Preface
Grace and peace to you as we continue the journey through the Overview of the Bible Books series on wordsoflifelibrary.org.
Each book of the Bible reveals something essential about God and His purposes, and Psalm 119 offers a unique gift: it teaches us how to love the very Word through which God speaks.
The reflections below build on that larger overview and invite us to rediscover the joy, strength, and delight that come from meeting God in His Word.
Delighting in God’s Word
(adapted from a message by Pastor Paul Dale, Bridge Church, on 4 Jan 2006, used with permission)
A Story to Begin
Years ago, a young woman backpacked across Europe with nothing but a rucksack, a paper map, and a handful of letters from home. Every few weeks, she would find an airmail envelope waiting for her at a hostel desk, thin, blue, and crinkled from travel. She never opened these letters casually. She tore them open with trembling hands, sat down, and read every word slowly. Then she read them again. These weren’t just updates. They were lifelines, voices of people who loved her, grounding her in who she was and where she belonged.
That is the posture Psalm 119 invites us to take toward Scripture. Not as a textbook. Not as a duty. But as a love letter from a Father who knows us, pursues us, and speaks life into us.
Introduction: Why Delighting in God’s Word Matters
Every January, Christians make resolutions. And year after year, one rises to the top: read the Bible more. It may sound predictable, but it is one of the most transformative commitments a believer can make. To delight in God’s Word is to open oneself to the very voice of God, a voice that comforts, guides, corrects, strengthens, and shapes us.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “The more you read the Bible, the more you meditate on it, the more you’ll be astonished by it.” Many believers can testify to this. The more time spent in Scripture, the more deeply one grows in love for God. The more the Word dwells richly within, the more intimacy with God deepens (cf. Colossians 3:16, NIV). Time in Scripture is not an academic exercise; it is a relational encounter.
The Bible is not a cold theological manual. It is a love letter from a Father who calls you His child (cf. 1 John 3:1, NIV). A Father who longs to speak, to reveal Himself, encourage you, challenge you, shape you, and strengthen you. God communicates primarily through His Word, and what a gift that is.
Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, is a masterpiece devoted entirely to celebrating Scripture. It shows us how to delight in God’s Word and why it matters.
It is an acrostic poem, each section beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Nearly every verse mentions God’s Word using terms like law, commandments, testimonies, precepts, statutes, and ordinances. Each word carries nuance, authority, permanence, wisdom, instruction, but the overall message is unmistakable: here is someone who loves God so deeply that he cannot get enough of God’s Word. He devours it. He delights in it. He refuses to live on one spiritual meal a week. And yet, many believers today are spiritually malnourished. They affirm the authority of Scripture, defend its truth, and attend churches that value the Bible, but they do not personally feast on it. They rely on others to feed them once a week, like someone who goes to a restaurant every Sunday, opens their mouth, and expects the waiter to spoon-feed them, then eats nothing for the next six days. No wonder spiritual vitality fades.
So, the invitation of the Psalm is not merely to read the Bible, but to delight in it, to savour it, to crave it, to let it shape every corner of life.
The psalm gives us a simple, memorable pattern for doing that, almost like an ABCD of delighting in Scripture. It begins with the attitude we bring to God’s Word, then shows the benefits that flow from it, then invites us to cultivate a daily habit, and finally calls us to do what God says.
So, let’s begin where the psalm begins, with our attitude.
A - Attitude: Delighting in God’s Word
Psalm 119 begins with the heart. Before it speaks of discipline or obedience, it speaks of delight. In fact, delight is the dominant emotional word in the entire psalm. It appears again and again as the psalmist describes his posture toward Scripture:
- “I delight in following your statutes” (Psalm 119:14, NIV)
- “I delight in your decrees” (Psalm 119:16, NIV)
- “Your statutes are my delight” (Psalm 119:24, NIV)
The Hebrew word for delight is a festive, joyful word, a word of celebration. You can almost picture the psalmist unrolling a scroll with excitement, experiencing peace and joy as he encounters God in His Word. The psalmist doesn’t merely read Scripture; he savours it. He treats it as precious, joyful, life-giving.
He even says, “Oh, how I love your law!”, Psalm 119:97, NIV
At first glance, that sounds strange. We don’t normally say, “Oh, how I love the speed limit.” We obey laws, but we don’t love them. If Scripture’s “law” were merely a list of rules, it would feel burdensome, restrictive, even oppressive.
But in the Bible, law means something far richer. It reveals God’s character, God’s desires, and God’s heart. It shows what God loves, what God values, and how God designed life to flourish. We don’t love God’s law because it earns us a relationship with Him, which comes only by grace through Christ. We love God’s law because it helps us enjoy Him. It draws us into intimacy with Him. It shows us how to walk with Him.
When we understand Scripture as God revealing Himself, not merely instructing us, delight becomes natural. It’s like receiving a letter from someone you love. Before smartphones, before email, before WhatsApp, letters were lifelines. When travelling overseas in the 1990s, you might wait weeks for a blue airmail envelope to arrive. And when it did, you didn’t skim it and toss it aside. You read it. You reread it. You treasured it because it came from someone who loved you. When you understand that Scripture is a letter from a God who loves you and wants to speak to you, delight becomes natural.
That is the attitude Psalm 119 invites: This is a letter from a God who loves you, desires you, and wants to speak to you. When you see Scripture that way, not as a burden but as a gift, you will read it and reread it. You will savour it. You will delight in it.
That is the attitude that opens the door to transformation.
B - Benefits: What God’s Word Produces
Psalm 119 highlights at least five life-changing benefits of delighting in Scripture.
1. God’s Word Stops Sin from Taking Root
If we delight in God’s Word, the first benefit is this: Scripture is sin-stopping. God’s Word exposes the folly, even the stupidity, of pursuing sin. In the daily battle to be less selfish, more kind, less angry, more patient, less greedy, more generous, and less bitter, more forgiving, we all wrestle with besetting sins: pride, envy, lying, lust, self-pity, and more. The question is simple: How do you stop sinning? How do you resist the gravitational pull of your old nature? Psalm 119 gives the answer: “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.”, Psalm 119:9, NIV
We avoid the mess of this world not by merely knowing Scripture but by living it. When God says, “Don’t do that,” we don’t do it. When He says, “Do this,” we do it. Obedience is what keeps our feet on the narrow path.
The psalmist continues: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”, Psalm 119:11, NIV. In ancient times, people hid what was precious because there were no banks or safes. That is the picture: God’s Word is treasure. When it is stored deep in the heart, memorised, meditated on, internalised, it speaks in moments of temptation. When the enemy whispers, “Just do it, God won’t mind,” Scripture answers with truth:
“Set your minds on things above” (Colossians 3:2, NIV)
“Throw off the sin that entangles” (Hebrews 12:1, NIV)
“Run with perseverance the race marked out for you” (Hebrews 12:1, NIV)
This is exactly how Jesus resisted temptation in the wilderness. When Satan enticed Him, Jesus replied, “It is written…” and quoted Scripture (Matthew 4:1-11, NIV).
The Psalmist prays: “Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.”, Psalm 119:133, NIV
Sin no longer has power over the believer because Jesus defeated it at the cross. But Scripture is what helps us live in that freedom. God’s Word cleanses us (cf. John 15:3, NIV), reminds us of what we’ve been saved from, and equips us to resist temptation.
And all this flows from God’s heart. He is not a killjoy. He is a good Father who wants His children to live whole, flourishing lives, and sin destroys that. Scripture protects us because God loves us.
2. God’s Word Gives Guidance
The second benefit is this: Scripture is guidance‑giving. Every day we make choices. Every day we are bombarded with ideas, opinions, philosophies, and values, many of them profoundly un-Christian. We live in a culture where right is called wrong, wrong is called right, and everything is painted grey. So, the question becomes: Who will you listen to?
The psalmist prays, “Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.”, Psalm 119:66, NIV
It’s a humble confession: I don’t know the right path unless You teach me. God’s Word is often countercultural, but it is always right.
Then comes the famous promise: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”, Psalm 119:105, NIV
This “lamp” is not a floodlight revealing the whole future. God does not promise to show us everything that will happen in the coming year, and that is a mercy. Instead, His Word is like a small lamp or tealight candle: it gives just enough light for the next step, and then the next, and then the next. Scripture helps us make a good choice today, another good choice tomorrow, and another the day after that, step by step walking in the way of Jesus.
The psalmist adds, “Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.”, Psalm 119:98, NIV
Wisdom has nothing to do with IQ. A person can be brilliant and still be a fool in God’s eyes. True wisdom comes from knowing God’s Word and letting it shape every part of life, relationships, work, friendships, finances, leisure, and church.
God’s Word is not only sin-stopping, but also guidance-giving, leading us into the good, wise, life-giving path God intends.
3. God’s Word Brings Comfort
The third benefit is this: Scripture is comfort‑channelling. When tragedy strikes, and it will, where do you run? Who do you listen to? When life really hurts, pious clichés and shallow sympathy won’t sustain you. You need truth. You need the Word of God to reach down into your pain. You need God Himself to wrap His arms around you and remind you that He is still good, still sovereign, still loving, still powerful, and still faithful.
The psalmist says, “My comfort in my suffering is this: your promise preserves my life.”, Psalm 119:50, NIV.
And again, “I remember, Lord, your ancient laws, and I find comfort in them.” Psalm 119:52, NIV.
Even this surprising confession appears: ““It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.”, Psalm 119:71, NIV. Sometimes God allows affliction, not to crush us, but to refine us. His unfailing love becomes our comfort in the midst of pain (cf. Psalm 119:76, NIV).
The psalmist even admits, “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.”, Psalm 119:92, NIV. This is the truth we must cling to: in seasons of sorrow, suffering, and heartache, only the Word of God can truly steady the soul. When you can barely stand, a single verse can become a lifeline.
And yet, in the darkest moments, reading Scripture can feel almost impossible. That’s why God gives us each other. We need the church, brothers and sisters who will speak one verse of truth into our pain, not a lecture, not a sermon, just a reminder of who God is.
Many believers can testify to this. Early in the Christian life, memorising Scripture may feel simple or even old-fashioned, but those verses become anchors in the storm. Passages like:
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord…” (Psalm 121:1-2, NIV)
“Whom have I in heaven but you? … God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26, NIV)
“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” (Psalm 23:1, NIV)
These truths become like God’s arms around you. In the darkest moments, a single verse can become a lifeline.
God’s comfort is not sentimental. It is stabilising. It is strengthening. It reminds you that God still holds you, still shapes you, and often uses hardship to make you more like Jesus (cf. Psalm 119:71, NIV).
4. God’s Word Satisfies the Soul
The fourth benefit of delighting in God’s Word is this: Scripture is soul-satisfying. We will not, and cannot, be satisfied in anything other than God.
The psalmist prays, “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.”, Psalm 119:36, NIV.
He wants not just his mind, but his heart drawn toward God’s Word, not toward himself.
Then he adds, “Turn my eyes away from worthless things.”, Psalm 119:37, NIV
We need that prayer. Turn my eyes away from the trinkets of this world, the false promises, the fleeting pleasures, the things that promise so much yet deliver so little. The pleasures of this world are temporary fixes; they cannot satisfy the soul.
The most satisfied Christians are not simply those who attend church or know doctrine; they are those who devour God’s Word. Many believers learn this the hard way. It is possible to read the Bible daily, even faithfully, yet treat it like a textbook, turning pages, ticking boxes, filling the mind with information, but never meeting God Himself.
George Whitefield once described how he began reading Scripture on his knees, praying over every line: “Lord, teach me. Show me what this means. Let me meet You here.” He said the Word became “meat indeed and drink indeed” to his soul, giving him fresh life, fresh light, and fresh power from above.
That is what happens when we delight in God’s Word. It becomes nourishment. It becomes joy. It becomes life. As we feast on Scripture, our souls are satisfied in ways we never imagined possible.
5. God’s Word Produces Praise
The fifth benefit of delighting in God’s Word is this: Scripture is praise-producing. When God’s Word fills your heart, praise flows from your lips. Gratitude replaces grumbling. Blessing replaces bitterness. You find yourself speaking often, and gladly, of the goodness of God.
The psalmist says, “I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.”, Psalm 119:7, NIV
And again, “Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees.”, Psalm 119:12, NIV, “I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.”, Psalm 119:14, NIV.
People who devour God’s Word often have Bibles that are worn, highlighted, scribbled in, clearly well‑loved. And you may have noticed something: there is often a direct connection between the state of someone’s Bible and the state of their speech. Those who devour God’s Word tend to speak words of gratitude, not complaint; praise, not cynicism; and adoration, not apathy. Their lips overflow with reminders of how good God has been.
That is what Scripture does. It fills the heart with delight, and the mouth with praise.
C - Cultivating a Habit
The third movement of Psalm 119 is deeply practical: no one drifts into a rich life with God’s Word. We never drift toward good things, only away from them. So, if we want Scripture to shape us, we must be intentional. We must choose daily to place ourselves before the Word of God and under the Word of God.
The psalmist says, “I have sought out your precepts.”, Psalm 119:94, NIV
He didn’t wait for spiritual hunger to magically appear. He sought God’s Word. He made the effort. He carved out time to feast on Scripture. And that is what we must do, both publicly and privately.
Publicly, by gathering with God’s people week after week, expecting God to speak through His Word. Not just for the social aspect, but to meet with God. To hear Him. To be shaped by Him. Preparing our hearts before we come, praying, “Speak to me, Lord,” and coming with expectation that He will.
Privately, by cultivating a regular, consistent, undistracted time with God in His Word.
Many people say, “I’d love to, but I don’t have time.” The simple answer is: make time. What could be more important than meeting with God? Just fifteen minutes a day, less time than most of us spend scrolling our phones, is enough to read the entire Bible in a year.
Others say, “I don’t always enjoy it.” Neither do most people every day. Scripture reading is like taking vitamins or going to the gym, you do it for long‑term health, not for an instant buzz. Over time, the daily diet of God’s Word will change you in ways you never expected.
Still others say, “I read the Bible, but nothing happens.” The question is: Are you reading to encounter God? Scripture reading is not merely information intake, it is a spiritual discipline of meeting with God, hearing His voice, and responding to Him.
A simple practice is to pray as you read. Take a verse like Psalm 119:34 and turn it into prayer: “Lord, give me understanding. Help me obey. Change my divided heart.”
And don’t just read, meditate. “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.”, Psalm 119:97, NIV
Meditation means chewing on Scripture the way you savour a good meal, slowly, thoughtfully, tasting every word. Carry one verse with you through the day. Let it shape your thoughts and desires.
A simple tool is a journal. Buy an expensive one. Spend way more than you ever imagine because if you buy a cheap one, you won’t bother to use it. Please don’t write copious notes in your journal. Just write two sentences each day. Each day, write just one or two sentences: “Lord, thank You for showing me this truth today.”, “Help me live this out, “Change this attitude in me.”
Small habits, repeated daily, will transform your life. Cultivating a habit of Scripture is not about ticking a box. It is about meeting with God and being changed by Him.
D - Do It
Finally: do it. Don’t just admire God’s Word. Don’t just study it. Live it.
Jesus told a story about two men who both heard God’s Word, but only one put it into practice (Matthew 7:24-27, NIV). The wise man built his house on the rock; the foolish man built on sand. Both listened. Only one obeyed.
That is the difference between stability and collapse.
If Scripture gives an instruction, do it. If it gives a promise, trust it. If it gives a rebuke, receive it. And if you don’t like what God’s Word says, God is right, and we are wrong.
Here is the wisdom: the more you delight in God’s Word, the more you will love God Himself. Scripture is a love letter from a Father who wants you to know Him, enjoy Him, and walk with Him.
The best book to read is still the Bible, and the best time to start doing what it says is today.
So What? Why This Matters
Because your spiritual life cannot thrive if your Bible stays closed.
If Scripture is God’s voice, then neglecting it means missing His guidance, comfort, correction, and joy. If it is a love letter, then ignoring it means missing the heart of the One who loves you most.
Delighting in God’s Word is not about earning God’s favour. It is about enjoying God Himself.
A Modern Story for Those Who Haven’t Spent Much Time in Scripture
A man once realised he checked his phone before he checked his soul. Every morning, he woke up and reached for notifications, news, messages, and social media. One day, his phone reported his weekly screen time: 42 hours. He stared at the number, stunned. Forty-two hours listening to the world. Almost none of which is listening to God.
He decided to make one small change: before unlocking his phone, he opened his Bible. At first, it felt unnatural. But slowly, something shifted. His anxiety softened. His decisions became clearer. His reactions became gentler. His prayers became more honest. He found himself hungering for Scripture the way he once hungered for updates.
He didn’t become perfect. But he became rooted.
And that is the invitation of Psalm 119: Return to the Word. Delight in it. Let it shape you, steady you, and satisfy you.
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