Day 6: Psalm 119

There is nothing my kids crave more than sugar. I have always found it interesting that we all come into this world craving that which isn’t good for us and not wanting the things that are.

I am yet to see anyone’s child rejoice at the sight of broccoli. Yet, in this paradox, God has something interesting to say about His Word. Notice the Psalm:

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Psalm 119:103

Notice this Psalm from Chapter 19:

The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.

Psalm 19:9-10

Isn’t that odd? If we are honest, the Psalm should read, “Your words are like broccoli.” It should say, “Your decrees are more beneficial than kale.” After all, isn’t that how we treat the Scriptures? Isn’t that how we view the Bible? I know that God’s wisdom is good for me, but that doesn’t mean I want to follow it. The Psalmist has such a reverence for God’s Word that he treats it how my children treat chocolate cake. This isn’t just the Psalmist. Jeremiah says something similar in Chapter 15.

When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight

Jeremiah 15:16

In the world in which this is written, everyone would have memorized the Scriptures. They wouldn’t be able to imagine a world without them. They would meditate on them and then discuss them at dinner in the way we might discuss Netflix’s Tiger King. What is it in your life that you crave? A kind word from a stranger? A nice vacation? A return to normalcy? The Psalmist would say, “Give me God’s Word.” I find that aspirational, but the deeper I go into the Scriptures, the more I find myself overwhelmed by them, often saying as my children do about sugar, “That is so good. I want more.” Perhaps you find yourself with more time on your hands. Perhaps you find yourself with a deep sense of loss. What if in this time you began to seek and savor the wisdom of God found in His Word? What if it became like honey to you?

Childlike faith isn’t when we are stuffy and pious. Childlike faith is when we interact with God and, like a child eating cake, we say, “Wow, that is so good! I can’t wait to have more tomorrow.” May God’s Word not just be light to you, but may it also be honey.

Jared