Delighting in the Word of God

This week we, as a church, memorized Psalm 1:1-2 which speaks of delighting in the Word of God. The word “delight” means to take pleasure in something. It means to so long for something that you forget about other things. It means to so desire something that you deny yourself other pleasures in order to get it. As David said in Psalm 19:10, “More to be desired are they [your laws] than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.”

We may say that we delight in the Word of God when it means more to us than all the possessions and pleasures of the world. We may say that we delight in the Word of God when we take more pleasure in it than in gaining the most valuable, precious, enduring things of the world—like gold, even much fine gold. We may say that we delight in the Word of God when the sweetness of the Word is more precious to us than any sweetness this world can offer—food, sex, fame, whatever.

When given the chance to choose, we choose the Word of God. That’s what it means to delight in the Word. It’s not merely acknowledging that the Bible is the Word of God. It’s not even acknowledging that the Bible is inerrant and infallible. Millions of Americans acknowledge these facts and yet they never read it or seek to understand it or obey it, and if they don’t repent they will perish in their way.

To delight in the Word of God is to choose it over all the possessions and pleasures of this world. To delight in the Word of God is to have a passion for God so great that we consistently put forth the effort to read and meditate and understand and obey and teach his Word. To delight in the Word of God is to make a life, not a hobby, of knowing and obeying the Word of God.

So let us delight ourselves in the Word! It has been two months now since we embarked together on a course of reading and memorizing the Word—let us run as those who would win the prize! Let us finish our course. Let us spur one another on to put preeminent value on our time in the Word!

Striving with you to delight in the Word of God,
Pastor Charlie