God’s Word for You
Psalm 119:103-104 Sweeter than honey
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, October 19, 2024
103 How sweet your sayings taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
In ancient times, honey was the sweetest thing that anyone could experience or imagine. That is why it is so often the subject of these comparisons. Samson used it for his riddle (Judges 14:18); Solomon compares the words of a woman to it (Proverbs 5:3), and more than once the Word of God is compared to it; especially the gospel (Psalm 19:9; Ezekiel 3:3; Revelation 10:9-10). But the righteous man must be willing to proclaim the law as well as the gospel. This is the nature of the whole word of God: the law exposes our sins and our consciences fear God’s wrath, but the gospel cheers us, lifts up our hearts, and sets us back standing on Christ, the solid rock (Matthew 7:24).
Here we come to the delightful nature of the Word of God. This is something that only a believer, that is to say, a Christian, can truly say and feel in his heart. In the days of the prophets, only true Israelites knew this same faith, because they looked ahead to the coming of the Savior, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. We look back on the very same Savior, and look forward to his coming again.
The Word of God is not sweet to anyone else. It is death and judgment to everyone else. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil… who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20). And in John’s Gospel we are told: “Even after Jesus had done many miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him” (John 12:37). The people of his time saw him in person and rejected him face-to-face. The people of our time hear about him, and many put their faith in him, but there will always be those who doubt and who turn their hearts away. About such people, Jesus said, “I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling” (Revelation 2:21). They have traded the sweet word of God for the ashes of the devil’s lies.
104 I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every false path.
“Every false path” is any path that does not lead to heaven, and that avoids the will of God. Every one of us needs to remember that our vocations may not all seem to be spiritual, such as shepherding lambs to the fold of Christ, but that is not always God’s will for a person. He assigns some people to be teachers, but others to be parents. Some people plan, design, or build in pursuit of God’s command to subdue the earth (Genesis 1:28), but others do the maintenance, tidying up, cleaning out the stables and feeding the hogs. Some ride the horses, and others hammer the horses’ shoes. Whatever role God has given you to do, do that to his glory. That is the true path. Understanding that is a large measure of gaining understanding from his precepts.
When you kneel in your heart before God (that is, when you pray, when you sing his praises, and when you confess your sins and your faith and receive the forgiveness, the Lord’s Supper, and the benediction), do not be afraid that in your humble position he will demand something from you. The gospel is a gift free of demands. He has had pity on you, and mercy. Let your heart thrill over that, and serve him with your life as a shopkeeper, truck driver, farmer, wife, lawyer, accountant, painter, carpenter, coach, teacher, or whatever it is you occupy your days with as you earn your pay. Your service to God is to be a Christian. These other things, even if you are a professor with a Doctor’s degree at a theological college or seminary—these other things are the way we thank God and serve him, just as the men were who were given five and three talents by their master who was long delayed on a trip. Occupy yourself with God’s word each Sunday, or more often if you have time, reading the Bible, taking notes about what you read, asking your pastor questions and taking his answers to heart. This is how we gain understanding from his precepts. Give him your attention and your trust, and he will fill you up like a full glass of water until it spills over the top and you gush about the things you’ve learned to the people you love. Don’t hold back from telling the children!
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.