Psalms 119:97

Psalms 119:97, “O How I Love Thy Law! It is my meditation all the day.”

One of the recurring themes of Psalms 119 has to do with how much you love the word of God.

Mark 12:30 says, “Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

How much you love God and how much you love His Word go hand in hand. This makes sense because there is the written Word and the living Word and both are the Word.

If you know anything about human earthly romantic love then you know that when a person falls in love with another person they think about them all the time. It works the same way with God and His Word. The things that you love are the things you will think about. Those are the things that will consume your thoughts.

The Psalmist said he meditated in the Word of God all the day. The word meditation has to do with devotion and prayer. It means your mind is focused on thinking about God’s promises and that will result in you praying to Jesus.

What you think about is very important. Romans 7:25 says, “Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

For the most part we serve God by what we think about. Think about the right things and you will be serving God. How can you think about the right things if you don’t think about God’s Word? With the Mind I myself serve the law of God Paul said. If you’re not thinking about the Word of God are you even serving Jesus or are you in the flesh serving the law of sin?

A person might say well what about works. What are works is the question? Can a person paralyzed from the next down who cannot move and lays in a hospital bed for 40 years can they serve God? Yes they can because “Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God;” It comes down to what you think about. Psalms 119:97, “O How I Love Thy Law! It is my meditation all the day.”

Psalms 119:98 says, “Psa 119:98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.”

There is great wisdom to be found in the word of God. And one of the things that you need to accomplish the gospel work that God has for you to do in this world is to be wiser than your enemies. An enemy is someone or something that seeks to oppose you and destroy you. The world, the flesh, and the devil those are your enemies. All of these you can have victory over through the word of God. You need to learn both the spiritual and practical wisdom of life if you want to be fully effective in serving Jesus. It’s a life long process and if the Word of God is not your meditation all the day long there is much you will not learn and also much you will forget.

Psalms 119:99, “Psa 119:99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.”

God uses preachers and teachers to teach us the word. But you’re only going to learn so much from them. You also need to study the Word of God for yourself if you want to learn it. Many Christians have failed to do t his and as a result they have not grown as they should as a Christian and therefore not born the fruit that they could have for Christ.

Psalms 119:100-102 says, “Psa 119:100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. Psa 119:101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. Psa 119:102 I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.”

There is a direction connection between obeying God’s Word and learning God’s Word. When you learn God’s Word it helps you to obey it and when you obey God’s Word it helps you to better understand it. It’s like a one sided coin. You can flip it and flip it but the right side always pops up. In other words it’s a win win situation.

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

There are no words like the words of God. No words so wise and well crafted, so poetic and majestic, once you truly taste them you will want more and more because they are sweet.

John said in Revelation 10:9-10, “Rev 10:9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. Rev 10:10 And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.”

The word of God is sweet to the tongue but bitter to the belly. In other words when you take in the word of God it can be bitter in the sense that to see the truth about your own sinfulness and your own failures that can be a bitter and a hard thing to accept. It will take a lot of humility. There’s great shame in sin, especially shame in seeing how we have failed the Savior who loves us so much and has done so much for us on the cross. There are billions of people who have heard the word of God and when they tasted its bitterness have turned away and rejected it.

Psalms 119:104-113 says, “Psa 119:104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Psa 119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psa 119:106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. Psa 119:107 I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word. Psa 119:108 Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments. Psa 119:109 My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law. Psa 119:110 The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts. Psa 119:111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. Psa 119:112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end. Psa 119:113 SAMECH. I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.”

There are many benefits to studying and obeying God’s word, only going to happen to you as a result of it because through the word of God you gain the wisdom to make better decisions in life. Through the Word of God you will learn how to control your mind and have the right attitude in any situation. The word of God will make you into a strong person if you believe it and obey it. Instead of being controlled by your circumstances in life you will control them instead of being influenced by the world around you you will be an influence on the world.

Psalms 119:114 says, “Psa 119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.”

This verse is a great verse which tells us 3 things. 1. God is our hiding place. 2 God is our shield. 3. We have hope in the Word.

1. God is our hiding place. A hiding place is a place of secret protection. Protection from what? Well from the storms of life that will blow your way. And from the attacks of the evil that will come your way as well. If you are hidden then that from which you are hidden can’t touch you.

The principle is this: a hiding place is a place of safety and a place of rest, a place of peace of mind, a place of separation from the world. In your mind and in you’re heart the world can’t touch you. Sure they can do you harm physically but not when it comes to your relationship with Christ.

Romans 8:35-39 says, “Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Psalms 119:114 says, “Psa 119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.”

Thou art my shield. Faith is called a shield. Ephesians 6:16, “Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”

A Shield protects from attacks. God will protect you. But you will be attacked. The devil will attack you. Your own flesh will attack you. And the world will attack you. You will be bombarded with the philosophies of the world. Be careful you are noted astray. The philosophies and teachings of the world will lead to sin, misery, and destruction. The devil will attack you. One of the things that the devil does is plot how to destroy the faith of God’s children. He does this to try and make them ineffective in their gospel witness. Be prepared the devil will persecute you and tempt you. Of course sometimes our greatest struggles come from our own sinful self will. It takes a great dedication to God to not be led astray by our own selfishness. But can God is all powerful and can protect us from all of these things because Jesus is our shield.

Psalms 119:114 says, “Psa 119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.”

I hope in Thy Word. Hope in the Biblical sense means a confident expectation about what is going to happen in the future. We have great hope, hope that is an anchor of the soul.

Hebrews 6:19 says, “Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.”

If you hope in the word of God then you will have a hope that is sure and steadfast that is certain, it something that will definitely come to pass and be fulfilled. Salvation is real. When a person trusts in Jesus their sins are forgiven and they receive spiritual life, eternal life. Not only that but one day, when they go to heaven they will also receive a glorified body. All those who trust in Jesus will live forever in heaven in the presence of God without sin or suffering. These are great things to place your hope in.

Psalms 119:15 says, “Psa 119:115 Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.”

This verse basically is explaining something about how to stay separated from the world and its evil influences and people. Separation from the world is an important principle in the Bible because all it takes a little influence, a little pressure, a little false teaching, a little compromise to get to put a spot and blemish on your testimony as a Christian. But what this verse is saying is that if you do what is right with includes both actions a words, in other words if you live like a Christian should live and talk like a Christian should talk then the evildoers will separate from you. And what a blessing that is indeed.

Psalms 119:116 says, “Psa 119:116 Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.” To uphold means to establish and to stand fast. How does a Christian become rooted and grounded in the faith so that they are not misled by false doctrine and so that they are strong enough not to give in to the immoral pressures of the world, and so that they can walk through this life with peace and confidence. It’s very simple God upholds a Christian through the knowledge of His Word. Romans 10:17, “So Then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

Psalms 119:17 says, “Psa 119:117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.”

This verse also talks about being held up. It doesn’t specifically mention God’s Word it just says hold Thou me up. It’s important to remember that God is all powerful. God is in control of your life. As a Christian you can count on the fact that God knows what He is doing and nothing will happen to you that God does not allow to happen. God is going to hold you up with His power. God is going to keep you safe with His power. You can make you’re practical plans and give your human effort to things but in the end it ultimately depends upon the power of God.

Psalms 119:118-120 says, “Psa 119:118 Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood. Psa 119:119 Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies. Psa 119:120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.”

These verses talk about God’s judgment on the wicked. Now just to make a point I want to show you how easy it is to take the Bible out of context and teach something that isn’t true.

These verses say that God has trodden down all the wicked, has put them all away. You could make the argument that no one goes to heaven because of verses like Romans 3:23 which say, “for all have sinned and Come short of the glory of God.” There I just created a false doctrine that I’ve never even heard of before. But we know it would be a false doctrine because we know that Jesus died for the sins of the world. And those who trust in Jesus are no longer considered wicked but are declared righteous by God.

It’s just an example to make a point. You’ve got to know the Bible. They are many many false doctrines out there. many of them are much more appealing and intellectually sounding than the one I just created and talked about. So learn the Word so that you are not deceived.

Now these verses do talk about judging the wicked. There is a lot of verses in the Bible that talk about how God hates sin and judges sin. It’s an important principle to understand.

In these verses I think the key phrase is, Thou hast trodden down all them. This means to put all things under His feet. Hebrews 2:8, “Heb 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.”

If all things are in subjection to Christ this means no one is going to escape the judgment. None is going to be able to say I’m not letting God judge me and then of the power of their own will resist God’s judgment and escape it. It’s not going to happen. All men are going to die and stand before God and be judged. That’s why in this phrase is in the past tense. Thou hast trodden down. It’s past tense because its so certain to happen its like it already happened.

There is no escaping the judgment of God. All men are going to be judged. But there is away to escape going into hell. You see judgment means more than just punishment. It means the handing out of rewards based on the works a person has done. So everyone is going to be judged. But only those who are in Christ will receive rewards. Those who are not in Christ will receive punishment for their sins. That’s the difference. So there is a way to escape hell, it is by turning from your sins to Jesus and asking Him into your heart to save you from your sins. Jesus loves you. He died on the cross for you. And He rose from the grave. Simply ask Him to save you and He will.

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