Embrace the Word for Monday, October 19, 2026
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Psalm 119 is a celebration of God’s Word. Psalm 119:97-104 continues the exploration of the “blessed” life. Each verse in this thirteenth stanza begins with the thirteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet (which is mem). Stanza thirteen of Psalm 119 has no petitions; the entire stanza declares the superiority of God’s Word. This thirteenth stanza begins with a word about “love” (119:97) and ends with a word about “hate” (119:104). The first sub-stanza of the thirteenth stanza spotlights the superior wisdom that the Word of God provides (119:97-100), while the second sub-stanza highlights the superior value of God’s Word (119:101-104). On three occasions (119:98,99,100), the first sub-stanza speaks of how God’s Word gives the Psalmist “more” wisdom than the wisdom from any other source. Then, on three occasions (119:101,102,104), the second sub-stanza speaks of how God’s Word guards the Psalmist “from” or “through” false and evil ways.
Psalm 119:97-104 opens with an exclamation of the Psalmist’s deep love for God’s Word: “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (119:97). The Psalmist has already stated his love for the Word of God (119:47-48), and he will continue to do so as Psalm 119 goes on (119:113,119,127,132,140,159,163,165,167). The Psalmist has an enduring devotion to all that the LORD has revealed in His Word. Only on one occasion does the Psalmist specifically mention his love for the LORD. That should not be taken to mean that the Psalmist loves God’s Word more than he loves the LORD, but it does suggest he doesn’t love one more that he loves the other. The Psalmist demonstrates that love for God’s Word is, in fact, love for God Himself. Something would be very off if one were to say that he has a love for God, but has no love or devotion towards the Word of God. The Psalmist’s love for the LORD and His Word prompts him to preoccupy himself with what the LORD has said. Such an activity was identified at the outset of the Psalter as the blessed man was introduced: “but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (See Psalm 1:2). Out of love, the Psalmist would seek to not only continually think about what the LORD has said, but also how he might seek to consistently obey it.
The Psalmist next lists three overlapping reasons why he has such a loving devotion to know and apply what the LORD has revealed. The Psalmist has seen great benefit come to him because he practices meditation. The type of meditation that the Psalmist speaks of is not in any way an emptying of his mind. Biblical meditation is just the opposite of a passive emptying of the mind; it is an active filling of the mind. The key is what the mind is filled with, for Biblical meditation is an intentional attentiveness to God’s Word. To meditate on God’s Word is to fix the mind on the works, the promises, the commandments, the warnings, and the instructions that God has revealed in His Word. The Psalmist realizes how his careful, prayerful reflection upon the Word of God has impacted him: “Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts” (119:98-100). Filling the mind with the truths of God’s Word instills wisdom, imparts skill, and increases understanding. The qualities of wisdom, skill, and understanding each have their own distinctive nuances, but they also share a common focus that pertains to possessing the practical ability to live righteously through thinking righteously and thus, avoid many moral pitfalls and dangers from living in a world of unrighteousness. Endowed with a wisdom, skill, and understanding of righteousness, the Psalmist possesses “more than” any of his enemies, teachers, or even what would be associated with what older men have obtained. The Psalmist is not boasting, for that would reflect foolishness, ineptness, and ignorance. The point of the Psalmist’s words must not be missed: he is extolling, not himself, but the immense superiority of the Word of God. Any wisdom, skill, or understanding that the Psalmist has, was neither native to him nor self-generated from within. The Psalmist has been shaped through his choice to meditate, but it is the content that he meditated upon that has given him an advantage in living. The Word of God was never far from his thinking; it was an integral part of his thoughts.
The Psalmist transitions from emphasizing that God’s Word provides greater understanding (119:97-100), to stressing that God’s Word proves to be of greater value (119:101-104). The result of meditating on the Word of God is an obedient life. Such an obedient life has two responses to evil and error. These two responses bracket this second sub-stanza. First, meditating on God’s Word to the point of obedience steers the Psalmist to turn from evil ways: “I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word” (119:101). The Psalmist realizes that turning from evil pursuits is a must if he is to walk in obedience to God’s Word. Having restraint is necessary if the aim is to be obedient. Second, meditating on the Word of God to the point of obedience sways the Psalmist to hate false ways: “Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way” (119:104). The Psalmist recognizes that knowing God’s Word is essential if he is about to properly identify ways of life that are not rooted in truth. Having discernment is necessary if the aim is acquisition of the truth. It is important to note how the Psalmist grasps that truth and error are not simply exercises of thought; they must also be evaluated in the realm of affections as well. The Psalmist doesn’t merely know that the Word of the LORD is true, he loves that it is true. Equally, the Psalmist does not only reject evil and error, he hates them. Therefore, just as what drives his meditation on God’s Word is his love for God’s Word, what drives his restraint against evil and rejection of error is his hatred of them. Without strong affections, the choices or actions of the will are not sustainable, for to turn against what one actually loves will not be a durable decision. Hatred is a more solid basis for rejecting evil.
While the Psalmist identifies what he has turned from, and why, he now establishes what he turns toward: “I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me” (119:102). The Psalmist does not turn from God’s Word; he turns towards it. God Himself has instilled in him the value of turning or perhaps even returning to what God has revealed in His Word. This turning involves much more than simply accepting the valuableness of the Word of God; it entails seeing the value of applying God’s Word to his life to the point that it shapes how he lives. Once again, what is behind the Psalmist’s deciding to walk in the ways outlined in the Word of God is the deep desire he has acquired from God’s Word itself: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (119:103). David expressed this same sentiment concerning the Word of God earlier in the Psalter: “sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb” (See Psalm 19:10b). The Psalmist loves the taste of God’s Word, for he cannot think of a sweeter taste that he desires. However, the taste of honey is unknown until it is actually tasted; if honey is never tasted, its sweetness will not be known. The sweetness of the Word of God should be understood as an acquired rather than natural taste. The taste of God’s Word requires a supernatural work of enlivening the soul with taste buds that desire what God’s Word tastes like. Without the work of the Spirit, that is, the stirring of the Spirit within the soul, the Word would taste more like bitter mustard than sweet honey. As God works in the hearts of His people, he implants new desires. Those new desires enable the Word of God to possess a sweet flavor profile—a sweetness not only in knowing what it says, but in practicing it.
As we reflect on Psalm 119:97-104, we can consider how the wisdom of God compares with the wisdom of man. The Scriptures contain the wisdom of God and such wisdom is available to anyone who seeks the Lord: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (See James 1:5). The wisdom of man “is earthly, unspiritual, demonic” (See James 3:15b). The wisdom of God is hidden from any and all who think they are wise in their own eyes: “At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children” (See Matthew 11:25). The wisdom of God comes only by the Spirit through the Word: “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual” (See 1 Corinthians 2:12-13). Comparing the wisdom of God with the wisdom of man is never a close comparison: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (See 1 Corinthians 1:25). Speaking in a bit of hyperbole, the Apostle Paul states that the most “foolish” thing about God’s wisdom is infinitely wiser than any wisdom that man can devise. There is simply no match. Thus, the Psalmist points us to a superior wisdom for our lives: “Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me” (119:98).
That’s all for Embrace the Word for Monday, October 19, 2026. I look forward to being back with you for the Wednesday, October 21, 2026 episode of Embrace the Word as we take a look at Psalm 119:105-112.