How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.
Why are the words of God sweet to the taste? I think this is a very interesting finding by the psalmist here. For those who are laying around, taking it easy, living “high on the hog”, food doesn’t necessarily taste that sweet. They, much of the time, eat to pass the time away.
But talk to a hunter who has just hiked three miles in and packed out an elk, and the meal they feast on that night never tasted so sweet.
As I think about my life and when God’s word has tasted the sweetest and nourished me the most, it is in the hardships or challenges of life.
I also notice the reference to wrong paths and to walking down the right path. This person is definitely active in their faith. They go for it in life, pursuing the truth, serving and giving in an all-out manner.
And they have a focus. They have no interest in the enticements of evil but are single-minded in pursuing God and his best for them.
The benefits are rich and helpful to their journey … a light for their path to see clearly, understanding to know God’s will for them, and discernment to keep off of the paths of evil.
Lord, may I be like this person, who, with an active faith, pursues you, serves and loves and meditates on your word to apply it in the actions of my life!
The pursuit during hardship can be the hardest, but so true, it can also become our biggest and sweetest moments of change encountering Jesus in most intimate ways