Desire It More!

"They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb" (Psalm 19:10).

Lately, as I watch the renovation work being done on the main sanctuary of our church, I have come to feel the importance of hands-on experience.
Of course, the work is being carried out by professionals, but as I observe how they work, talk with them, hear about the issues in the sanctuary and how they are being addressed, I’ve been receiving challenges and lessons from the Lord.
If I had just visited once before the renovations began and then returned after everything was finished, I might have noticed some differences, but I wouldn’t truly know what had changed or how. Even if someone explained it to me, it wouldn’t be the same as seeing, hearing, and feeling it myself on-site.

Through this renovation, I learned that the ceiling of our main sanctuary had significantly sagged.
Even the professionals didn’t anticipate how much it had sagged until they actually took it apart.
But when they removed the ceiling, they saw the extent of the damage and carried out a very thorough and careful repair. I am simply grateful to them.

One of the spiritual lessons I received through our church’s renovation was this: "Experience God’s Word directly."
By personally opening the Bible, reading and meditating on it, and applying and obeying the Word in our lives, I was reminded once again how crucial it is to experience the living and active Word of God.
This kind of experience is exactly how the Word of God becomes our personal possession (Psalm 119:56).
If we only encounter God’s Word indirectly through someone else, we won’t be able to experience its depth.
Why? Because we are hearing and learning from someone who has experienced it themselves, not from our own encounter.

Such secondhand experiences cannot lead us to a deep experience of God’s Word.
The reason the church offers various Bible studies is to help believers grow to the point where they can feed themselves with the Word.
We must personally reach the point where we can meditate on, study, and learn God’s Word.
And in doing so, we must directly experience the Word of God for ourselves.
Only then will we be able to confess like the psalmist: “sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10).

In today’s passage, Psalm 19:10, why does the psalmist David urge us to desire God’s Word “more than gold, yes, than much fine gold”? What is the reason?
It’s because David had experienced that God’s Word is “sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.”
I believe David’s experience of God’s Word can be understood through four stages:

First, the Word of God sets boundaries for us.

Look at Psalm 19:11:
"Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward."
The Word of God draws boundaries for us. Living within those boundaries is itself a blessing.
When we live in the truth, we are able to enjoy true freedom (John 8:32).
Therefore, being warned and guided by God’s Word is a blessing.

Second, the Word of God enables us to recognize our faults.

Look at Psalm 19:12:
"Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults."
God’s Word exposes our sins (Ephesians 5:11, 13).
It reveals even our deepest, hidden faults.
Just like a boundary line, God’s Word convicts our conscience when we cross that line, making us aware that we have sinned.

However, there are some among us whose consciences have become deeply hardened.
The reason our hearts have grown this hard is because we repeatedly cross the boundary line and come back again.
At first, we may feel the sting of guilt and a sense of shame, but gradually, the more we live beyond the boundary in sinful ways, the more we grow accustomed to such a life.
Eventually, we no longer recognize sin as sin.
In other words, we lose the ability to acknowledge sin for what it is.
Therefore, it is a blessing to realize—through the Word of God—that we have crossed the line.
It is a blessing when God’s Word reveals our faults.

That is why the psalmist David prays,
"Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me" (Psalm 19:13).
When we keep living beyond God’s boundaries, we begin to sin intentionally and even take pleasure in it.
Without much guilt, we break God’s Word and are led by sin rather than by the Word of God.
This means we are no longer led by God's Word, but by sin itself.

Therefore, we must not disobey the Word of God that sets boundaries for us.
If we have broken God’s Word, we need to recognize that fact through the Word itself.
We must allow God's holy Word to expose our sins.
When that happens, we can confess and repent before God.

Third, the Word of God restores our soul.

Look at Psalm 19:7:
“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.”
When we cross the boundaries set by God’s Word and sin before Him, our soul becomes oppressed and heavy because of sin and cannot find peace.
Especially when we come to realize the sin we have committed through God’s Word, our soul can become discouraged and even despair.
It is God’s Word that revives and restores our discouraged and despairing soul.
God makes us aware of our faults through His Word, and as we cling to that Word, we confess our sins and repent.
Then God renews our despairing soul with words of hope.
Therefore, we enjoy the grace of reconciliation and restoration through repentance.

Lastly, fourthly, God’s Word rejoices our heart.

Look at Psalm 19:8:
“The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart; the commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.”
A repentant heart not only enjoys peace in the assurance of forgiveness but also experiences the joy given by God.
Moreover, God’s Word enlightens the eyes of his spirit, increasing discernment between good and evil.
He sees the boundaries of God’s Word more clearly.
Therefore, he no longer allows sin to rule over his heart.
Rather, he allows God’s Word to rule his heart.
He is no longer foolish because of sin but becomes wise through God’s Word (verse 7), discerning truth from falsehood, choosing the truth, and living in freedom within that truth.
By the joy God gives in doing so, he lives joyfully.

When I think about God’s Word that sets boundaries for us, makes us aware of our faults, revives our soul, and rejoices our heart, I remember the lyrics and chorus of hymn number 235, verse 1:
“Sweet and mysterious is the Word, the word of life, that precious Word; truly the word of life shows my way and faith brightly; beautiful and precious Word, a spring of life, beautiful and precious Word, a spring of life.”
May we all taste God’s Word.
Like the psalmist David, may we all taste God’s Word, sweeter than honey and honeycomb.
Let us all desire God’s Word more than gold, even much fine gold.

Committed to living a life centered on God’s Word,

Pastor James
(Sola Scriptura!)