Reading the Word

Psalm 119:97–104 (ESV)

⁹⁷ Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. ⁹⁸ Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. ⁹⁹ I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. ¹⁰⁰ I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. ¹⁰¹ I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. ¹⁰² I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. ¹⁰³ How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! ¹⁰⁴ Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

Understanding and Applying the Word

What should be our attitude towards the word of God? Is it something we need to concern ourselves with simply because we need to know what God wants from us? Is it something that we devote time to out of requirement alone? This was not the psalmist’s mindset!

The psalmist writes that he loves God’s law and he meditates on it all the time! God’s word brings wisdom, understanding, and directs our steps. Rather than being an obligation, God’s word is sweeter than honey. It is wonderful!

As you pick up your Bible each day to read, remind yourself that you are reading the words that the God of all things, who created you and loves you so much that he sent his Son into the world for you, wrote down for you to know him and love him. Let us treasure his word through love, not obligation, because his word is sweet and wonderful.

**Shaped by the Word is a daily Bible reading devotional. Please use the links at the bottom to subscribe to this page. You can also share this post with your friends through social media using the buttons below. Thanks for reading!