The Believer’s Innate Love For The Word Of God

Psalms 18:1 expresses the believer’s love for God: “I love you, Jehovah, my strength!” The Hebrew word for “to love” here is rācham, which means to love with a fervent, affectionate love that can be felt in one’s bowels. Because we love God, anything that comes from him is therefore precious to us.

Imagine for a moment that you have a loved one who lives far away, and that you can only communicate with him or her through snail mail. What would it be like to receive a letter from that loved one after a long time? You would probably be eager to read what your loved one has written to you. You would pore over every word, being careful to take in everything your loved one wishes to communicate to you. Your loved one’s words would mean a lot to you because he or she is someone whom you love, and someone who you know loves you too!

This is very much like the relationship between God and a believer. Since a believer is someone who loves God and is loved by God, he has an innate love for the word of God. The Scriptures are the word of God for the believer. Hence, with the eagerness of someone who has received a letter from a loved one, a true believer would always seek to learn, understand, believe, preach and live by the Scriptures.

Psalms 119 was written by a person who loved the word of God with a passion. The word of God was everything to him—his rule of faith, his guide in practice, his way of life and his nourishment from God. In this psalm, we see the heart of a true believer pining for the word of God in the Scriptures:

• Verse 16: “I will delight myself in your statutes, I will not forget your word.”
• Verse 20: “My soul is crushed with longing unto your judgements in every season.”
• Verse 24: “Your testimonies are also my delight, men of my counsel.”
• Verse 35: “Make me walk in the path of your commandments, because I delight in it.”
• Verse 40: “Behold, I long for your mandates, enliven me in your righteousness.”
• Verse 47: “And I shall delight myself in your commandments, which I love.”
• Verse 70: “Their heart is thick like fat, I delight in your law.”
• Verse 72: “The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver.”
• Verse 77: “Let come to me your mercies and I would live, because your law is my delight.”
• Verse 92: “If not for your law [being] my delights, then I would have perished in my affliction.”
• Verse 97: “How I love your law! All the day, it is my meditation.”
• Verse 103: “How sweet to my palate are your saying, more than honey to my mouth!”
• Verse 111: “I have inherited your testimonies forever, because they are the rejoicing of my heart.”
• Verse 127: “Because of this, I love your commandments more than gold and silver.”
• Verse 131: “I gaped my mouth and panted, because I longed for your commandments.”
• Verse 140: “Your saying is very refined, and your servant loves it.”
• Verse 143: “Difficulty and distress have found me. Your commandments are my delight.”
• Verse 159: “See that I love your mandates. Jehovah, enliven me according to your kindness.”
• Verse 162: “I rejoice over your saying, like one who finds great spoil.”
• Verse 163: “I hate and abominate falsehood, I love your law.”
• Verse 165: “Lovers of your law have great peace, and nothing is a stumbling block to them.”
• Verse 167: “My soul keeps your testimonies, and I love them very much.”
• Verse 174: “I long for your salvation, Jehovah, and your law is my delight.”

The Scriptures are a precious gift from God. As believers, we should treasure the Scriptures as our prized possession. We should be eager to learn, believe, preach and live by the Scriptures.