Active Listening – Psalm 119:97-105
97 Oh, how I love your law!
It is my meditation all day long.
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is always with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your decrees are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
101 I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
102 I do not turn away from your ordinances,
for you have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
What does the Passage say?
V. 97-104 Psalm 119 is a collaboration of wisdom, regarding God’s words. The psalmist uses each character of the Hebrew alphabet and writes eight verses of commitment and praise toward God’s word, for each character. The love and devotion toward God’s word is what we should learn.
What does the Passage say to me/us?
Meditate has a meaning to ‘ponder on.’ The Psalmist says that he ‘ponders‘ on the word of God, all day long. Eugene Peterson uses an analogy of a dog chewing on his bone. The word of God should be chewed on in our soul, to a point, it simmers inside of us.
I pray that the word will be sweet as the psalmist proclaims. “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth” (v. 103 NIV)
Prayer
Lord, help us to build an appetite for your words. May we see how your words transform our soul and your world.
In Christ name, AMEN.
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