The Word: To Meditate On and Delight In

Hello brothers and sisters. In this day and age, we are hardly left alone or used to solitude. We are either surrounded by work, people, chores or even introverts may be busying themselves with thoughts and other solo activities. However, we may neglect the fact that we do need gaps of time to deepen and make our relationship with God firm. This is not just a small section of time in the morning or before bedtime, but a call to challenge ourselves in delighting more and more in meditating on the Word of God and living out an integrated faith living from the get-go of our every day. Now, I realised that when we only reduce our spiritual life to a compartmentalised timing or part of a day (say morning Quiet Times or Sabbath day only), we are also prone to living a “double life” where our living attitudes and motives in the world may vary from our spiritual life in church. God calls us to be more and more one-hearted with Him in all areas and lead a pure, blameless life before Him. The bible gave us a sure guide for his. In Psalm 119:9-16, it says, “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart;  do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” Now here in these verses, it gives us some wisdom on how we can truly become a more and more one-hearted and consistent person in faith and all other areas of our living.

Seek the Lord and not go astray

Firstly, it starts off asking us a question that applies to any phase of life we are in. How can we lead spiritually uncontaminated lives? I mean, we are immersed in so much influences, voices and idolatries to money, to the idea of happiness and so on. Everywhere we look, there are temptations threatening to fill our minds. So how can we stay guarded from these? Well, the truth is, we can never do it on our own. We can make the best armour for ourselves, but it will never withstand the impact and size of our spiritual foes. We need counsel and strength that is “above all” and more dynamic than the world and our own sinful nature. So we must as verse 10 says, “Seek God with all our heart and do not be led astray from His commands”. This means that we are no longer just giving a small portion of our time for Christian duties daily, but to see the need and value of reading the Word and doing what it says. This means being honest with ourselves everyday and identifying the many areas we have been apart from the Lord, even the typical mindset that making deeper impressions in us, or the indifference to the Holy Spirit’s call. If we do so, we will actually find our faith living vibrant and real because what is tempting us, or giving us a wayward heart from God changes over time during different seasons of life. And from there, seek the Lord’s instructions in these areas, leave no room for distractions and insinuations to manifest. The Lord’s word is a shock pad that decreases the impact of spiritual attacks and our own sinful inclinations. It helps us meet God, instead of our limited capacity. So seek the Lord as often as we can and be led by His commands so that we find ourselves in the right battle, with the right weapons.

Hide His word in our hearts

Next, we have to make our heart the dwelling place of God. As verse 11 says, “Hide Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” Now keeping God’s word in our heart is a big deterrent to sin. And this should come as an encouragement and motivation for us to carve His word in our minds. We are forgetful creatures living in a fast paced world. So a lot of things work in a “come and go” or “touch and go” kind of way. But the Word of God is counter to that. It requires time and internalisation. It should not be easily taken away by Satan’s disruptions or deceptions. So other than reading scriptures and remembering His promises, His stories, the testimonies of His people, we need to apply the word so that it does not just remain as information. Love, forgiveness, humility, speaking in truth and all. We need to put the Word to work, making it a vital manual in everything we do, every decision we have to make.

Rejoice in the riches of following Him

Then, to lead a more one-hearted and pure faith living, we need to really find joy in the right place, that is in our submission to the Lord. In verse 14, it says “I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.” Now in the whole passage, we see words like “commands, laws, statutes, decrees”, things kind of like rules. And most of us would like that rules and laws tend to make us feel restricted and bounded from what we want to do. So it would seem unrelatable to us when the Psalmist wrote about the joys of following God’s rules as though they are great riches. But the fact is, God’s laws are holding us back from crashing into our desires so that we can take a step back, look at everything and free us from the spiritual bondages they might chain us down with. Things like greed, men’s approval, lust, worldly successes. God is indeed restricting us, but he is restricting us from doing what might cripple and keep us from being the best God has planned us to be. So the “great riches” that is in the verse refers to one beyond just material possessions or physical satisfaction. It refers to the joy of following God’s guidelines to be led in His purposeful path than the paths that leads to destruction.

So brothers and sisters, let us confirm our way with the Lord today with these verses. May we restore and gain the blessings of the verses at the end, in verse 15-16. By finding delight in meditating on God precepts and considering His ways, not neglecting His Word in all our circumstances. Then, we will find our lives more and more sanctified, pure and joyful in the riches of the Lord’s ways. God bless.