The Word of God

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” (Psalm 19:7–11 ESV)

Do we love the Word of God? Do you and I yearn for the Word of God? Do we desire to live by the Word of God? I think if we are honest with ourselves, we might say that we don’t love the Word of God nearly as much as we should. Or at least not as much as the author of Psalm 19.

The Psalmist in Psalm 19 sings that the Word of God is “more to be desired than gold” and is “sweeter than honey from the honeycomb”. I believe he was being intentional when he employs these two specific metaphors of gold, representing human wealth; and honey, representing mouth-watering food. The Psalmist was not unaware of our creaturely need for wealth and for pleasure.

We might not be able to ”buy love“, but we have to admit that ”money does make the world go round“. Material wealth is power in this world. Power not only to meet basic needs of food, shelter and security, but is also an enabler for human dignity. From fine arts to fine dining, from leisurely activity to luxurious goods, we need money to remind us that we are not just animals trying to survive, but are transcendent creatures who yearn for beauty, glory and immortality. We don’t just need money to survive, we need money also to remind ourselves that we are more than the sum of the parts.

And it’s not just wealth that we need, but also pleasure. And much as we want to ”eat healthy’ and “stay fit”, we can’t help but accept that now and again, here and there, we all need to pleasure and delight of a juicy steak or fatty pork or a decadent dessert that obliterates our entire calorie count for the week. When the Psalmist compares the Word of God to honey… he is speaking to the directly to our sensuality. Honey in those times were a symbol of abundance and prosperity (Deut 32:13, Job 20:17, Ps 81:6, Jer 41:8)… remember how the Promised Land was described to the Israelites as a “land flowing with milk and honey”? And yet, honey is also a textured liquid that fills our mouths and makes sticky hands and overwhelms us with tasty pleasure.

And it is precisely on these two points - that he sings to us about the Word of God. Do we yearn for the Word of God as we do our bar chor mee? Or our bottle of wine? Do we work as hard to obtain the Word of God as we do our bonuses and our salaries? Do we study His Word as we study the markets, to increase our wealth?

Paul reminds us of this powerful truth in his second letter to Timothy (2 Tim 4: 7-8). There are some things we do in this life, that are good for this life and this life alone. But our pursuit of godliness through the Word of God is good - not only for this life, but also for the life that is to come. May we learn to love and yearn for the Word of God as the Psalmist in Psalm 19.