Psalm 119:162

We come today to the second verse of the octave of Psalm 119 entitled schin.

Psalms 119:162  I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.

In the previous verse the psalmist said he stood “in awe” of God’s word.  Here he rejoices at God’s word.  The more we fear the Lord and His word, the more we will rejoice in the Lord and His word.

Psalms 112:1  Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

As we stated in the last meditation, you will be most controlled by whatever you stand most in awe of.  And the more you are under the control of the blessed word of God, the more joy you will find in it.  Think about it.  You find little joy in anything or anyone you rebel against.  Therefore, it is a sign of spiritual health when you both tremble at God’s word and rejoice in it.  In fact, God promises joy to those who tremble at His word.

Isaiah 66:5  Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.

Then the psalmist described how much he rejoiced in God’s word.  He rejoiced in it as one that findeth great spoil.  And men do rejoice when there is spoil to be gained.

Isaiah 9:3  …they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

To better appreciate this description let’s define the word spoil.

Spoil – Goods, esp. such as are valuable, taken from an enemy or captured in time of war; the possessions of which a defeated enemy is deprived or stripped by the victor; in more general sense, any goods, property, territory, etc. seized by force, acquired by confiscation, or obtained by similar means; booty, loot, plunder.

The definition of spoil suggests that there is a battle to be won and an enemy to be defeated if one is to enjoy the spoil.  The enjoyment of the spoil is a fruit of the victory.  In order for us to seize upon the riches of the Scriptures, we have to fight the lusts of our flesh and the temptations of Satan, for both our flesh and Satan are opposed to the word of God.  If you are as I, you have to overcome resistance to get into your Bible.  It is so easy to think of so many things to do instead of reading and meditating in the Scriptures.  And when I do sit down to read, I have to fight to keep my mind on what I am reading.  But whenever I suppress the flesh and resist the devil, and God opens my eyes; oh, the spoil, yea, the great spoil I find to the delight of my soul.  In fact, the spoil is so great, that the apostle Paul describes it as “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).  I appreciate the comments of Charles Spurgeon on this point:

“The profits made in searching the Scriptures were greater than the trophies of war.  We too have to fight for divine truth; every doctrine costs us a battle, but when we gain a full understanding of it by personal struggles it becomes doubly precious to us.”

I can quite relate to what Mr. Spurgeon wrote.  When I glean something from Scripture that helps me in a personal struggle, then that indeed becomes “doubly precious” to me.  Have I got a witness?