows: “In a general sense, any commandment or order intended as an authoritative rule of action; but applied particularly to commands respecting moral conduct." 

The Ten Commandments are examples of precepts for the regulation of our moral conduct. A precept is like a grouping of God’s commandments that He gave to regulate our moral choices.

Cultivating love in his heart for the perfect precepts of God causes the Psalmist to recognize that he needs the daily quickening and regenerating power of God to bring life to his soul.

He has a deep longing for the Word of God

The word “long” means to have an earnest and eager desire for something. It is a word that means our energies and emotions and focus is given to pursuing the object of our longing. 

Psalms 119:40  Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.

Longing intently for the precepts of God is associated with the quickening righteousness of God. To put it another way, we have this desire or intense longing only when we are born again.

Psalms 119:131  I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.

The word “panted” literally means to be gasping with the open mouth in order to fill your lungs with air such as a long distance runner after a long race. You gasp and heave until your lungs begin to catch up with the demand for more oxygen. 

He has great delight for the Word of God

Delight refers to having deep affection for the object of delight, in this case the Word of God in its varied forms. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines this noun as “A high degree of pleasure, or satisfaction of mind; great joy.”

Psalms 119:16  I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

Psalms 119:24  Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.

Psalms 119:47  And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.

Psalms 119:77  Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.

He has a proper fear of God from the Word of God

The fear of God is having respect and reverence for Him. Many times the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 

Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines the word fear in this manner: “In good men, the fear of God is a holy awe or reverence of God and his laws, which springs from a just view and real love of the divine character, leading the subjects of it to hate and shun every thing that can offend such a holy being, and inclining them to aim at perfect obedience."

Psalms 119:38  Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.

Psalms 119:63  I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.

Psalms 119:120  My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.

Love for His precepts, longing for His truth, delight for His word and a right fear of God are the last of the emotions expressed by the Psalmist  toward the Word of God. 

Points to Ponder.....

• Do I love the precepts of God? If I do, my moral choices will line up with what God says in His Word. 

• Do I have a deep longing for the Word of God? If I do, my passion and desires will be centered around scripture truth.

• Do I delight in the Word of God? If I do then the things that truly bring pleasure and joy will be spiritual not worldly.

• Do I have an appropriate fear of God? If I do it will reflect my thinking being renewed by His truth. 

We have carefully covered a range of emotional responses to the Word of God that the author of Psalm 119 displays. It is healthy for us to step back and evaluate where we are in comparison to the Psalmist because he shows us what spiritual life looks like for the born again believer. 

If we claim to be a Christian but our emotional response to God's word is always flat lined, then we need to do some serious soul searching.  We should experience a growing love for the scripture in all its forms. We should see our thinking being changed because we are responding to God's truth. We will be seeking those things which are above, not on things down here.

Bob