Applying Our Delight in the Word

On By BrianIn Habit of Scripture, Virtue of Joy

In the last post we looked at three reasons from Psalm 119 regarding why we should delight in the Word.  Today, I want to consider three ways we should apply our delight in the Word:

  • Meditate on the Word.  If we delight in the Word, we will want to meditate on it, or fix our eyes on it (v14-15).  To meditate is to think about the passage, to ponder it, to chew on it.  If we delight in the Word, we will regularly read it, meditating on its meaning, and its application in our lives.  Do you regularly meditate on God’s Word?
  • Memorize the Word.  The Psalmist says he delights in God’s Word and will not forget it (v16).  Rather he has stored up the Word in his heart (v11).  We too need to regularly memorize the Word, so that we might always have it available in times of need or temptation.  Are you memorizing God’s Word?
  • Live the Word.  It is not enough to merely meditate on and memorize the Word.  We must also walk in it; we must keep it (v1-2).  You can’t tell me you delight in God’s Word if you are not following it.  Are you seeking to live out the Word?

If we delight in the Word, we will mediate on it, memorize it, and live it.  As the New Year approaches, this is a good time to reconfirm your commitment to God’s Word.  And if God’s Word has not been a commitment in your life, now is a great time to commit yourself to the Word for 2013.

Delight in the Word

On By BrianIn Habit of Scripture, Virtue of Joy

Psalm 119 is a psalm of delight in the Word.  Again and again the Psalmist declares his delight in God’s Word (v14, 16, 24, 70, 77, 92, 111, 143, 162, 174).  He also gives us at least three reasons why we should find joy in God’s Word.  God’s Word is:

  • A Guide to Life.  We should delight in God’s Word because it gives us counsel (v24).  The Word gives light for our paths (v105).  It shows us how to live a pure right life (v9).  It teaches us to lives as we were created to live.  How many messes in our lives could have been avoided if we had simply followed the Word?  We should find joy in God’s Word because it is a guide for our lives.
  • A Help In Trials.  In the midst of his affliction, the Word of God gave him life; it kept him from perishing.  In our trials, the Word gives us something to hold onto, to cling to.  It gives us hope, peace, comfort, strength, encouragement, joy.  It gives us life.  Even in our afflictions, we can find joy in God’s Word.  We should delight in God’s Word because it is a help in our trials.
  • A Word from the Lord.  The law is not just any law.  It is the law of the Lord (v1).  It comes from God.  He has written us a letter.  God speaks to us in his Word.  If we love God, we will love his Word – we will delight in it as we delight in Him.  We should delight in God’s Word because it is from God.

As we ponder these three reasons, and use the Word as our guide and help and word from God, may God cause our delight in His Word to grow!

Finding Joy

On By BrianIn Virtue of Joy

Christmas is a time of joy, yet many struggle to find it.  In the midst of the trials and sufferings of life, where can we find joy?  The writers of the Psalms tell us places where they found joy – places where we too can find joy even in the midst of the struggles of life.  We can find joy in:

  • God’s love (90:14)
  • God’s salvation (51:12)
  • God’s deliverance (126)
  • God’s protection (63:7)
  • God’s reign (97:1)
  • God’s people (16:3)
  • God’s Word (119:14-16)

It is not hard to see what all of these joy-bringers have in common.  All come from God.  Every good thing that brings us joy comes from God.  Each joyful blessing comes from the river of his delights (Psalm 36:8).  God is the source of joy.  We find our joy ultimately in him:

You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
– Psalm 4:7

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
– Psalm 16:11

For you make him most blessed forever;
you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
– Psalm 21:6

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
– Psalm 43:4

In the presence of God, we find exceeding joy beyond any other joy.  The joy found in God’s blessings is good; the joy found in God himself is better.  This Christmas, no matter what struggles you are facing, you can find joy in the presence of the Lord.  Won’t you draw near to him?

Quotes To Ponder: Joy 2

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

Christian joy is the proper response to the presence of something desirable: God.
– Philip Kenneson

The joy of the Lord will arm us against the assaults of our spiritual enemies, and put our mouths out of taste for those pleasures with which the tempter baits his hooks.
– Matthew Henry

Joy is diminished…by walking at a distance from God. 
If you get away from the fire you will grow cold.
– Charles Spurgeon

Christ being present with you, this is your main joy.  Enjoy the feast for yourselves,
or you will not be strong to hand out the living bread to others.
– Charles Spurgeon

Search the Scriptures diligently, and your joy shall spread and deepen.
– Charles Spurgeon

All the writings of Scripture, doctrinal, experimental, or practical, all have for their object, that which John declares in these words – “that your (our) joy may be full.”
– Charles Spurgeon

Quotes To Ponder: Joy

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

Because advertising cultivates the insatiable desire for the new, the improved,
the bigger and better, we find ourselves all but incapable of experiencing joy
and contentment in our everyday lives.
– Philip Kenneson

Fading is the worldling’s pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure
None but Zion’s children know.
– John Newton

There is enough in God to furnish us with matter of joy
in the worst circumstances on earth.
– Matthew Henry

With His great infinite heart He loves me.  It is a conquering thought;
it utterly overcomes us and crushes us with its weight of joy;
it bows us to the ground and casts us into a swoon of ecstasy.
– Charles Spurgeon

Quotes To Ponder: Peace

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

What can make those uneasy whose souls dwell at ease in God?
– Matthew Henry

That lasting peace between nations requires so much effort and attention is,
without doubt, an unmistakable sign of our fallenness as a race. 
Peace, it seems, is not our natural state. 
Rather, enmity is fundamental to the human condition.
– James S. Spiegel

If God has established peace by reconciling us both to God and to one another in Christ, then we must do all we can to embody visibly that unity and harmony
that are the hallmarks of our new life of peace.
– Philip Kenneson

Declaring The Glory

On By BrianIn Declaring the Glory

Fam2012 218

Lake Superior Shore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
– Psalm 19:1

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,
in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Three Dangers of Being Crazy Busy Part 1, Part 2, Part 3– Kevin DeYoung
When we are crazy busy we put our souls at risk. The challenge is not merely to make a few bad habits go away. The challenge is not to let our spiritual lives slip away. The dangers are serious, and they are growing. And few of us are as safe as we seem.

Purchasing Joy – Tim Challies
The things we dream of and long for so often become the things we kick to the curb. It’s true for my kids and their toys; it’s true for me and my toys.

Calling Teenagers to Treasure Christ More Than All Things – Richard Ross
We have a huge need to gather and horde possessions. We want to spend what we have on ourselves. What could motivate us to count all things as loss? Our overwhelming love for and adoration of King Jesus is what moves us to release our death grip on what we own.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day resting and finding joy in the Greatest Treasure!

Westminster Books

On By BrianIn Uncategorized

A few months ago, I said that I was going to start highlighting some helpful resources  that you might be interested in.  I managed to recommend one resource, and then never continued.  I want to try to start again – this time recommending an online bookstore called Westminster Bookstore.  I found out about them from some other blogs.  Westminster features Reformed books and resources, including a lot of historical books from the Puritans.  They also have Bibles, commentaries, church ministry books, curriculum, children’s books, and more.  It is a fun site to explore.  Plus they often have incredible specials on new books coming out – you can sign up to get their weekly newsletter.  John Piper’s Desiring God ministry recently closed their online store and you can find all of Desiring God’s books and curriculum now at Westminster.  They also offer free shipping on orders over $49.  You can follow the link below, or the link I just added to the side bar.  Disclaimer: I am a Westminster blog partner and get referral credit if you follow these links – think of it as supporting this blog.
WBlogo