HOW SWEET ARE THY WORDS UNTO MY TASTE

This thirteenth section of the psalm is taken up with the psalm­ists love for God’s word. This has not come about simply by reading the word but by meditating on it ‘all the day’. Such exer­cise and effort are rewarded with ‘wisdom’, ‘understanding’ and preservation from evil power and practice. This devotion to the word is not a chore but results in satisfaction and sweetness beyond anything this world can offer. The section that starts with a love of truth ends in a hatred of ‘every false way’.

God’s people are increasingly viewed by many as simple, deluded, superstitious, ignorant and unenlightened. Yet, in con­trast to his enemies, the godly man claims wisdom and, in contrast to even those who are renowned for knowledge and experience, he claims understanding. This is not arrogance or conceit but the recognition that, compared to the ungodly, even those new in the faith, ‘have an unction from the Holy One, and … know all things’, 1 John 2. 20. When the ‘teachers’ of this world ridicule and deny God’s word we continue to enjoy it. As they search for knowledge, God in His mercy has bestowed true ‘understanding’, even beyond the ‘ancients’. Man searches for the origin, purpose and meaning of life but those who are born of God have real understanding, not only of where we came from, but where we are going to and why.

How sweet this is in the midst of the bitter taste of the opposi­tion of our enemies. The sweetness is greater than even the greatest of natural sweetness such as honey. One can have too much honey, Prov. 25. 27, it can become sickly sweet and bloat­ing, but we can never get too much of God’s word. Unlike the words of men, it becomes clearer, more enjoyable and sweeter the more we read it. In fact, the more we imbibe it the more we desire it and the more good it does us. Like the manna of Exodus chapter 16, we can never exhaust it, it will never fail before our journey’s end and it contains all that is needed for every appe­tite, capability and stage of life.

With such provision, our challenge is; do we use it? Do we obey it? Does it alter our lives? If the answer to these questions is ‘Yes’, the word will become sweeter to us than all else.