Psalm 119:104

Today’s meditation brings us to the last verse of the octave of Psalm 119 entitled Mem.

Psalms 119:104  Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

In verse 99 the psalmist stated that he had “more understanding than all” his teachers.  In verse 100 he said he understood “more than the ancients.”  In today’s verse he tells us where he got that understanding.  He got it through God’s precepts.

Now just what is understanding?

Understanding - Power or ability to understand (to comprehend; to apprehend the meaning or import of; to grasp the idea of). 

Simply stated, understanding is the ability to “get it.”  How often do we say when we understand something, “I got it.”  What a blessing it is to get it!  For example, equipped with the understanding imparted through God’s precepts believers can understand how the worlds were made. 

Hebrews 11:3  Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Now this verse says that we understand “through faith.”  That stands to reason since you will not gain understanding from your Bible if you do not believe it.  Think of how many educated people do not understand how the world came to be.  They just don’t get it.  But if you are a Bible believer, you get it!  Through the Scriptures you can understand not only how the world began, but you also understand how it will end.  Through the Scriptures you can understand such things as why there is pain, cruelty, and death in the world; what happens to people when they die; how sinners are saved, what hell is like; and what heaven is like. 

Believers are commanded to understand the will of God.

Ephesians 5:17  Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Since they are commanded to understand God’s will, it stands to reason that they can do so.  But how do they come to understand God’s will?  Today’s verse from Psalm 119 answers that question.  They gain understanding of the will of the Lord from the Lord’s precepts as laid down in His written word.  By means of those precepts we can understand God’s will as it pertains to the things He wills to do Himself, things such as the eternal salvation of His people, the resurrection of the dead, the eternal judgment of the world, and the bringing in of a new heavens and a new earth.  Then we can also understand God’s will as it pertains to those things He wills that we should do, those things that are our duty to do.

Ecclesiastes 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Those things that God has specifically commanded us in His word to do or not to do are clearly His will for us.  Then there are those situations that we face where the Scriptures have not spelled out in so many words what we should do. But the Scriptures give us general principles to apply in such situations. The Lord has given us liberty in many things so that we may do what we want as long as we use that liberty according to Biblical principles (Romans14:14-15, 20-23; 1Corinthians 10:23). God does not have an exact blueprint for us to follow for making decisions in those areas where there is no law telling us what to do or not to do. But as long as our decisions are within the framework of Biblical principles, any decision we make is acceptable to God. We are safe so long as we keep ourselves within the commandments of God and do not step over the lines they draw.  So if you want to understand what the will of the Lord is, betake yourself to reading your Bible and attentively hearing it taught.

Now the understanding the psalmist gained through God’s precepts had this effect:  therefore I hate every false way.  That’s every way that is not the right way.  This lines up with the definition of the fear of the Lord given in this verse:

Proverbs 8:13  The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

All true religion can be summed up in that single expression “the fear of the Lord.”  It is interesting that true religion is defined by hate.  True religion consists of hating “the evil way,” yea, of hating every false way, as today’s verse puts it.  You can tell a lot about a person not only from what he loves, but also from what he hates. 

Note the definition of hate.

Hate - To hold in very strong dislike; to detest; to bear malice to.

Hate is a very strong emotion.  The believer that possesses the understanding imparted by God’s precepts and that possesses true religion, does not have a casual, nonchalant attitude toward evil.  He bears a “very strong dislike” to it.  He detests it.  He hates every false way.  He hates evil in whatever form it occurs be it mental, emotional, verbal, physical, social, professional, political, or religious.  He hates evil wherever it occurs whether in society, in media, in government, in religion, or even in himself.  And if someone does not hate every false way, that is a sure sign that he does not get it!  He has not yet attained unto the understanding that can only be had though thy precepts. 

This brings us to the conclusion of this octave.  I shall take a short break.  But, God willing, I will be back with more.  Yes, mem, I promise I’ll be back, if God permit.

Psalm 119:103

The child of God has two natures, a physical nature and a spiritual nature.  The physical nature has the fives senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste.  The same may be said of the spiritual nature as today’s meditation confirms.

Psalms 119:103  How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

The psalmist speaks of his spiritual sense of taste.  The physical sense of taste cannot taste words of Scripture as it tastes bites of food.  The child of God who possesses this spiritual sense of taste finds a sweetness in the Scriptures that exceeds the sweetness of honey.  Hence, the psalmist describes God’s words as sweeter than honey to my mouth!  The word how in this verse is an exclamation expressing the degree to which he found God’s words to be sweet.  They were so sweet that they were sweeter than honey of which there is nothing sweeter to the natural taste, for “what is sweeter than honey?” (Judges 14:18).

Now every word of God can be sweet to the taste of a child of God.  Of course, God’s promises of eternal life, heaven, grace, mercy, forgiveness, restoration, strength, and help are sweet.  The prophecies of Scripture are indescribably sweet as they confirm our faith in God and His word.  They signal to believers that they have indeed chosen the right path for their life.  The commandments of God are sweet since they provide us with the guidance we need to handle the various situations of life.  If the commandments are obeyed we discover their sweetness in that they enhance the quality of our lives both for ourselves and for others.  But the curses of God’s word are also sweet.  Those curses show us a God that is faithful to keep His word.  If the Lord were to forego a curse He has threatened, then He might just as easily forego a blessing He has promised.  It is sweet to know that the Lord will do all that He has spoken.  Such a God is worthy of our fear and trust.  It is especially sweet when God’s words show us that those curses were borne for us by our Lord Jesus Christ so that we may be free from them.  And it is sweet to know that those curses will be heaped upon our enemies so that the evil they devise against us will meet with a certain end.  Any and every part of the Holy Scriptures is a honeycomb dripping with sweetness if we understand it in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But observe!  It is the tasted words of God that are sweet.  You don’t taste food unless you ingest it in your mouth.  Neither will you taste the words of God unless you ingest them by reading them, studying them, and hearing them taught.  Furthermore, we discover the sweetness of honey by experiencing it for ourselves as we taste it and eat it.  So it is with God’s word.  As we experience it through learning it and obeying it, we find its sweetness.  As the old saying goes, “the proof is in the pudding.”  And experiencing the sweetness of God’s words, we can no more be persuaded that they are not sweet than we could be convinced that honey is bitter. 

Lastly, this verse gives you a gauge for measuring your spiritual health.  If you do not find the words of Scripture to be sweet, then you are spiritually weak.  Perhaps you are ingesting too much of the sweets of this world and too little of the sweets of God’s word.  If you find the words of Scripture sweeter than the sweetest this world has to offer, then you are spiritually strong.  The more you taste the sweetness of God’s words, the more you will want to taste them.  Go ahead!  Indulge this sweetness to your heart’s content.  Let yourself become addicted to it.  Of natural honey it is written:  “It is not good to eat much honey” (Proverbs 25:27).  Too many natural sweets will jeopardize your health, but not so with the words of God.  God’s words are very health itself.

Proverbs 4:20  My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

21  Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

22  For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

Considering the drag this world and our carnal natures are to our spiritual pursuits, I am not too worried that any of us will overindulge when it comes to the words of God.