Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 119:97-104
Psalms 119:97-104
Mem
97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. 98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. 100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. 101 I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. 102 I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. 103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.
How much do we really love the word of God? How much do we cherish his law and his commandments? It is so easy for us to read this Psalm and say we love God, his word, his law and his commandments but do we really? When we are asked about our priorities we will almost always say that God is the most important thing in our lives with family coming in second. After all, Jesus said we are to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and we are to love the Lord God with all our heart and all our soul. So we say we do.
In my attic is a box with a trophy I received many years ago after playing in a golf tournament at what was at the time a leading PGA course in Las Vegas. When I am asked, I often tell people I love to play golf. What that really means (as shown by my practice and my life) is that I play at least once or twice a year – at least most years. In a really good year I may even play five or six times. On a really good day I can come close to breaking a hundred. Now some of my friends and co-workers would say I don’t really love golf or I would play a lot more than this. I would put more effort and time into it.
Is this how we love God and his word? We may open our Bible once in a while and read a few verses? We talk about spiritual things if we are with the preacher? We seldom ever let going to church interfere with other activities that actually fill our lives and consume our time? When was the last time we spent an hour reading and studying God’s word? When was the last time we spent an hour at the ball field, watching television, reading Facebook or other things we really love?
Lord God, thank you for giving me your word. Give me a greater love for you and for your word. Give me wisdom to understand it better and to know how to apply it in my life. Help me spend more time actually meditating on your word so it will sink deep in my heart. Give me a pure heart so I can be more like you. Please be with our nation and our leaders so that we may enjoy a greater measure of peace in our lives. Help me use the freedoms I have to better share your word and your gospel. Please bless those who are sick. I pray in the name of Jesus.
--Robert
