https://odb.org/2024/08/11/scripture-lovers
Psalm 119 celebrates the love of the Psalmist for the Torah, described as His law, His precepts, or His commands, statutes, or commands. As in Psalm 1, the wisdom is that if we love His Word, we are like a tree planted by streams of water that will be properly nourished to bear fruits in season and prosper.
Psalm 1:2-3:
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
For the ancients, where prosperity is a sign that God’s favour is with us, being grounded in His Word (delight and meditate on it day and night) is a sure way to gain God’s favour and thus a good and prosperous life. In the book of Job, Job persevered in his faith despite losing everything and being inflicted with a terrible illness and was ultimately blessed with a double portion of all that he had lost. Success, in the eyes of the ancients, is a life wealth, power, and authority, as can be seen in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in Joseph and Daniel as well as David and Solomon.
But the New Testament, after the coming of Jesus, takes a slightly different approach. In John 1:1, John declared that the Word (Logos) was Christ and He existed at the beginning:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The intention then was to declare that Christ is the logos to the contemporary Greek thought of a supreme power (logos) existing at the beginning. It also meant that the Word of God is Christ. It is the embodiment of God. It is how we may know who God is – as we witness His interactions with mankind and beginning with Abraham, His interactions with His people, and the workings of the Abrahamic Covenant, which spans through to modern-day believers in Christ.
Whether it leads to prosperity on earth or eternal life, the wisdom remains that it is highly beneficial for us to read, study, and meditate on Scripture. There is both power, authority, and life in the Word of God. The more we know, emulate and live it out (some use the expression ‘eat’), the better we will be in Christ and the knowledge of God and the mysteries of His Kingdom.
Have a good Sunday worship service today as we celebrate His goodness and blessings upon our lives!
Ronnie's Thoughts 